Reckitt Benckiser Group plc,

trading as Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. An early form of trade, barter, s ...

Reckitt, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

multinational

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

company headquartered in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merger of British company Reckitt & Colman plc and Dutch company Benckiser N.V. Reckitt's brands include the

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

brand

Dettol Dettol is a cleaning disinfectant and antiseptic. It was introduced in 1932 by the British company Reckitt. In Germany, it is sold under the name Sagrotan. Prior to 2002, some Dettol products were branded Dettox. Dettol Antiseptic Disinfectant ...

, the

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

Disprin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

, the

sore throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. Usually, causes of sore throat include * viral infections * group A streptococcal infection (GAS) bacterial infection * pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat) * tonsi ...

medicine Strepsils, the

hair removal Hair removal, also known as epilation or depilation, is the deliberate removal of body hair or head hair. Hair typically grows all over the human body and can vary in thickness and length across human populations. Hair can become more visible ...

brand

Veet Veet, formerly called Neet and Immac, is a Canadian brand of chemical depilatory products manufactured by the British company Reckitt. Hair removal cream, Lotions, gel, mousse, and wax products are produced under this brand, with differing variant ...

, the immune support supplement

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

, the Australian insecticide brand

Mortein Mortein is an Australian brand of household insecticide owned by the British company Reckitt. Together with its sister product Aerogard, a popular insect repellent, Mortein is widely used in Australia and is marketed internationally. It is also ...

, the

indigestion Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

remedy

Gaviscon An antacid is a substance which neutralizes stomach acidity and is used to relieve heartburn, indigestion or an upset stomach. Some antacids have been used in the treatment of constipation and diarrhea. Marketed antacids contain salts of alumi ...

, the baby food brand

Mead Johnson Mead Johnson & Company, LLC is an American company that is a leading manufacturer of infant formula, both domestically and globally, with its flagship product Enfamil. It operates as an independent subsidiary of Reckitt. The company dates back t ...

, the air freshener

Air Wick Air Wick is an American brand of air freshener owned by the British multinational company Reckitt. It was first launched by creator Guy Paschal in 1943 in the United States, and is now sold worldwide. History Air Wick was first introduced in 19 ...

, and other brands and products like:

Calgon Calgon is an American brand of bath and beauty products, owned by PDC Brands. Early history The original product consisted of powdered sodium hexametaphosphate (amorphous sodium polyphosphate), which in water would complex with ambient calci ...

Clearasil Clearasil is a brand of skin care and acne medication, whose products contain chiefly benzoyl peroxide, sulfur and resorcinol, triclosan, or salicylic acid as active ingredients. Clearasil has a wide range of products both for rapid and sometimes ...

, Cillit Bang,

Durex Durex is a brand of condoms and personal lubricants owned by the British company Reckitt Benckiser. It was initially developed in London under the purview of the London Rubber Company and British Latex Products Ltd, where it was manufactured bet ...

Lysol Lysol (; spelled Lizol in India) is a brand of American cleaning and disinfecting products distributed by Reckitt, which markets the similar Dettol or Sagrotan in other markets. The line includes liquid solutions for hard and soft surfaces, ai ...

Mycil Tolnaftate ( INN) is a synthetic thiocarbamate used as an anti-fungal agent that may be sold without medical prescription in most jurisdictions. It is supplied as a cream, powder, spray, liquid, and liquid aerosol. Tolnaftate is used to treat ...

Enfamil Enfamil (a play on words of 'infant meal') is an American brand of infant formula that is made by Mead Johnson, a subsidiary of Reckitt. From 1989 through 2011, Mead Johnson used Beatrix Potter's '' Peter Rabbit'' on its U.S. packaging. However ...

, Nutramigen and Vanish.

History

Origins

Johann Benckiser Johann Adam Benckiser (30 December 1782 – 7 May 1851) was a German chemist who was the founder of Joh. A. Benckiser GmbH, a major German chemicals business. The business has been part of Reckitt Benckiser, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, ...

founded a business in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

, Germany, in 1823. Its core business was industrial chemicals. Ludwig Reimann, a chemist, joined the business in 1828 and married Benckiser's daughter. Benckiser died in 1851 and the business came under Reimann's ownership. Reimann opened a new chemical plant and, in 1858, moved it to

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

. Under Reimann's descendants the business grew rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century: it acquired

Coty, Inc. Coty Inc. is an American-French multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and re ...

, a North American beauty products manufacturer, in 1992. Benckiser's other products included Vanish and

Cillit Bang Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merg ...

. It went public in 1997.

Reckitt & Sons Reckitt and Sons was a leading British manufacturer of household products, notably starch, black lead, laundry blue, and household polish, and based in Kingston upon Hull. Isaac Reckitt began business in Hull in 1840, and his business bec ...

started in 1840 when

Isaac Reckitt Isaac Reckitt (1792–1862) was the founder of Reckitt and Sons, a business that emerged to become Reckitt, one of the United Kingdom's largest consumer goods businesses. Career Initially establishing a milling business in Boston with his older ...

rented a starch mill in Hull, England. He diversified into other household products and after his death in 1862, the business passed to his three sons. In 1886, Reckitt opened its first overseas business in Australia. The firm was first listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

in 1888.

Harpic Harpic is the brand name of a toilet cleaner launched in the United Kingdom in 1932 by Reckitt and Sons (now Reckitt). It is currently available in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. The toilet clean ...

Lavatory Cleaners was acquired in 1932, and that same year,

was launched. In 1938, Reckitt & Sons merged with J. & J. Colman, which had been founded in 1814 when

Jeremiah Colman Jeremiah Colman (1777–1851) was an English miller who founded Colman's Mustard, a business which merged into the conglomerate Reckitt & Colman, and is now owned by Unilever. Life He was born in Norfolk in 1777 to Robert Colman (1749-1807) and ...

began milling flour and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England, to become Reckitt & Colman Ltd. The company made several acquisitions, including the Airwick and Carpet Fresh brands (1985), the Spanish cleaning products company Camp (1989), the Boyle-Midway division of

American Home Products Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth i ...

(1990), and the Lehn & Fink division of

Sterling Drug Sterling Drug was an American global pharmaceutical company, also known as Sterling Winthrop, Inc. in its last years (after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. which itself resulted from the merger of ''Winthrop Chemical Company Inc.'' and '' ...

, maker of

disinfectant (1994). The Lehn & Fink purchase doubled Reckitt & Colman's American business in one stroke. It acquired several brands from

DowBrands The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

in 1998. Reckitt & Colman sold the Colman's food business in 1995.

1999 to present

The company was formed by a merger between Britain's ''Reckitt & Colman plc'' and the Dutch company ''Benckiser NV'' in December 1999.

Bart Becht Lambertus Johannes Hermanus "Bart" Becht (born 29 July 1956) is a Dutch businessman. An executive with more than 35 years of business experience working with consumer brands, Becht is the former Chief Executive Officer of Reckitt, which he led from ...

became CEO of the new company and has been credited for its transformation, focusing on core brands and improving efficiency in the supply chain. The new management team's strategy of "innovation marketing" – a combination of increased marketing spend and product innovation, focusing on consumer needs – has been linked to the company's ongoing success. For example, in 2008, the company's "rapid succession of well publicised new product variants" were credited for helping them "to capture shoppers' imagination". ''Business Week'' has also noted that "40% of Reckitt Benckiser's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years." In October 2005, Reckitt purchased the

over-the-counter drug Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescripti ...

s manufacturing business of

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

, Boots Healthcare International, for £1.9 billion. The three main brands acquired were

Nurofen Nurofen is a brand name range of pain-relief medication containing ibuprofen made by the British multinational Reckitt. Introduced in 1983, the Nurofen brand was acquired following Reckitt Benckiser's acquisition of Boots in 2005. The brand is ...

s, Strepsils sore throat lozenges, and

anti-

acne Acne, also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, black ...

treatments. In January 2008, Reckitt acquired Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company, for $2.3 billion; one of the major brands acquired was

Mucinex Guaifenesin, also known as glyceryl guaiacolate, is an expectorant medication that aids in the elimination of sputum from the respiratory tract. Chemically it is an ether of guaiacol and glycerine. It is often used in combination with other m ...

. Reckitt acquired

SSL International SSL International plc was a British manufacturer of healthcare products. Its best known brands were Durex and Scholl; other significant brands were Sauber and Mister Baby. The company's name was an abbreviation of ''Seton Scholl London Internati ...

, the manufacturer of

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...

s and Scholl's footcare products, for £2.5 billion in July 2010. In January 2011, Reckitt purchased

Combe A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...

's cold remedy/skin care business. In September 2011, Bart Becht retired as CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, being replaced by executive vice-president of Category Development,

Rakesh Kapoor Rakesh Kapoor (born 4 August 1958) is an Indian businessman. He was, until September 2019, chief executive (CEO) of Reckitt plc, a UK FTSE-listed multinational consumer goods company, a major producer of health, hygiene and home products. Ear ...

, who had played a key role in recent acquisitions. On 27 August 2011, Reckitt recalled all remaining stock of its major analgesic product, Nurofen Plus, after packs were found to contain an

antipsychotic Antipsychotics, also known as neuroleptics, are a class of Psychiatric medication, psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia but ...

drug. It turned out that this was the work of a codeine addict who had been stealing the pills and replacing them with his anti psychotic medication. In November 2012, Reckitt acquired Schiff Nutrition, a

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

-based manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements including Digestive Advantage, MegaRed, Airborne, and Move Free, for US$1.4 billion (£877 million). In December 2014, Reckitt spun off its speciality pharmaceuticals business, which produces

Suboxone Buprenorphine/naloxone, sold under the brand name Suboxone among others, is a fixed-dose combination medication that includes buprenorphine and naloxone. It is used to treat opioid use disorder, and reduces the mortality of opioid use disorder ...

(an opioid withdrawal medication), into a separate company named

Indivior Indivior is a specialty pharmaceuticals business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was established as the Buprenorphine division of Reckitt Benckiser in 1994. In December 20 ...

. In 2014, Reckitt Benckiser dropped its full name in favour of the RB brand. According to Kapoor, the old name was "a bit of a mouthful" and the name change would make life easier.' In February 2017, the company bid $16.7 billion for the American

infant formula Infant formula, baby formula, or simply formula (American English); or baby milk, infant milk or first milk (British English), is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepar ...

maker

. In February 2017, Reckitt Benckiser announced it had bought Mead Johnson for $16.6 billion. To effect the transaction, Reckitt Benckiser incorporated a subsidiary in Delaware into which Mead Johnson Nutrition would be transferred, with Mead Johnson Nutrition being the sole surviving entity at completion. Following the acquisition of Mead Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser split its business into two divisions: consumer healthcare, and home and hygiene. While some expert analysts viewed this move as a precursor to a possible sale of the home division, Kapoor said that it was only to improve the performance of each of the divisions. In July 2017, McCormick acquired Reckitt's food brands, including French's Mustard &

Frank's RedHot Frank's RedHot is a hot sauce made from a variety of cayenne peppers, produced by McCormick & Company. The Original blend ranks low on the Scoville scale, with 450 SHUs, but the XTRA Hot variety measures 2,000 SHUs. History The Frank Tea and Spi ...

, for $4.2 billion, subject to regulatory approval. Kapoor retired in September 2019 and was replaced by

Laxman Narasimhan Laxman Narasimhan (born 15 April 1967) is an Indian-American business executive who was chief commercial officer (CCO) of PepsiCo, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Reckitt. He joined Starbucks under the title "interim CEO" in October 2022, and ...

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

's global chief commercial officer. Narasimhan developed a turnaround strategy designed to rejuvenate the company "following a series of missteps and lacklustre growth that marked the final years of his predecessor". In March 2021, the company rebranded from RB to Reckitt - including a new logo and visual identity as a next step in delivering on the strategic purpose of the company. On 1 September 2022, Reckitt announced that Narasimhan had chosen to resign as CEO, citing "personal and family reasons", and would relinquish his position at the end of the month. It was also revealed that he is expected to become the next CEO of

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

. Narasimhan's unexpected departure "came as an unwelcome shock to shareholders", with the company’s share price falling by "more than 5 per cent in early trading ..before recovering somewhat to 4.5 per cent below their opening price" on the day of the announcement. Senior Independent Director

Nicandro Durante Nicandro Durante (born 13 September 1956) is a Brazilian businessman who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's largest tobacco company by sales, from 2011 to 2019. In September 2022 he was appo ...

was appointed to serve as CEO on an "

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

" basis "while the board considers a longer-term replacement".

Operations

Reckitt is headquartered in

, England, and has operations in around 60 countries. Its products are sold in nearly 200 countries. Reckitt organises the majority of its products into three main categories – health, hygiene and home – with other brands belonging to three further categories: food, pharmaceuticals and portfolio brands. The company's strategy is to have a highly focused portfolio concentrating on its 19 most profitable brands, which are responsible for 70% of net revenues. Reckitt currently produces the following products: Powerbrands *

* Scholl *

* Enfagrow *

* Finish (previously Electrasol in North America) *

* Lactum *

Lemsip Lemsip is a brand of cold and flu remedies in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. It is manufactured by the British company Reckitt. Products Their original and best-known product is a lemon-flavoured hot drin ...

(known also as Shieldtox in some ASEAN states like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore) *

* Strepsils *

Sustagen Sustagen is a nutritional supplement beverage brand, available in both ready-to-drink and powdered form, manufactured by the food science division of Nestle, and includes products for those with special dietary requirements for example, gluten-f ...

* Vanish *

Other *

Aerogard Aerogard is an Australian brand of outdoor insect repellent (that is applied directly to the skin). It comes in aerosol sprays, bottled creams and roll-ons, the manufacturer is owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser. Active ingredient ...

* Amphyl *

Bonjela Bonjela is a brand of oral treatments intended to relieve the pain of mouth ulcers and denture sores. The brand covers a range of products. Bonjela Adult and Cool are oral gels containing keratolytic and mildly antiseptic salicylic acid in the fo ...

Brasso Brasso is a metal polish designed to remove tarnish from brass, copper, chrome and stainless steel. It is available either directly as a liquid or as an impregnated wadding pad. History Brasso originated in Britain in about 1905. Reckitt & ...

* Brio * Bryza * Calgonit *

Cēpacol Cepacol ( styled Cēpacol) is an American brand of personal hygiene products, as well as for relief of sore throat. It is distributed in the US by Reckitt. The brand was originally owned by J.B. Williams. Following acquisition by Combe Incorp ...

* Ceraclen * Cherry Blossom * Clean and Smooth *

* Cling * Cling Free * Cobra Brilliant Shiner * Colon *

d-CON d-CON is an American brand of rodent control products owned and distributed in the United States by the UK-based consumer goods company Reckitt. The d-CON product line includes traps and baits for use around the home for trapping and killing ra ...

* Coral *

Delsym Delsym is an American brand of cough medicine owned by Reckitt, and manufactured at Unither Manufacturing in Rochester, NY. It is different from most brands of cough medicine in that the active ingredient is " time released". The time release fea ...

* Digestive Advantage * dip-it * Disprin * Dosia * E45 * Easy-Off * Easy On * Elena * Flor * Fybogel * Glass Mates *

Glass Plus Glass Plus is a glass and multi-surface cleaner. Information Glass Plus is currently manufactured by Reckitt Benckiser, who purchased the brand from S. C. Johnson. SC Johnson had purchased it from Dow Chemical. Dow Chemical acquired it through ...

* Glassex * Hoffmann's * Intima Liasan / Intima Bidex * Jik * Kalia * Kaltron *

K-Y K-Y Jelly is a water-based, water-soluble personal lubricant, most commonly used as a lubricant for sexual intercourse and masturbation. A variety of different products and formulas are produced under the K-Y banner, some of which are not water-so ...

* Lanacane * Lanza *

* Lewis Red Devil * Lime-A-Way * Lovela * Masterpiece Metalist * Mop & Glo * Move Free * Mr Min *

Mr Sheen Mr Sheen is the brand name of a range of cleaning materials, mainly floor and furniture polish, created in Australia in the 1950s by Samuel Taylor Pty Ltd. An aerosol, the product uses a combination of silicones, waxes and solvents and is curren ...

* Nenuco * Neutra-Air * NoSalt * Noxon * Nugget * Nurofen for Children * Old English * Perk * Poliflor Pratic * Poliflor Maximo Brilho * Precision Blend * Quanto * Resolve * Rid-X * Robin Blue * Sagrotan *

Sani Flush Sani-Flush was an American brand of crystal toilet bowl cleaner formerly produced by Reckitt Benckiser. Its main ingredient was sodium bisulfate; it also contained sodium carbonate as well as sodium lauryl sulfate, talc, sodium chloride, fragranc ...

(discontinued after 2010) * Schiff Vitamins * Senokot * Silvo * Sipuro * Spray 'n Starch * Vani-Sol * Veja (Brazil) * Vitroclen * Vivid * Wenol * Windolene * Wizard *

Woolite Woolite is an American brand of laundry detergent and cleaning products owned by the British multinational company Reckitt. The company acquired the Woolite brand when it bought Boyle-Midway from American Home Products / Wyeth in 1990. The comp ...

* Yes * Zud File:Condom box durex.jpg, Durex condoms File:Glass plus.jpg, Glass Plus glass cleaner File:Lysolshelf.jpg, Lysol multi-surface cleaner File:Strepsils.jpg, Strepsils throat lozenges

Corporate governance

As of 2020, Reckitt's directors were:

Christopher Sinclair Christopher A. Sinclair (born September 5, 1950) is an American businessman. He is the chairman of Reckitt, the consumer health and household products company. He is the former chairman and CEO of Mattel, the toy company. Previously, he was chair ...

(Chairman),

(CEO), Jeff Carr (CFO), Andrew Bonfield, Nicandro Durante, Mary Harris, Dr. Mehmood Khan, Dr. Pamela Kirby, Sara Mathew, Elane Stock, and Warren Tucker. As of 2020, members of the executive committee were: Laxman Narasimhan (CEO), Rupert Bondy (General Counsel), Jeff Carr (CFO), Kris Licht, Aditya Sehgal, Ranjay Radhakrishnan, and Harold van den Broek. From the company's creation in 1999 until he retired in 2011, Bart Becht was CEO. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called him "one of the most successful businessmen of his generation". Under him, the company focused on its core brands, and on improving efficiency in the supply chain. It also increased its marketing budget. ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' noted that "40% of Reckitt's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years". Becht was Britain's highest-paid businessman, taking home more than £90 million in 2009. In April 2011, he announced that he would step down in September of that year, to be replaced by Rakesh Kapoor, who had been with the company since 1987. Reckitt Benckiser shares fell by 6.6% on the news.

Corporate public relations

The company supports

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. Reckitt has also implemented an environmental initiative called Carbon 20. The initiative, which was announced in November 2007, aimed to cut the total carbon footprint of its products—from creation to disposal by 20% by 2020. As part of the initiative the company has reduced by 70% the amount of plastic in the packaging of its ''Vanish'' cleaner.

Lawsuit

In New York in February 2009,

Earthjustice Earthjustice (originally Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) is a nonprofit public interest organization based in the United States dedicated to litigating environmental issues. Headquartered in San Francisco, it has 14 regional offices across the Un ...

filed a lawsuit against Reckitt and others. The petition seeks to compel the companies to identify all of the ingredients used in their products. Earthjustice contacted several companies in September 2008 requesting that they comply with a 1971 law requiring them to disclose the ingredients in their products and make available any associated health or safety studies. Reckitt and the other defendants ignored or refused the request. Earthjustice eventually lost the case, after which it lobbied the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

, which in 2018 unveiled new requirements for manufacturers of cleaning products to publicly detail their ingredients.

Controversies

Deaths caused by humidifier disinfectant

In 2001, Reckitt Benckiser acquired the South Korean Oxy brand from Oriental Chemical Industries. Since 1996, Oxy had been using polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) in a humidifier steriliser product called Oxy Ssak Ssak. In 2011, the use of PHMG was dropped when the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) published a report showing a link between the compound and lung damage and deaths. Several other companies in South Korea made humidifier sterilisers with PHMG between 2001 and 2011. According to a ''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

Origins

1999 to present

Operations

Corporate governance

Corporate public relations

Lawsuit

Controversies

Deaths caused by humidifier disinfectant

Cillit Bang viral marketing controversy

Anti-competitive behaviour

Legal challenges to rodenticide regulations

Palm oil procurement

References

External links