They report under the following regional structure:
 

Nordic region – operates under the Berendsen brand and includes Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
 

Continent region – operates under the Berendsen brand and includes Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
 

UK and Ireland region – operates primarily under the Sunlight and Spring Grove Services brands.
 

Berendsen is the leading textile service company in northern Europe with more than 7,000 employees at 76 service centres in 13 countries. These centres manage textile rental, laundry, maintenance and supply.
 

Berendsen is a market leader in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It has a leading position in the workwear and industrial-wipers market in the Netherlands, a strong position in the German hospital and nursing home market and is targeting an increase of market share in workwear in Germany. It has established operations in the emerging markets of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Czech Republic.
 

Sunlight is the UK's leading supplier of textile rental and laundering services and a major provider of clinical products and services to the healthcare industry in the UK and overseas. The company operates through three main divisions with 9,300 employees at over 50 service centres. Sunlight Textile Services provides textile rental and laundering services to a UK network of over 50 locations (the hotel and hospitality industry, manufacturing and the NHS). Sunlight Clinical Solutions provides a range of products and services for clinical applications in the UK. Sunlight Direct Sales supplies linen and soft furnishings to the hotel and contract accommodation sectors.
 

Sunlight also operates in Ireland through its Spring Grove Services subsidiary, providing textile rental, laundering and clinical services.
 

Strategy implementation

The group will also adopt a new business line structure, with executive board members taking responsibility for core business lines rather than geographical divisions. Within this new structure, the key growth areas identified are workwear, mats, washroom, and cleanroom across all regions. In the UK, the hotel and healthcare linen businesses also offer attractive growth opportunities. In other areas, the group's existing well-invested businesses will be managed with lower expectations of growth and consequently these areas will attract lower investment and generate higher free cash flow. 
 

We have a carefully prepared programme to manage the implementation of these changes through 2011 and expect to be reporting fully under the new business line structure from the beginning of 2012.

This structure will be more transparent to all stakeholders, will enable us to identify and concentrate on growth opportunities more easily and will allow us to drive best practice in the key areas of sales, operations, logistics and pricing. At plant level, the business remains essentially local and we will continue to drive accountability down to this level.