Director Declaration

7 December 2011

APPOINTMENT OF NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

The Board of Berendsen plc has been informed by the Chairman, Christopher Kemball, that he wishes to retire after the Annual General Meeting on 26 April 2012. The Board has conducted a search to identify a successor and is today delighted to announce the appointment of Iain Ferguson, currently Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company, as Non-Executive Chairman upon Christopher's retirement.

Iain was appointed to the Board on 1 March 2010. He was Chief Executive of Tate and Lyle plc from 2003 to 2009, having previously worked for Unilever, where he held a number of senior positions including Executive Chairman of Birds Eye Walls and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Balfour Beatty plc and Greggs plc.

Iain will take up his appointment on 26 April 2012. A new Senior Independent Director will be appointed in advance of Iain taking up his new position.

Peter Ventress, Berendsen Chief Executive, commented "On behalf of the Board and all the Company, I would like to thank Christopher for his excellent stewardship of Berendsen, first as Non-Executive Director and then as Chairman, over the past twelve years. We are delighted that Iain has agreed to succeed him. We believe he has the right skills and experience to be a worthy successor to Christopher and we all look forward to working with him."

For further information contact:

Berendsen plc FTI Consulting

Peter Ventress Richard Mountain

Tel 020 7259 6663 Tel 020 7269 7291

Note:

1. Berendsen plc is a focused European textile maintenance business with leading positions in most of the countries in which it operates. As a focused business we are able to mobilise our resources to drive our strategies in our core area of expertise.

ENDS