Laundry staff would have liked the trust to keep the existing site and seek outside investment.
However, Tim Cronin, head of supplies and facilities at the Southampton University Trust, said the trust would prefer to move the laundry off-site.
It will carry out a test market with an off-site provider. It has already identified two NHS trusts with spare capacity and three commercial companies have shown strong interest.
At the end of the test market, which will last around four months, the bids and the test market will be evaluated and the board will make its final decision. A move off-site seems probable.
The hospital laundry employed around 40 staff and the trust is confident of finding them other employment within the hospital site.
