Rentokil to relocate
Rentokil Initial is abandoning its rural lair for central London, a habitat thought to be more suited to the royal ratcatcher.
Fresh from its tussle for control with celebrity businessman Sir Gerry Robinson, the world’s largest pest-controller is to relocate from rural Surrey to new offices in Belgrave House, next to Victoria railway station.
Rentokil currently occupies a mock Tudor mansion in Felcourt. “We’re in an old country house when the world has moved on,” said Rentokil corporate affairs director Charles Grimaldi. “We must be the last FTSE 100 company not to have a central London presence.”
Around 40 senior directors including chief executive Doug Flynn and finance director Andrew Macfarlane will move to the new offices, less than a mile from Buckingham Palace, in January.
The remaining Surrey-based workers will eventually move to new offices near Gatwick airport. The three freehold properties will then be sold.
Rentokil also plans to stop operating its next-day parcel delivery business Initial City Link on a franchised basis.
At the moment the franchisees make a profit of around £5m and the company believes taking the 45 branches inhouse will deliver better shareholder returns. The parcels business made a profit of £31.3m on sales of £223m in 2004 Rentokil met with franchisees on Tuesday, some of whom own a network of branches, and Grimaldi said it had gone well.