A rentokil disinfection company employee adjusts his mask after disinfecting a bus as part of measures taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Paris, on Sept. 2, 2020.Imagine your home as a castle besieged by an army of unwanted guests – ants parading through the kitchen, mice darting in the walls and cockroaches skulking in the shadows.
Rentokil is a highly advantaged business as it benefits from network and route density based competitive moats. This advantage arises from serving a high concentration of customers or service points within a defined region. Shorter travel distances reduce transportation costs and boost operational efficiency of service technicians. Moreover, regional market concentration and scale improve marketing effectiveness, especially in online channels.
In 2021, Rentokil completed its largest acquisition yet by acquiring Terminix in a deal worth US$6.7-billion. This strategic move was aimed at strengthening Rentokil’s position in the U.S. market. It complemented Rentokil’s strength in the commercial market with Terminix’s strength in the residential market and in termite control.
Rentokil’s management is keenly aware of this pivotal metric, and Terminix has seen its employee-retention climb to 70 per cent in the latest quarter . As this figure remains well below Rentokil’s 83 per cent, continuing efforts are being made to enhance this metric, including increasing pay for Terminix technicians.