Alan Brown, the new chief executive of Rentokil Initial, is no shrinking violet when it comes to radical overhauls. Sent in to sort out Unilever’s disastrous Chinese operation seven years ago, he started by dismissing four fifths of the sales force for corruption or incompetence and continued by closing most of the factories.

Rentokil, which he joined five months ago, is a much greater challenge, with many more shortcomings to identify and put right. Even allowing for the tendency of new management to exaggerate the failings of their predecessors, the old regime seems to have been lax. Continuing to serve a customer four years after he stopped paying his bills, one example cited yesterday, points to Olympic-standard sloppiness.

These weaknesses can be sorted out in time. With a £100 million incentive package dangling before them, the new management team certainly have sufficient carrots.

The question, as the slowdown looms and the effects of the credit crunch tighten their grip, is whether Rentokil has the luxury of time. By slashing the dividend yesterday and continuing to chip away at costs, it has given itself a bit more breathing space. But even services like pest control, parcels delivery and washroom cleaning are not immune to the downturn. And the crunch will add to the company’s troubles as its old maturing debt has to be renewed with much costlier loans or bonds.

Managers faced with similar difficulties and seeking a polite way of blaming the previous management will find it hard to improve on Mr Brown’s conclusion yesterday: “Our great opportunity is that we have room for improvement almost everywhere.”

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