ISS crisis will not harm Irish subsidiary

THE financial crisis being faced by International Service System (ISS) will have no effect on employment in its Irish subsidiary…

THE financial crisis being faced by International Service System (ISS) will have no effect on employment in its Irish subsidiary, Contract Cleaners, a spokesman for the Danish cleaning group said yesterday. ISS has been hit by major problems in its US unit and has reported losses of £200 million for the first half of 1996.

ISS made profits of £4 million last year but has been plunged into the red by problems with a US acquisition which it is now trying to sell. The founder of the group, Mr Poul Andreassen, who ran ISS for 34 years resigned as chairman last year. He still had a seat on the board, but quit that position as the disastrous results were announced.

A spokesman said all of the group would have to contribute to the effort to recover from the losses incurred, but jobs in Ireland should not be affected.

"We are not about to exit Ireland or anything like that. However, we will be trying to run a tighter ship throughout the group, throughout the world," the spokesman said.

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ISS bought Contract Cleaners for an undisclosed sum in April 1995 to form the basis of an Irish subsidiary. The cleaning company employs mostly part time workers and has offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.