The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Catford (London) Lowestoft, (East of England), Nottingham (East Midlands)
Sector
Administrative Services Services To Buildings And Landscape Activities Cleaning Activities 81.2 - Cleaning activities
1,700 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
25 January 2006
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
Rentokil Initial is closing its loss-making workwear and linen operations at Initial Hygiene UK with the loss of up to 1,700 jobs. The business services company said the division had suffered from a significant lack of investment and a 'flawed commercial strategy'. The business employs about 2,000 staff across the country. Operations will shut down on 30 April 2006 so Initial Hygiene can focus on its washroom and dust mat business.
Rentokil is in the middle of a major restructuring that saw it sell off its conference venues business for £325 million in November 2005.'Today's announcement does not impact our linen and workwear operations in continental Europe, where we have built up a number of profitable and growing businesses,' said chief executive Doug Flynn. The biggest regional operation hit will be in Catford, south London, where Initial Hygiene employs 221 workers. Other sites facing closure are in Lowestoft, Suffolk and Nottingham. Following that, the company announced plans to freeze its final salary pension scheme and close it to its existing members, in a bid to rein in rising pension costs. This was the first such move by a FTSE 100 company.
Sources
26 January 2006: The Guardian
25 January 2006: BBC News
Citation
Eurofound (2006), Rentokil Initial, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 62824, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/62824.
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