Berendsen non-exec spends £75,000

Berendsen non-executive director Iain Ferguson has spent £75,000 on shares in the textile service business formerly known as Davis Service Group.

He bought 15,000 shares at 496p a time and now has 40,000.

Ferguson, a former chief executive of the sugar firm Tate & Lyle, joined Berendsen last year.

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Berendsen said last month that its operating margin has shown an encouraging improvement so far in 2011.

Revenue in the first quarter of 2011 was 2% ahead of the corresponding period of last year, in line with management expectations.

The first quarter also saw lower interest costs as a result of the group's strong cash flow, and this has led to a significant increase in profit before tax, as anticipated by the board.

Berendsen's markets continued to improve steadily, with the Nordic region - particularly Sweden - seeing robust growth compared to the prior year.

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