Rentokil and PCI the two ‘pest’ giants have come together in a “Business Marriage partnership”. The British-Indian pair is set to change the picture of pest management, bringing in visible changes in the way we look at pest problem. The new JV will focus to set new benchmarks for customer service with domestic operations across India, while introducing Rentokil’s worldwide standards for pest control, top-notch innovations and digital tools and services. Rentokil PCI is devised through the coalition of two pronounced powers i.e. Rentokil, the dominant pest control brand in the world and PCI, the supreme pest control brand in India. Rentokil-PCI brings a 100-year-old endowment of belief, guidance, revolution and care to the industry.
The joint venture is a deliberate amalgamation of the acknowledged managerial and specialized skills represented by Rentokil Initial and PCI’s premier position, all-round customer base and extensive experience in charge on the Indian subcontinent. It is exquisitely suited and scheduled to meet the the surging requirements for high standards in pest management services. Rentokil PCI is on a special spot being the only top-tier pest control business firm with research and development backing. It has several policies, which point to give considerable Health & Safety satisfaction to employees and customers. Commitment to such policies is a glaring contribution to round-the-clock improvements in Occupational Health, Safety & Environmental Protection in the organisation.
This is the story of how two significant brands, whose key values and idiosyncratic strengths made them trailblazers in the industry. The enterprise has built up boundless understanding of the lifestyle, routine and susceptibility of all types of pests that can have an impact on businesses. Rentokil-PCI came in collaboration with one shared mission which is to Protect People and Enhance lives in every way and stay devoted to their promise of a finer globe through impeccable degrees of safety, moral code, foremost innovations and a continuous approach of viable evolution and performance. They want to be recalled as a foundation where steady business practices of the highest calibre are cultivated and fostered as a norm to motivate and perk up the lives of everyone connected with it.
Pest management should be given priority
There are various aspects or reasons why pest control isn’t treated as a priority in India. When you put it into perspective, the Indian pest control industry can largely be divided into two segments – residential and commercial.
When it comes to the residential market, the basic challenge is awareness, or rather the lack of it. People are oblivious to the fact that the presence of pests in their homes can be detrimental to the health of their families. For the pest control industry to control the presence of pests, it is imperative that even our customers follow proper prevention and precautionary measures.
Take a simple pest like the mosquito. A dengue mosquito (Aedes Aegypti) typically affects homes because of its characteristics. The mosquitoes prefer to breed in stagnant and clean water such as flower vases or uncovered barrels or buckets. Research has shown that certain chemicals emanating from bacteria in water containers stimulate the mosquitoes to breed. The most lethal breeding areas are wet shower floors and toilet tanks, because they allow the mosquito’s to breed inside a home.
Hence, the need to educate the residential market on how they can work with us, to keep their homes and families safe. Simple measures like minimizing stagnant water sources and keeping a premise clean could go a long way in managing the mosquito menace.
Another interesting aspect with the residential segment is the ‘Value for Money’ element that our services offer. A dinner date with your family could cost about Rs.3000 to 4000. That’s roughly the same amount a family spends for an annual pest control contract. Once people start seeing the real value of our high quality services and the importance of pest management, pest control will start becoming a priority.
Speaking of the commercial segment, there are three reasons why they opt for pest control services… protection of property, protection of people and adhering to regulatory compliance.
Protecting the assets basically means preventing damages to property. Whether it is rodents cutting down the cables with an expensive downtime of setting back servers or termites attacking the furniture or building structure. Protecting the people involves maintaining cleanliness in the pantry or preventing the mosquitoes from entering the premises.
Compliance is another reason why commercial establishments opt for our services. Today, compliance has become a critical aspect that is applicable across various industries… be it food processing, Pharma or even hospitality. We call these our high dependency segments where pest control measures are absolutely necessary. However, the level of awareness about best practices in pest control in these industries is debatable and completely depends on their respective knowledge base.
At Rentokil PCI, we practice the ERDM principle… Exclusion, Restriction, Destruction & Monitoring.
Exclusion is a basic preventive measure which includes preventing the pests from entering the premise or property. In short denying entry to pests.
Restriction is another preventive measure which entails restricting areas where pests could breed or find harborage. It also involves sealing off cracks and crevices that may become harborage areas. This step also involves maintaining a detailed sanitation program which includes following proper storage practices.
Destruction is a control measure which involves non chemical and chemical methods to manage the pest population irrespective of the level of infestation.
Monitoring is a very important step which involves frequent monitoring of the pest population to ensure that the pest population is under control.
The growing Pest Control market in India and Rentokil PCI’s strategy
There is no researched data available on the market size. However, we assume that at this point in time, Rentokil PCI is leading the pack. And the numbers are only growing.
If you look at the potential of the market, while the US market is a $6 billion, the Indian market we believe is a $200 million market. It is probably about 5-6% of the market with an Indian population of 1.3 billion while the population of the US is 357 million. If we look at the population of India, the market size is very small. But we see the market growing rapidly in the near future. This is possible only through building awareness and understanding the importance and maintenance of hygiene.
Rentokil PCI is making strategic strides in this direction by moving from just compliance, especially in the Pharma and food processing sectors, to ensuring brand protection. Hence, these two sectors look at us for protecting the reputation of their brands by enabling production in a protected environment. We are educating the people and building awareness on what we can provide in a cost-effective manner.
We have a global tie up with BRC, the British Retail Consortium which has outlined the pest control policy and laid down the requisites of pest management in various sectors, including food processing, Pharma and hospitality. This will enable us to offer services of the highest standards, no matter what industry we are catering.
The IT industry is much more established while the hospitality needs a lot of education. In fact, the principle of ERDM has been devised to be far more cost-effective and provide a better experience for their customers.
We continually work on maintaining the reputation of our customers. Methodologies like the exclusion limitation ensure that a service is never hindered. Our eco-friendly products and services are now available for customers who are looking to go green. Our personnel are being digitally equipped to ensure better service quality.
The challenges
Spreading awareness about the need for pest control in the first place will be our primary challenge.
Our multinational stature brings international expertise with it. We are equipped with the most sophisticated technology and equipment. We use internationally approved chemicals like LD50 that costs more but is less harmful to our environment.
Rentokil PCI believes in developing people and therefore, we have an online training programme called U+ that encompasses sales, operations, technical and non-technical functions. We have two distinct divisions – one for Product Sales and another for Service. Our team consists of over 60 individuals who have a PhD or a Master’s Degree in Science.
Our technicians must complete 20 hours of training, whereas our managers complete 30 hours of training each year. We have over 70,000 dealers across India who carry our products including TrubbleGum (our rat traps) and PestSeal (our aerosol can). These products are being extensively promoted and we see a lot of scope for them in the retail market.
Our pricing initially may seem premium to customers but once they are aware of our usage of high quality products and superior equipment coupled with the understanding of the importance of pest control it will seem worth it.
Innovations that Rentokil-PCI plans to launch this year
This year, we are keen on introducing our foaming systems directed at controlling drain flies. Along with that, various application systems (trappers & repellants) for mosquito treatments are also being introduced.
In addition to our steam treatment, an all-new non-chemical treatment for bedbugs is also in the pipeline. These are exciting times and we intend to keep abreast. We are also working on digitalization of our entire process. You will witness our technicians carry a PDA device which captures information during the service delivery process. The data is then transferred to a centralised server from where it can be accessed through a portal. This gives them access to real time data for trend analysis, on time scheduling and delivery as well as proof of service.
We have also developed an extensive customer awareness program on a central online portal called “My Learning” wherein more than 500 customers have been educated about the importance of pest management. This month we will be extensively exhibiting both the Rentokil and PCI brand together for the first time at the Clean India Pulire Expo at the Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. We hope to see you there!
[box type=”shadow” ]Creating a Benchmark
How do you look forward to your joint participation in the Clean India show?
As the Rentokil & PCI have come together, it is important for us to showcase our combined brand and strength. We look to improve the benchmark in the industry through innovation, technology, and a combined expertise in pest management. The solutions that we will be able to provide as a combined entity will ultimately mean more advanced, world-class technologies to our varied customers. Instead of competing, it made perfect sense to join hands to support strong,
accelerated growth in India.
Which are the areas do you think you could bring about a difference under the new identity Rentokil-PCI?
Newer technologies, global expertise and management efficiencies. The joint venture will combine the strength of both the companies to be the leading provider of pest services, innovation and use of digital technologies. We want to capitalise on the surging demand to high quality and worldclass service.
Quoting Anil Rao, CEO & MD: “PCI is the only company in this service industry with in-house manufacturing capabilities and the unique ability to create sustainable products, better suited to a business driven increasingly by a global search for ecologically sensible solutions. This would certainly provide a great opportunity to accelerate growth and performance in India and across the region.”[/box]
Rentokil
In 1924, a company called Disinfectants and General Products Ltd, established by Professor Maxwell-Lefroy created a timber treatment fluid that the company intended to name Entokil. This was later changed to Rentokil. Bessie Eades later bought the rights to Rentokil and established a new company, Rentokil (Sales) Ltd.
By the end of the 60s, Rentokil Group Ltd was listed on the London Stock Exchange with one of the largest new issues of shares that the city had ever seen.
In 1983, Rentokil received Queen’s Award to Industry for Technological Achievement for developing a safe process for manufacturing arsenic-based timber treatment fluid. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, company executed the astounding takeover of BET for £2.2 billion – one of the largest takeovers in British corporate history, thus creating the world’s leading business services company with an annual turnover over £3 billion and 150,000 employees. The new company was called Rentokil Initial.
Rentokil was selected as the preferred supplier of pest control services and products to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Rentokil kept the main football stadium in Curitiba, training facilities, team hotels and transport hubs free of pests. Rentokil delivered a full pest control service, including mosquito control to the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.
PCI
Pest Control (India) Pvt. Ltd., was established in the year 1954 by N.S. Rao. PCI was then the only company of its kind in India, with fumigation as the core business. Services quickly expanded to termite control, rodent control and household disinfestation. N.S. Rao embarked on a quest to acquire pest control training worldwide. In 1960, he became a member of the National Pest Control Association. He visited the U.K. and trained at Rentokil, thus setting up the basis for a continued association.
Both these companies have a history of being pioneers and pathbreakers in the field of pest management. So, on February 28, 2017, the news that the global leader and India’s leader had entered into an agreement to form a joint venture was welcomed by all.
While Rentokil Initial brings to the merger their global expertise in areas such as innovation, digital technologies and international standards. PCI is the only company in this service industry with foot print across India and the unique ability to create sustainable products that are better suited to a business driven increasingly by a global search for ecologically sensible solutions. The combined entity will be the largest provider of pest control services and products in India, operate from 300 plus locations and employ 7,500 people.