Chief Executive of Reckitt Benckiser, Rakesh Kapoor is giving up business class flights on trips of less than six hours as the consumer products company seeks to cut costs, according to a report in The Guardian.
Kapoor said he would give up the comfort and posh food of business class as part of an efficiency plan called “project supercharge”. Other executives will also have to follow his example.
Many banks and other companies cut back on business class travel during the financial crisis, but it is unusual for a FTSE 100 boss to commit himself to the economy lounge on all but the longest flights.
Reckitt Benckiser, home of Dettol and Nurofen, sells its products in more than 100 countries. Kapoor, who has run Reckitt since 2011, is also reducing the number of geographic businesses to two from three by merging the two emerging markets divisions. Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States, comprising the former Soviet countries) will move into the Europe, North America and Australasia business. He said the change would make decisions quicker by cutting out overlapping functions. He also wants to reduce spending on everyday items such as stationery. Kapoor said there may be job losses among the 34,000 workforce but that they would not be the main reason for cost reductions.
Kapoor said: “This will make Reckitt Benckiser a leaner, faster and more coordinated business. It will also drive cost savings that will enable us to deliver sustainable earnings growth as we enter the second half of the decade.”
