Letter from the Chairman & CEO

OUR STRATEGY

Our ambition is to be the brand of choice in every market that we serve and to be the trusted provider of services for our commercial and residential customers. We aim to be recognised as a leading international business, dedicated to outstanding customer service.

In 2006 we continued to progress the strategy we formulated in 2005 to redirect and re-energise Rentokil Initial and restore it to sustainable, profitable growth. 2005 was focused on developing a detailed plan to achieve these goals and to ensuring we had the right business structure and management team in place. 2006 has been a year of action to implement this plan based on a number of key themes:

  • Fixing deep-seated operational problems in businesses such as UK Washroom and UK Pest Control.
  • Improving the profitability of every business through productivity and process improvements.
  • Reshaping the business portfolio to enhance shareholder value: building on strong market positions or exiting businesses worth more to others.
  • Developing a more customer focused, outward looking and dynamic culture.
  • Developing a talented and committed management team.

While simple to describe, this is a big agenda. The desirability of achieving each element is unarguable; the challenge is in achievability, the impact and how quickly it can be delivered – not everything can be completed in a year. As a board, we believe we are generally on track with where we set out to be at this stage, although some things have done better than we had anticipated whilst others have been slower.

The principal risks and uncertainties relating to our strategy are summarised below and discussed at greater length in the relevant parts of this review.

  • Disruption in the businesses undergoing extensive organisational change.
  • Ensuring acquisitions are integrated properly and meet the investment case.
  • Resolving the challenges in the Textiles and Washroom Services division in some of its continental European markets.
  • Retaining the management team.
Back to top 2006 Achievements