Business Services Sector

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Companies in the sector provide support services to businesses, such as office administration, hiring and placing of personnel, security services, cleaning, and waste disposal. Major companies include ABM Industries, ADT Security Services, Automatic Data Processing, Manpower, and Waste Management (all based in the US), along with Adecco (Switzerland); G4S, Rentokil Initial, and TUI Travel (UK); ISS (Denmark), and Veolia Environnement (France).

Europe and the US are the world's largest business services markets. The industry is growing fastest in emerging markets such as Latin America, China, and India, where many businesses are rapidly expanding.

The US business services sector consists of about 340,000 companies with combined annual sales of about $620 billion and is expected to grow at a moderate rate over the next two years. Key growth drivers include companies' increasing use of temporary workers; more outsourcing of landscape and janitorial services; and new security monitoring products.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand ultimately depends on the level of business spending, which is determined by the health of the overall economy. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations and effective marketing. Large companies often enjoy economies of scale and can compete for large, national accounts. Small companies can compete by offering highly specialized services, or through superior customer service. The US business services sector is highly fragmented: the 50 largest companies account for less than 25 percent of sector revenue.

Business support activities are often undertaken in-house by establishments in many...