We operate in three broad market areas, safety, the environment, and health, which are defined by our purpose of growing a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.
Our companies operate in niches within these broad market areas. Each of these niches has a high exposure to long‑term growth drivers.
These growth drivers reflect demographic trends, including ageing and urbanising populations, increasing demands on infrastructure and natural resources, and growing sustainability‑related opportunities.
They are expected to persist over the long term and reflect fundamental global challenges:
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A growing need to improve the safety and efficiency of vital industry and infrastructure, and to safeguard people as they live and work in increasingly crowded spaces. Similarly, increasing automation and complexity in industrial processes means that there is more need to protect workers in these hazardous environments. |
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Increasing demand for better healthcare as people live longer and the prevalence of chronic health conditions increases. Increasing demand by healthcare providers for safer and more efficient diagnostic and treatment methods as innovation presents new options for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and as aspirations to improve efficiency and the standard of care increase. |
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The growing need to protect life‑critical natural resources as they are increasingly threatened by scarcity, pollution and increasing demands from factors such as population growth and climate change. |
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Global efforts to address climate change, waste and pollution as these impacts become more severe and as populations are increasingly affected. |
In each of these areas, growth is underpinned by increasing safety, health and environmental regulation, as governments and regulators demand higher standards in response to these challenges.
We operate in more than 20 countries, with major operations in the UK, Mainland Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific, and supply customers in over 100 countries, through a variety of routes to market, from direct sales to third party distribution.
We have a diverse customer base, ranging from small businesses to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), who operate in a wide variety of sectors, including commercial and public buildings, utilities, healthcare, science, the environment, process industries, and energy and resources.
