Pre Close Trading Update

29 June 2012

Berendsen plc

Pre Close Trading Update

The Board of Berendsen plc ("The Group") issues the following statement before entering its close period for the half year ending 30 June 2012 and prior to its Interim Results announcement, which will be issued on 24 August 2012.

The positive trends outlined in our April 2012 Interim Management Statement for the first three months of the current year have continued. Group underlying revenue growth for the first half of 2012 is expected to be around 2%, and broadly unchanged from the equivalent period last year after taking account of the adverse impact of currency translation. Encouragingly, our Core Growth businesses are anticipated to deliver underlying organic revenue growth of around 4% for the same period.

We expect to deliver an increase in operating margin at the half year and, notwithstanding the impact of currency and the higher interest costs from last year's refinancing, our reported profit before tax is expected to be moderately ahead of last year's first half. Our free cash flow continues to be strong.

We are pleased with the progress of the Group in the first half and the Board believes that Berendsen is well positioned for further growth, in line with our expectations.

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Webcast

We have also published today a video interview with Peter Ventress and Kevin Quinn which provides an update on the Strategic Review launched in November 2010 in terms of both implementation progress and benefits achieved. The webcast is available on our website (www.berendsen.com).

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.

2. All financial information sourced from management accounts; operating profit and earnings per share stated before exceptional items and amortisation of customer contracts and intellectual property rights.

3. Statements made in this announcement that look forward in time or that express management's beliefs, expectations or estimates regarding future occurrences are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect the Group's current expectations concerning future events and actual results may differ materially from current expectations or historical results.