Rentokil Initial

Infobox Company
company_name = Rentokil Initial plc
company_
company_type = Public (lse|RTO)
foundation = 1924
location = Victoria, London, UK
key_people = John McAdam, Chairman
Alan Brown, CEO
industry = Business Services
products =
revenue = £2,203 million (2007)
operating_income = £251 million (2007)
net_income = £659 million (2007)
num_employees = circa 70,000 (2007)
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.rentokil-initial.com www.rentokil-initial.com]
footnotes =

Rentokil Initial (lse|RTO) is a major business services group which is a member of the FTSE 250 Index of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Company history

In the 1920s, Sir Frank Baines of the British Government asked a professor of entomology at Imperial College, London, Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (1877-1925), to investigate ways to kill Death watch beetles that had infested Westminster Hall, next door to the Houses of Parliament. In 1924, Lefroy and his assistant produced an anti-woodworm fluid called "Ento-Kill Fluids"; "ento" came from Latin name for insect. He tried to register the name "Entokill", but had to choose "Rentokil Limited" instead in 1925. On October 14, 1925, Lefroy was killed in a laboratory when an experiment produced poisonous fumes. His assistant, Elizabeth Eades, took over the running of the company in Hatton Garden, which was bought in 1957 by British Ratin. It became Rentokil Group in 1960. It was listed on the Stock Exchange in 1969.

Formerly known as just Rentokil, the company became Rentokil Initial following the hostile takeover of its competitor BET (British Electric Traction) in 1996.

Activities

BET owned a diverse range of service companies, ranging from transport, conference centres, catering, heavy plant hire and the 'Initial' brand of cleaning and washroom services companies. The acquisition brought on board catering (BET Catering), transport (United Transport), electronic security (Shorrock), conferencing (Style) and numerous other service related companies.

Following the takeover, the company's divisions were each renamed under either the Rentokil or Initial brand.

The divisions are in four main areas, each with several sub-divisions as follows:

* Hygiene
** Initial Healthcare Services (Healthcare and Washrooms Solutions)
***including the Envirofresh washrooms business acquired in 2007
** Initial Textile Services
** Rentokil Hygiene Services
** Initial Medical Services
** Rentokil Pest Control
***including the JC Ehrlich and Presto-X pest control companies in the US
* E-Security
** Adelssys
* Facilities Management
**Ambius, the new name for Rentokil Tropical Plants
**Initial Catering Services
** Initial Hospital Services
** Initial Building Services
** Protech IT Hygiene
** Rentokil Property Care
** Rentokil Wiper Services
** Rentokil Initial Management Services
** Rentokil Initial UK Cleaning
** Rentokil Consumer & Industrial Products
** Rentokil Environmental Health Products
** Rentokil Fire Protection Products
** Rentokil Initial Supplies
* Parcel Delivery
**City Link

During the 1980s and 1990s Rentokil Initial achieved 20% growth every year for 14 years in a row under the leadership of then CEO, Sir Clive Thompson. During this period Rentokil Initial was voted "Britain's most admired" company.

The company is now headed by chairman John McAdam and CEO Alan Brown, who respectively served as CEO and CFO at ICI. The pair are famous for the break up and sale of ICI to Akzo Nobel. McAdam and Brown replaced Brian McGowan and Doug Flynn in March 2008 after a succession of profit warnings and accompanying share price declines at the firm, [cite news
last=Macalister
first=Terry
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/21/rentokilinitial.ici
title=Rentokil rids itself of bosses and calls in ICI crew
publisher=The Guardian
date=21 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-24] falls which have yet to be reversed. [http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChart.asp?sharechart=RTO&share=rentokil_initl]

Rentokil Initial's long spell in the FTSE 100 index came to an end in September 2006 when it was relegated to the FTSE 250, however it was re-admitted to the top-tier index in the quarterly reshuffle a year later. The company returned to the 250 in March 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.rentokil-initial.com Rentokil Initial Corporate site]
* [http://www.initial.com Initial Property Services site, part of Rentokil Initial Plc]
* [http://www.rentokil.com Rentokil Pest Control site, part of Rentokil Initial Plc]
* [http://www.medical.initial.co.uk Initial Medical Services site, part of Rentokil Initial Plc]
* [http://www.protech-it.com IT Hygiene part of Rentokil Initial PLC]
* [http://www.ambius.com Ambius, the interior landscaping business of Rentokil Initial plc]