The coronavirus lockdowns have hit Rentokil’s services for hotels, restaurants, schools and the airline industry, forcing it to cut spending and suspend dividend payments, but it has also said it is ramping up training for technicians for disinfection services due to a surge in demand.

The pest control company Rentokil Initial said on Thursday it was pushing ahead with cuts in spending including staff lay offs and a 35 per cent cut in board members pay as it braces for a bigger hit to operations in the second quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, which operates in 81 countries around the world and employed around 43,000 according to its last annual statement, also said all of its Chinese employees had now been able to return to work and that it had drawn down funds under Britain’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility.

It gave no details of how many workers it had furloughed and laid off. – Reuters