Strong revenue growth for Rentokil Initial

The group, which has a commercial cleaning base employing more than 100 at Castlegate Way, Dudley, saw a four per cent rise to £2.82 billion

Pre-tax profits were down 32.1 per cent to £229.8 million.

There was one per cent growth in pest control, reflecting its essential service status and ability to continue to serve customers, and a 36.8 per cent growth in hygiene with continued high demand for hygiene products and disinfection services which more than offset washrooms service declines from temporary business closures. Revenue from disinfection services was £225.1m.

Rentokil Initail bought 23 businesses in 2020 of which 21 were invoved in pest control.

Andy Ransom, chief executive of Rentokil Initial, said: "In an extraordinary year, we have demonstrated the inherent strength of our business, growing revenue, profit and cash. We have shown great agility by launching new disinfection services in 60 countries to address a critical need for customers, accelerated the international expansion of our hygiene business and have acquired 23 high quality businesses to build density, particularly in our key North America pest control market.

"In addition, we have continued to deliver record levels of colleague safety, training and retention, and our leadership in innovation and digital has contributed to our underlying success in pest and hygiene during the year. Having recognised at an early stage that we faced a global crisis, we acted swiftly to protect all our stakeholders – our people, shareholders, customers and suppliers, and the communities we serve."