Boss quits as losses grow at City Link

Rentokil Initial yesterday revealed that the boss of its troubled parcel delivery service had stepped down amid ongoing trading woes at the division.

City Link managing director Stuart Godman resigned by "mutual agreement" and Rentokil chief executive Alan Brown has taken over the running of the embattled company until a replacement is appointed.

The group said difficult trading conditions meant City Link's performance in 2010 was unlikely to improve on the previous year, when it made adjusted operating losses of 2.7 million.

City Link last month admitted it had gone too far in closing depots and cutting staff and had been forced to outsource work to expensive third party firms.

Service levels had remained excellent in the period, apart from in the past two weeks which had been affected by the weather, the firm said yesterday.

However, Rentokil said its profits expectations for the year remain unchanged as the rest of the group, which includes pest control and washroom services, compensates for City Link's losses.

The delivery arm is to recruit hundreds of drivers in the new year following its cut-backs as it looks to reduce its use of sub-contractors.