UK: BEST PRACTICE NUMBERS.

Companies are increasingly using cash-based measures of performance, both internally and externally. But for many, non-financial metrics are just as important.

The question addressed to Christopher Pearce, finance director of Rentokil Group seems straightforward enough. 'Of the myriad financial measures available to assess the well-being of a company, which one or two would you select as the most trustworthy guide to corporate performance?' To be greeted by Pearce's derisive snort-cum-sigh of ennui does not, therefore, augur well.