synergy health plc wwwsynergyhealthplccom
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synergy health plc  
annual report  financial statements 2011
a global leader  
in outsourced 
sterilisation 
services
synergy health plc annual report  financial statements 2011 financial calendar 
 
agm 27 july 2011
group results 
interim results announced november 2011
full year results announced june 2012
dividend dates 
interim dividend for 2012 announced november 2011
interim dividend for 2012 payable january 2012
 
70 million
reusable surgical 
instruments 
processed  
every year
99 sites
across 13 
countries
2nd largest
global provider 
of outsourced 
sterilisation 
services
05 million
items of healthcare 
linen processed 
every day
synergy health delivers a range of specialist 
outsourced services to healthcare providers 
and other customers concerned with health 
management these services are aimed  
at supporting our customers to improve the 
quality and efﬁciency of their activities whilst 
reducing risks to their patients and clients 
governance financials operating and ﬁnancial review our strategy who we are
designed and produced by radley yeldar wwwrycom
89
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 1 before amortisation of acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items  
visit wwwsynergyhealthplccom for more information
our strategy operating and financial review governance financials who we are
financial highlights
who we are
01  financial highlights
02 strong track record
03 chairman’s statement
04 an overview
our strategy
06 chief executive’s review
09 delivering our strategy
10 internationalisation
12 high value added services
14 differentiation through our people
 
operating and financial review
16 chief executive’s review 
 – regional review
18 finance director’s report
22 principal risks and uncertainties
24 corporate social responsibility
governance
30 board of directors and advisors
32 report of the directors
34 corporate governance 
39 remuneration report
financials 
44  independent auditors’ report
45 consolidated income statement
46  consolidated statement of 
comprehensive income 
47 consolidated statement of   
 financial position
48    consolidated cash flow statement
49 statement of changes in equity
50  notes to the consolidated 
financial statements
81 company balance sheet
82  notes to the financial statements
89 financial calendar
financial
revenues up 03 to £287 3 million 
2010 £2864 million 
operating profit
1
 up 83 to £430 million 
2010 £397 million 
profit before tax
1
 up 17 3 to £383 million 
2010 £326 million
ebitda up 47 to £784 million 
2010 £749 million 
cash generated from operations up 95 to £837 million 
2010 £765 million 
adjusted basic earnings per share up 17 1  to 5354p 
2010 4574p
basic reported earnings per share up 285 to 5210p 
2010 4056p 
dividend per share for the full year up 20 to 1584p 
2010 132p
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 1 strong track record
1 compound annual growth rate
higher revenue growth rates 
supported by sustainable improved 
margins and strong cash generation 
leave the business well positioned 
to continue to deliver
11 2873
2864
2741
2250
1526
10
09
08
07
£2873
171cagr
1
turnover £m
11 383
326
261
249
169
10
09
08
07
£383
227cagr
1
proﬁt before taxation amortisation and nonrecurring item £m
11 5354
4574
371
355
292
10
09
08
07
5354p
164cagr
1
adjusted basic earnings per share pence
11 837
765
601
468
355
10
09
08
07
£837
239cagr
1
cash generated from operations £m
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 2 our strategy operating and financial review governance financials who we are
chairman’s statement
our focus on outsourced sterilisation 
services to the medical device and 
healthcare industries is serving the 
business well
2011 has been a good year for synergy health continuing the 
improvement in operating performance and at the same time making 
incremental progress towards our strategy of becoming a leading 
global provider of outsourced sterilisation and other niche services 
despite the markets in europe and the uk remaining challenging 
due to restrained public expenditure our business has performed 
well with good underlying growth in each of our regions 
reported revenues for the period were £287 3 million 2010 £2864 
million underlying revenue growth after currency effects and the 
removal of noncore businesses was 41 adjusted operating 
margins were up by 11 to 150 2010 139 resulting in 
profit before tax amortisation and nonrecurring items increasing 
by 173 to £383 million 2010 £326 million 
in late 2010 we won a court case in respect of a fire at our dunstable 
linen operation in 2007 resulting in an exceptional pretax gain of £56 
million in addition two acquisitions were undertaken and the costs of 
these were expensed as nonrecurring items after taking account of 
amortisation and nonrecurring items profit before tax increased by 
497 to £367 million 2010 £245 million
as part of a strategy to continue to expand our international network 
during the year we acquired gamma service produktbestrahlung 
gmbh ‘gsp’ a gamma and electron beam sterilisation business 
in germany we took a further step just after the year end with the 
acquisition of beamone llc ‘beamone’ in the usa making synergy 
the second largest global provider of outsourced sterilisation services 
both businesses have been integrated successfully and are performing 
ahead of expectations
the acquisitions were funded from operating cash flow enabling us to 
retain a strong balance sheet at the year end net debt has reduced by 
£211 million to £1123 million 2010 £1334 million but remained 
similar to last year’s net debt position after taking into account the 
beamone acquisition completed on the 7 april 2011 we will shortly 
be completing new unsecured five year revolving credit facilities to 
replace the existing facility which is due to mature in january 2012 
during the year new contracts and contract renewals of £114 million 
have been achieved increasing the forward order book to £920 million 
eps and dividend
adjusted basic earnings per share before amortisation of acquired 
intangibles and nonrecurring items were 5354p 2010 4574p 
an increase of 17 1 after taking account of amortisation and 
nonrecurring items basic earnings per share were 5210p 
2010 4056p an increase of 285 
the board is proposing a final dividend of 984p which together with 
the interim dividend of 600p would give dividends for the year totalling 
1584p 2010 132p representing a 20 increase if approved the 
dividend will be paid on 6 september 2011 to shareholders on the 
register at 12 august 2011
employees
to ensure the long term sustainability of the business we have 
continued to invest in our teams with the expansion of our talent 
management programme our ability to support the growth of our 
business through internal appointments is being greatly enhanced 
by the evolution of our graduate programme increased investment 
in front line management programmes and the development of our 
senior leadership community we are also taking steps to improve the 
attractiveness of synergy to new recruits from a broader range of the 
community with a clear and well executed diversity strategy 
the board continues to be impressed with the efforts and 
commitment of our teams and this is very much reflected in the 
improved operating and financial performance that we have achieved 
during the year we would also like to welcome our new colleagues 
from gsp in germany and from beamone in the usa and costa rica 
on behalf of the board i would like to thank all of our employees for 
their continued dedication and their achievements during the year 
outlook
our underlying growth rate is progressing supported by our strategy 
to further internationalise the business in europe and the uk we are 
not anticipating any significant change in the economic environment 
and as a result we expect to see a similar trading performance in the 
current financial year whilst in asia and the americas we continue 
to see much stronger growth
our focus on outsourced sterilisation services to the medical device 
and healthcare industries is serving the business well with the new 
financial year having started strongly we anticipate a similarly strong 
performance in this new financial year 
robert e lerwill 
chairman
7 june 2011
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 3 core services
global footprint
uk  ireland europe  middle east
hospital sterilisation
outsourced hospital sterilisation provides a decontamination service for 
reusable medical and surgical equipment used in operating theatres this 
service also extends across other hospital departments primary care facilities 
and orthopaedic loan set suppliers synergy health is the largest provider of 
outsourced decontamination services in europe
healthcare solutions
healthcare solutions provides a range of services involved in managing the 
environment in a healthcare setting the services primarily involve infection 
control with services such as linen management hand hygiene and hard 
surface systems occupational health and laboratory services
medical device sterilisation
outsourced sterilisation services are provided for businesses including a large 
number of multinational medical device manufacturers using a full range 
of sterilisation technologies including gamma radiation electron beam 
and ethylene oxide its customers are mainly drawn from the medical 
pharmaceuticals and biological markets synergy health is the world’s 
second largest provider of outsourced medical device sterilisation services
£96m pa
annualised value of new contracts won in the uk this year
£18m pa 
annualised value of new contracts won in china this year
no 1 
market leader in dutch healthcare linen management
–  2300 employees
–  40 sites across the uk and ireland
–  market leader in outsourced hospital sterilisation
–  strong medical device sterilisation growth
–  1800 employees
–  50 sites in the netherlands france germany 
belgium and the uae
– expanding capacity at venlo the netherlands
–  construction of new gamma facility started at 
marcoule france
–  acquisition of gsp in dresden germany
an overview
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 4 our strategy operating and financial review governance financials who we are
asia  africa north  central america
activity
sterilisation of reusable medical devices 
equipment and surgical instrumentation 
and related outsourced services
markets
acute community and private hospitals
primary care providers
surgical instrument suppliers
dentistry
facility locations
uk 
belgium
the netherlands
china
activity
sterilisation validation and related outsourced 
services from an extensive international network
markets
medical devices
pharmaceuticals
industrial
veterinary
food
cosmetics
laboratories
facility locations
uk   ireland
france germany
the netherlands malaysia
china south africa
thailand costa rica
usa 
activity
infection control 
linen management
patient hygiene
wound care
surgical
occupational health
pathology toxicology and microbiology
markets
acute and community hospitals
primary care providers
residential homes
laboratories clean rooms
occupational health
blue chip corporates
government bodies 
facility locations
uk 
the netherlands
middle east
–  220 employees
–  4 sites in china malaysia thailand and south africa
–  hospital sterilisation progressing well servicing over 
30 chinese hospitals
–  additional medical device sterilisation capacity has 
been commissioned
–  beamone acquired post year end
–  130 employees
–  4 sites in the usa and 1 in costa rica
–  strong management team to support growth plans
–  close relationship with usbased medical 
device manufacturers
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 5 chief executive’s review
our services are missioncritical 
to our customers and for 
this reason the demand 
for outsourcing is growing
synergy health is an expert in outsourced sterilisation 
services to the medical device market as well as to 
hospitals and other healthcare providers in addition 
the business provides other outsourced services such as 
healthcare linen pathology and specialist laboratory services 
by focusing on niche outsourced services the group has 
the benefit of significant barriers to entry good cash 
generation and long term contracts
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 6 operating and financial review governance financials our strategy who we are
£701m £569m 139 138
introduction
during the year we exceeded our expectations in terms of margin 
progression but the uplift in revenue growth was slower to come 
through we have now seen growth filtering through during the early 
part of this new financial year 
the group performed well during the year meeting our expectations 
in all areas with the exception of our products based business in the 
uk underlying revenues were up 41 on last year after taking into 
account currency effects and the closure of noncore businesses 
gross margins were up by 20 to 382 2010 362 and 
adjusted operating margin was up 11 on last year to 150 2010 
139 the strategy is serving the business well with solid underlying 
growth geographic diversification and a focus on niche outsourcing 
services which will enable us to sustain our operating margins at the 
current levels
there are however still challenges to be faced and we are taking 
proactive steps to address these growth in europe and the uk is 
more subdued as a result of our mature linen businesses operating in 
mature markets and the general state of the economy our strategy of 
focusing more resources on asia is paying off with growth outstripping 
the other two regions asia and africa make up 47 of global 
revenues up from 38 last year meanwhile europe and the middle 
east’s contribution was steady at 413 2010 410 and the uk 
and ireland’s share reduced to 539 from 552 asia’s share of 
revenue generation is increasing in line with our strategy our entry into 
the americas will provide further opportunity for fast growth within our 
core services as well as supporting our asian business through closer 
links with large usbased medical device manufacturers another 
challenge is our products based business which faced a further 
decline in revenues in the uk this year holding back group revenue 
growth we are focusing very heavily on cost leadership within the uk 
and directing investment into our international markets where growth 
will be stronger
overall the group is in good shape with an internationally diversified 
business providing long term contracted high value added services 
with a forward order book of £920 million 2010 £850 million the 
business has a strong balance sheet and excellent cash generation
strategy
we set out a strategy three years ago that has resulted in synergy 
becoming one of the leading global providers of niche outsourced 
services to health related markets our core service is the provision 
of outsourced sterilisation for medical device manufacturers and for 
healthcare providers such as acute hospitals in addition we are 
leading providers of healthcare linen services in the uk and the 
netherlands manufacturers of infection control products and 
providers of specialist laboratory services 
underlying global revenues excluding noncore businesses for 
medical device sterilisation and hospital sterilisation were up 139 
and 138 respectively our healthcare solutions businesses declined 
by 29 reflecting our strategy to direct our investments towards 
sterilisation services as well as some difficult trading in the uk 
products business
looking ahead our strategic objectives are threefold firstly we will 
continue to expand the business internationally making synergy a 
truly global business secondly we will focus on high value added 
outsourced services that have high barriers to entry thirdly we will 
differentiate synergy from its competitors through its people and at 
the same time maintain a cost leadership strategy to ensure that we 
achieve greater levels of efficiency 
1 internationalisation
synergy is the leading provider of sterilisation services to hospitals 
having created the market in the uk in 1996 today we have facilities 
in the uk europe and china and our strategy is to continue to 
increase our total market share in each country as well as to continue 
our international expansion in asia and in due course in the 
united states
following the recent acquisitions of gsp and beamone we are now 
the second largest global provider of sterilisation services to medical 
device manufacturers our strategy is to continue to expand our 
presence in asia where multinational medical device companies are 
focusing their investments and healthcare providers are focusing on 
reducing infection risks we are targeting a quarter of our income to 
come from the asian region at the same time we will be extending 
our presence in the americas with the expansion of our sterilisation 
services for both medical device manufacturers and for healthcare 
providers in the short term we are focusing on medical device 
opportunities in central america with a medium term objective to 
develop our hospital sterilisation services in the united states in the 
medium term we expect to see a quarter of our income coming from 
the americas region
we are leading providers of healthcare linen services in the 
netherlands and in the uk our intention is to operate these 
businesses efficiently but not to expand them outside of these two 
countries similarly our small laboratory businesses which operate 
in the uk and in the netherlands will continue to be developed 
within these countries
we also manufacture infection control and other consumable 
products for the international healthcare market this business has 
encountered a number of challenges over the last three years and 
continues to face considerable headwinds the business is partway 
through a restructuring programme to lower its cost base to support 
a predominantly internationally based growth strategy 
2 high value added services
our strategy is to focus solely on niche services that have high 
barriers to entry significant value added content and a global potential 
presently just under three quarters of our income is derived from 
sterilisation services to the medical device and hospital markets 
the outsourcing of these services is driven by an increasing regulatory 
burden that makes outsourcing to highly specialised providers such 
as synergy economically effective 
the barriers to entry within the sterilisation businesses are 
considerable for example the service we provide to the global 
medical device manufacturers requires synergy to have experience 
competence and a network to provide missioncritical services 
synergy is recognised as one of the world’s leading providers of 
medical device sterilisation services with an extremely positive 
reputation for the quality of its services in addition we are the world’s 
largest operator of radiation sterilisation facilities relatively protected 
by licensing requirements which are becoming ever more stringent 
there are similarly high barriers to entry for the sterilisation of reusable 
medical devices for hospitals the service is again missioncritical with 
much of the challenge based on managing the complex logistics of 
supplying thousands of different types of surgical instruments synergy 
has addressed and met the challenge with our proprietary software 
systems that manage the logistics and ensure that the inherent risks 
in the service are controlled synergy has an unparalleled record of 
service delivery reflecting its strong position in the uk and its 
expanding services in europe and china
global medical device sterilisation revenue global hospital sterilisation revenue
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 7 chief executive’s review
we have very strong and defendable positions with our linen services 
in the netherlands and the uk where we are number one and two 
respectively as the markets have been consolidated down to two 
players in each case there are significant barriers to entry with scale 
and experience as well as with customers being contracted on five to 
seven year terms
looking further ahead we are researching other niche areas where 
synergy’s core competencies could be used to create similarly 
attractive operating models we are attracted to services that integrate 
more closely with clinical service provision and where there are 
benefits from scale and expertise 
3 differentiation and cost leadership
two of synergy’s longstanding strategic principles have been to 
operate a cost leadership programme as well as to competitively 
differentiate certain aspects of our services we continue to 
benchmark our performance against competitors including inhouse 
services and with our investments in technology and innovation 
we continue to lead our markets in the costeffective delivery of 
outsourced services
in parallel we continue to invest in our teams to expand and deepen 
a talent pool that will enable synergy to differentiate itself from its 
competitors through its people our partnerships with warwick 
business school and the chartered management institute are 
important investments that enable us to create sustainable leadership 
as well as a culture that differentiates synergy based on the quality of 
its people we have a global senior leadership community that plays an 
active role in the implementation of our strategy in addition we have 
an expanding graduate programme that is recruiting a new talent pool 
from which to develop our future leaders 
outlook
last year we decided to make a transition to a regionally managed 
business enabling us to have greater strategic oversight of each 
region to improve efficiencies by extracting cost synergies and to 
build a management structure that would facilitate the creation of 
a fourth region in the americas all of these objectives were fulfilled 
during the year with margins sustainably restored to an appropriate 
level improved oversight of both organic and acquisitive growth 
opportunities and just after the year end the establishment of the 
americas region with the acquisition of beamone 
synergy’s focus is on the provision of niche outsourcing services 
that create significant value for our customers our services are 
missioncritical to our customers and for this reason the demand 
for outsourcing is growing looking ahead we expect that rising 
regulatory and technical standards will continue to underpin 
demand together with the cost efficiency of synergy’s services
our strategy to expand synergy’s reach with the objective of becoming 
a global business is also working well we are continuing to see 
stronger growth in asia compared to our traditional markets and 
we expect this trend to continue our recent expansion into the 
americas also provides a second source of significant growth for 
synergy for example we have agreed an exclusive supply agreement 
in costa rica for sterilisation services to an important medical device 
business park enabling us to double our electron beam capacity as 
well as add eto services over the next year growth in the americas 
in combination with asia will see the group’s overall revenue growth 
edge up towards double digit rates over the next 12 to 18 months 
higher revenue growth rates supported by sustainable margins and 
strong cash generation leave the business well positioned to continue 
to deliver its earnings objectives
dr richard m steeves 
chief executive
£920m 2010 £850m
forward order book
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 8 operating and financial review governance financials our strategy who we are
delivering our strategy
1  to expand the business 
internationally
2  to focus on high value 
added services
3  differentiation from our 
competitors through 
our people 
9
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 internationalisation
 expanding our 
global footprint
at the start of the year we signalled our 
intention to increase capacity and enter 
new markets via both organic growth and 
bolton acquisitions 
in late 2010 we acquired gamma service 
produktbestrahlung gmbh ‘gsp’ an electron 
beam and gamma irradiation business based in 
saxony germany 
this acquisition builds our capacity in germany 
and enables synergy to add electron beam 
processing to our service offering in mainland 
europe in addition gsp’s proximity to poland 
and the czech republic provides synergy with 
a route to enter new markets in eastern europe 
germany could become a key market for synergy 
and we are actively bidding for a number of 
hospital sterilisation contracts there
in april 2011 after the end of the financial 
period we acquired beamone llc ‘beamone’ 
beamone is the largest provider of outsourced 
electron beam medical device sterilisation 
services in the usa beamone has fda 
approved sites in san diego california denver 
colorado lima ohio saxonburg pennsylvania 
and a fifth site in costa rica
the acquisition of beamone is synergy’s first 
expansion into the us sterilisation market 
estimated to be worth us600 million per 
annum as well as acquiring a well established 
and growing business in a key market 
beamone’s respected relationships with us
based global medical device manufacturers 
should enable synergy to deepen further its 
relationships and capture greater sterilisation 
business for its operations in asia and in 
particular china 
furthermore the acquisition will provide a 
platform from which synergy can start to research 
and develop the provision of its worldclass 
hospital sterilisation services to american 
hospitals and healthcare providers
this is a significant step for synergy providing us 
with an entry into one of the world’s largest and 
most established sterilisation markets beamone 
is the leading electron beam sterilisation provider 
in the usa and by adding it to our network 
we have created the second largest global 
outsourced sterilisation business in the world
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 10 operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials our strategy who we are
€95 million
enterprise value of gamma 
service produktbestrahlung 
gmbh ‘gsp’ when acquired
4 irradiation facilities 
built according to gsp’s own 
plans as modern and highly 
productive service centres
 1 bis 10 kgyh 
dose rate at the gamma 
irradiation facility gs 60
 1st entry
to north and central america
 10 mev 
energy output of beamone’s 5 
electron beam irradiators
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 11 with over 30 years’ experience in the sterilisation 
industry synergy health has a wealth of 
knowledge to share with its customers offering a 
complete range of sterilisation technologies we 
are able to offer advice on the development of 
new products and materials and on the seamless 
integration of our services into our customers’ 
manufacturing process in the past year we have 
hosted a number of education days across our 
businesses to share this knowledge
as an example in 2011 we held an event in ireland 
to help medical device manufacturers understand 
the effects of electron beam irradiation on 
commonly used polymers and our approach to 
processing and validation manufacturers gained 
an understanding of emerging technologies taking 
into account material compatibility and packaging 
requirements we were delighted to welcome 
speakers from ait rapra boston scientific and 
steripack as well as inhouse experts from both 
our uk and ireland sites in the uk we held a 
similar event which focused on ethylene oxide 
sterilisation
this year we broadened the education events to 
our hospital sterilisation customers providing an 
insight into the principles and regulations of good 
cleanroom practice our laboratory business also 
provided similar insights into microbiological 
validation and compliance 
these events have been well received and when 
combined with our record of operational excellence 
have proved a catalyst for achieving joint success
a foundation 
for joint success
high value added services
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 12 operating and financial review governance financials our strategy who we are
6m
capable of processing 6 million instruments per year
1472m
2
 
nearly 16000ft
2
 sterile service 
‘supercentre’
60 
employs over 60 people
focus on hospital sterilisation
leicester
opened in february 2011 our new 1472m
2
 
nearly 16000ft
2
 sterile service ‘supercentre’ is 
capable of processing 6 million instruments per 
year and will employ over 60 people it is already 
handling leicester royal infirmary’s full output 
plus key areas of leicester general hospital with 
glenfield general hospital due to follow in april 
2012 operating 24 hours per day the unit is 
capable of processing more than three times the 
daily demand from these three main hospitals
built to service the university hospitals of leicester 
nhs trust’s sterilisation requirements for the next 
15 years the unit is synergy’s most efficient yet in 
respect of carbon consumption per instrument 
processed synergy worked together with principal 
contractor merit merrell technology and equipment 
supplier getinge to develop a facility that combines 
optimal energy consumption with the best possible 
process flow
following completion of the main building works 
a ‘soft opening’ took place in november 2010 when 
trust stakeholders were invited to view the facility 
and appreciate its capabilities it was also the 
first opportunity for many trust employees to 
experience their new place of work before the 
leicester site could process any instruments 
it required an audit to assess compliance with 
the medical device directive and appropriate 
international standards
the auditor commented that in the thirteen years 
he had been performing inspections synergy’s 
leicester facility was his very first site with zero 
nonconformances 
the new synergy unit will take over the activity of 
two existing sterile services departments ssds 
delivering services to the three hospitals within 
the trust the first ssd to transfer was based at 
leicester royal infirmary while the workload from 
the glenfield general hospital ssd will follow in two 
months’ time
leicester’s low carbon footprint
•  steam boilers that recover waste heat and 
transfer it back to the boiler water feed
•  a ‘free air’ steriliser cooling capability that 
utilises low ambient air temperatures to 
supplement the cooler capacity
•  a ‘sleep’ mode for the control system when 
the cleanroom is unoccupied and air flow 
rates that can be adjusted to reflect varying 
occupancy levels
•  lighting that maximises energy efficiency 
throughout the unit 
•  compressors that are 35 more efficient 
than standard models
high value added services
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 13 on the button
with talent
management
differentiation through our people
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 14 operating and financial review governance financials our strategy who we are
synergy aims to attract retain and develop 
talented people to ensure we are ready to deliver 
the business strategy and take advantage of 
business opportunities 
last year our focus was on building leadership 
capability and ensuring that we have the 
competence and performance management 
frameworks in place through which to manage 
and develop our senior leadership community 
we have achieved this in relation to the leadership 
community where 95 of senior leaders from 
uk europe and asia have been through our 
leadership development centres a leadership 
competence model has enabled us to assess 
levels of competence and track performance 
improvement to develop leadership potential 
and plan for future succession 
focused graduate recruitment resulted in an 
increased graduate intake in september with plans 
to increase the number of places on the programme 
each year to continue to feed into the talent pipeline 
these initiatives will contribute to a global talent 
management programme with development aligned 
to the organisational strategy and objectives and 
ensure that talent management and development 
remain as priorities for the business 
during the year we identified a need to further 
invest in the supervisors and team leaders within our 
hospital sterilisation and linen divisions to engage 
and develop them for the future we have delivered 
a training programme covering 100 of the target 
population during the year 
we are committed to ongoing investment in 
developing our senior manager and graduate 
communities to improve their leadership capability 
to deliver this we have established management 
development programmes with the chartered 
management institute with warwick business 
school and also with henley management college
 
a leadership competence model 
has enabled us to assess levels 
of competence and track 
performance improvement to 
develop leadership potential
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 15 chief executive’s review  
regional review
despite modest underlying growth in the region of 23 the 
core sterilisation business has grown strongly at 120 reported 
revenues were held back by the closure of £12 million of noncore 
businesses poor winter weather and further declines in our product 
manufacturing business reported revenues were £1549 million 
2010 £1580 million operating profits increased by 7 2 to £250 
million 2010 £233 million with margins increasing by 13 to 161 
2010 148
sterilisation revenues for both the medical device and hospital markets 
were strong both recording double digit growth within the medical 
device sector we have seen further capacity utilisation of the new 
electron beam facility in ireland and good underlying growth in the 
majority of our existing sterilisation facilities we anticipate that we will 
need to add further sterilisation capacity in the region towards the end 
of the year
our hospital sterilisation service in the uk benefited from opening the 
leicester facility in february and growth will be sustained with a further 
three new facilities in the new financial year this year we have won new 
contracts with an annual value of £96 million the bid pipeline remains 
strong in the uk and with the nhs clearly having to seek ways of 
improving efficiency we see further momentum in this service 
particularly once the current political and structural uncertainties are 
addressed an outstanding bid for hospital sterilisation in ireland is 
unlikely to proceed at the present time because of the economic 
troubles in the country 
the uk linen business has focused on restoring operating margins 
during the year and as a result revenues were flat the business is 
operating well and has been successful in competitively differentiating 
itself by focusing on quality customer retention is strong and we expect 
to see some modest growth in circumstances where customers place 
a higher value on quality than price
the laboratory business which had previously seen a reduction in 
demand because of its dependence on the uk economy has returned 
to growth prospects for pathology and occupational health testing 
remain positive
our healthcare solutions business which manufactures infection 
control and other consumable healthcare products has struggled with 
an over reliance on the uk market which has seen very challenging 
trading conditions the team is currently restructuring its operations 
and lowering the cost base by reducing the number of sites from four 
to two in addition changes to the senior management structure are 
facilitating a much more internationally focused growth strategy that 
in combination with more progressive cost leadership should 
see a return to revenue growth
uk and ireland
the strategy for this region is primarily organically driven promoting 
outsourcing that generates improved quality and efficiency
last year we restructured the business into three 
geographic regions the uk and ireland europe and 
the middle east and asia and africa the creation 
of these regions has resulted in cost synergies as well 
as improving our local market understanding and 
responsiveness
following the acquisition of beamone in the united 
states and costa rica we will be reporting a fourth 
region – the americas 
11 1549
1580
1603
1350
10
09
08
revenue £m
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 16 our strategy governance financials operating and financial review who we are
underlying revenues for europe and the middle east were up 54 
before currency effects reported revenues were £1188 million 2010 
£117 4 million operating profits were up 156 to £205 million 2010 
£17 8 million with margins increasing by 22 to 17 3 2010 151 
reflecting the increased cost synergies from the new regional structure
the dutch linen business continued to operate efficiently and effectively 
as the market leader our scale advantage has enabled us to improve 
cost efficiencies and cash generation throughout the year our primary 
competitor has been using a pricedriven strategy in an attempt to gain 
market share but this is being countered by our relentless focus on 
quality and efficiency 
revenue growth was primarily derived from the sterilisation business 
principally the medical device market synergy is the leading provider of 
medical device sterilisation services in this region we have a particular 
strength in gamma radiation but we have been expanding our services 
to include ethylene oxide eto and electron beam our first continental 
eto facility in venlo reached capacity during the year and additional 
capacity has now been commissioned to support further growth we 
have started building a new gamma facility in marcoule france which 
will significantly improve our competitive position in southern europe 
in addition we acquired gsp  near dresden germany giving us our first 
continental electron beam facility in the region as well as much needed 
gamma capacity to service the eastern european market the 
acquisition has integrated well and outperformed expectations to date
our hospital sterilisation business operates from two of the largest 
hospitals in the netherlands and belgium whilst we are operating 
successful services the markets have been slow to develop we 
continue to bid on a selective basis for additional contracts with a 
particular focus on germany but progress has been slower than we had 
anticipated in part because we have prioritised the expansion of our 
medical device sterilisation network however we are continuing to look 
for opportunities to further expand our hospital sterilisation business in 
europe and the middle east and we may consider an acquisition to 
accelerate market entry
our facilities are located in south africa malaysia thailand and china our 
strategy is to invest in each of these countries to support continued organic 
growth as well as to expand our geographic presence across the region
underlying revenues in asia and africa were up 163 before currency 
effects revenues were £136 million 2010 £110 million with good 
growth across the region operating profits were up 251 to £27 million 
2010 £22 million with operating margins flat at 199 2010 198
the region’s revenues are derived from sterilisation services to both the 
medical device and hospital sterilisation markets the medical device 
volumes have improved again on last year demonstrating a robust 
recovery from the impact of the financial crisis two years ago we have 
made progress improving the capacity utilisation of our new facility in 
suzhou china and we expect to have the site operating at near 
to capacity within the next 18 months the majority of our suzhou 
customers are subsidiaries of large multinational manufacturers 
headquartered in the united states for example we are contracting with 
two of the top ten largest us manufacturers for work with an annualised 
value of £18 million the acquisition of beamone was an important 
step to deepen our relationships with these customers we have also 
commissioned additional capacity in our existing malaysian facility and 
we intend to broaden our reach by establishing capacity in kuala lumpur 
we have also seen reasonable growth in thailand although there is 
presently a surplus of gamma capacity in the country we are planning 
to broaden our technology offering as a means of further differentiating 
synergy and to meet the requirements of our existing customers
our hospital sterilisation volumes have improved in china we now 
process equipment through the suzhou facility for over 30 hospitals and 
smaller healthcare institutions our service is widely recognised by the 
chinese provincial government as playing a key role in lifting sterilisation 
standards and reducing infection risks particularly in medium sized class 
two hospitals however we have not been able to make sufficient progress 
expanding our network beyond suzhou and our plans for expansion will 
take longer than initially anticipated one of the key issues is that the 
chinese healthcare market is going through a major transition driven by 
the government’s new five year plan that will see china become one 
of the world’s largest national health systems by the end of the decade 
whereas three years ago healthcare policy makers were focusing on risk 
management today the focus of attention is on the rmb 123 billion 
£12 billion investment to expand capacity we are still committed to 
achieving our medium term objectives of establishing a sizeable network 
in china and we are increasing our investment to support the project
elsewhere in asia we are developing a strategy to expand our hospital 
sterilisation services in malaysia for example the government has 
initiated a pilot outsourcing project and synergy has been actively 
engaged with local companies that could ultimately become long term 
partners in the region
asia and africa
the asia and africa region is one of our most promising with 
a combination of very positive macroeconomics as well as an 
underlying demand by certain asian countries to dramatically 
improve the quality of their healthcare services 
europe and the middle east
our strategy in europe is to expand the full range of our sterilisation 
services to hospitals and medical device manufacturers primarily 
through organic growth 
11 1188
1174
1047
827
10
09
08
revenue £m
11 136
110
91
73
10
09
08
revenue £m
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 17 overall synergy is in a good shape 
with an internationally diversified 
business providing high value added 
services on long term contracts 
and an order book of nearly 
£10 billion
finance director’s report 
overview
our business delivered a good financial performance in 2011 with reported revenue 
growing 03 to £287 3 million and adjusted operating profit increasing by 83 to 
£430 million adjusted operating margin increased by 110 basis points to 150
our results were impacted by currency and noncore businesses excluding these 
underlying revenue growth was 41 and adjusted operating profit growth was 121 
adjusted operating profit and adjusted profit before tax are stated before amortisation 
of acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items
adjusted earnings per share grew by 17 1 to 5354p we have also recognised a  
nonrecurring gain of £47 million relating to the settlement of our dunstable insurance 
claim less acquisition transaction costs expensed to the income statement as required 
under ‘ifrs 3 revised business combinations’ 
cash generated from operations increased by 95 to £837 million 2010 £765 
million contributing to a reduction of net debt by £211 million to £1123 million from 
the 2010 year end position after including debt to fund the acquisition of beamone 
completed 7 april 2011 net debt was broadly unchanged at £1338 million 2010 
£1334 million adjusted operating returns on average capital employed increased to 
108 2010 97
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 18 our strategy governance financials operating and financial review who we are
1 income statement
synergy’s income statement is summarised in figure 1 below 
figure 1 income statement
year ended  
3 april 2011  
£m
year ended  
28 march 2010  
£m change
revenue 2873 2864 03
gross profit 1097 1036 58
administrative expenses 667 639
adjusted operating profit 430 397 83
net finance costs 47 71
adjusted profit before tax 383 326 173
amortisation of acquired intangibles 63 62
nonrecurring items 47 19
profit before tax 367 245 497
tax 79 24
profit for the period 288 221 300
effective tax rate
1
227 235
adjusted earnings per share – basic 5354p 4574p 171
earnings per share – basic 5210p 4056p 285
adjusted earnings per share – diluted 5264p 4499p 170
earnings per share – diluted 5123p 3990p 284
dividend per share 1584p 1320p 200
1 the effective tax rate is calculated excluding amortisation on acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items
11 revenue
revenue of £2873 million 2010 £2864 million represents a growth 
rate excluding noncore businesses and currency effects of 41 over 
the previous year the group has revenue from operations that we are 
winding down and exiting primarily relating to business streams within 
the uk’s healthcare solutions products business during the year 
these business streams contributed revenues of £118 million 2010 
£180 million the change in currency exchange rates over the last 12 
months has had a negative effect on reported revenues the weakening 
of the euro against sterling contributed to a reduction in reported 
revenue due to currency movements of £38 million
underlying revenues grew across all our business segments excluding 
noncore business and currency effects with the uk and ireland at 
23 europe and middle east at 54 and asia and africa at 163 
growth in the uk and ireland was 92 when we exclude the 
healthcare solutions products business global growth in our two main 
service lines remained strong with hospital sterilisation growing at 
138 and medical device sterilisation at 139 device sterilisation 
benefited from the acquisition of gsp at the end of the third quarter 
excluding this acquisition medical device sterilisation sales grew by 
99 over the previous year
12 gross profit
gross profit increased by 58 to £1097 million 2010 £1036 
million representing a gross profit margin of 382 an increase 
of 200 basis points over the previous year
13 adjusted operating profit
adjusted operating profit increased by 83 to £430 million 
representing an adjusted operating profit margin of 150 an 
increase of 110 basis points over last year
14 nonrecurring items
during the year we received a summary court judgement in our favour 
on the insurance claim arising from the fire at the dunstable facility 
in early 2007 following an unsuccessful appeal process by the 
defendants we are in a position to report nonrecurring profit and 
cash proceeds as part of our year end results a nonrecurring gain of 
£56 million reflects the recognition of insurance proceeds received 
less costs associated with the claim and final additional costs of 
working not previously written down the insurance claim included 
court awarded recovery of interest income of £14 million 
as per ‘ifrs 3 revised business combinations’ we have recognised 
transaction fees of £09 million in the income statement these costs 
relate primarily to the acquisition of gsp in late 2010 and beamone 
which completed just after the year end 
15 net finance costs
the group’s adjusted net finance costs were £47 million compared 
with £71 million in the previous year a decrease of £24 million the 
decrease is largely due to a reduction in average borrowings during the 
year and the natural cessation of fixing arrangements taken out when 
interest rates were significantly higher the average interest rate of the 
main syndicated facility and other group facilities is estimated at 37
16 adjusted profit before tax
adjusted profit before tax was £383 million 2009 £326 million an 
increase of 173 the adjusted profit before tax margin was 133 
2010 114 an increase of 190 basis points 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 19 17 amortisation of acquired intangibles
amortisation of acquired intangibles relates to intangible assets 
identified on acquisitions being the value of trade names and 
customer contracts and relationships
18 tax
the tax charge excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles and 
nonrecurring items of £87 million 2010 £7 7 million represents 
an effective rate of 227 2010 235 including amortisation 
of acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items the tax charge is 
£79 million 2010 £24 million with the increase mostly due to 
a nonrecurring tax credit realised in the prior year 
our effective rate reflects profits arising from a mix of territories a 
number of which have a lower rate of taxation than the uk different 
territorial growth rates and our recent entry into the americas will 
change this mix of profits in the future
19 earnings per share eps
adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings 
per share after adjusting for amortisation of intangibles increased 
by 171 and 170 respectively after amortisation of acquired 
intangibles basic and diluted earnings per share increased by 285 
and 284 respectively
2 dividend
our policy is to increase the total dividend each year in line with the 
increase in underlying earnings the board has proposed a final 
dividend of 984p representing an increase on the 2010 dividend of 
186 and bringing the total dividend for the year to 1584p growth 
of 200
3 cash flow
figure 2 summarises the group cash flow
figure 2 cash flow
year ended  
3 april 2011  
£m
year ended  
28 march 2010 
£m
adjusted operating profit 430 397
non cash items 354 352
adjusted ebitda 784 749
working capital movement 01 25
nonrecurring cash flow movement 54 09
cash generated from operations 837 765
interest 30 74
tax 63 24
net maintenance expenditure on tangible 
and intangible assets 218 194
free cash flow 526 473
acquisition of subsidiaries net of cash 
acquired 16 –
net investment expenditure on tangible 
and intangible assets 150 77
financing 39 340
dividends paid 78 64
proceeds from share issues 12 15
exchange differences 08 –
net increase in cash and cash equivalents 325 07
note adjusted ebitda is earnings before interest tax depreciation 
intangible amortisation and other noncash items
31 cash generated from operations
cash generated from operations in the year increased by 95 to 
£837 million 2010 £765 million reflecting a conversion of ebitda 
into cash of 107 2010 102 
32 interest
net interest paid was £30 million 2010 £74 million reflecting 
lower borrowing costs and a reduction in net debt this amount 
includes the receipt of £14 million interest relating to the dunstable 
insurance settlement
33 tax
tax paid was £63 million 2010 £24 million cash tax is below 
the equivalent charge in the income statement as a result of timing 
differences in respect of tangible assets and on payments made on 
account over time we would expect cash tax to move closer to the 
income statement charge
34 net expenditure on tangible and intangible assets
the group has continued to invest in new capacity during the course 
of the year as well as continuing to upgrade and maintain its existing 
infrastructure total net capital additions of £368 million 2010 
£271 million were made during the year
we analyse capital expenditure between ‘maintenance’ and 
‘investment’ expenditure maintenance capital expenditure is the 
capital required to replace the existing capital base investment 
capital expenditure enhances the capacity or efficiency of the 
group’s capital base
the main items of necessary ongoing capital expenditure are cobalt 
60 for medical device sterilisation services as the radiation source 
for gamma sterilisation plants textiles for the linen business and 
general replacement of plant and machinery around the group 
total maintenance capital expenditure was £218 million of which 
£47 million and £107 million were spent on cobalt and textiles 
respectively the remaining balance comprised plant and machinery 
and it 
total investment capital expenditure was £150 million of which 
£73 million relates to construction of new uk hospital sterilisation 
facilities £46 million relates to cobalt and £31 million was spent on 
textiles plant and machinery and it capital expenditure
we expect to see investment capital expenditure increase in the 
current year as we expand global sterilisation capacity continue 
to build new hospital sterilisation facilities in the uk and invest in 
standardised it systems to support the business as it grows 
internationally
35 financing
the movement in financing resulted primarily from a small net 
drawdown of borrowings on the revolving credit facility
finance director’s report
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 20 who we are our strategy governance financials operating and financial review
4 net debt and funding
41 net debt
strong cash generation contributed to the reduction in net debt during 
the period from £1334 million to £1123 million
the movement in the net debt is reconciled below
figure 3 movement in net debt
£m
net debt as at 28 march 2010 1334
exchange rate impacts 18
free cash flow 526
investment capital expenditure 150
acquisitions 81
dividends paid 78
proceeds from share issues 12
net debt as at 3 april 2011 1123
42 funding
existing facility
the group’s current banking agreement comprises a facility of 
£160 million split equally between a bullet facility and revolving credit 
facility under the terms of that agreement the group can borrow up 
to £232 million provided this does not exceed 30 times ebitda 
this facility is due to expire in january 2012 the group is and 
confidently expects to remain well within its banking covenant 
limits for the remainder of the facility term
as at 3 april 2011 the group had total available facilities of 
£197 million of which £151 million was drawn the drawn amount 
included £127 million under the main facility together with finance 
leases local lending lines in overseas subsidiaries and overdrafts
the debt is held mainly in sterling euros and us dollars with the 
currency mix and the level of fixed interest debt within each currency 
as at 3 april 2011 being as follows
figure 4 composition of gross debt as at 3 april 2011
level of debt  
£m
level of fixed  
interest debt  
£m
sterling 536 92
euros 656 105
us dollar 236 –
chinese yuan 83 –
total 1511 197
gross debt at 3 april 2011 was significantly higher than net debt due 
to funds having been drawn for the anticipated completion of the 
acquisition of beamone
refinancing
we are in advanced discussions with an identified club of banks 
in respect of new unsecured five year revolving credit facilities to 
replace the existing facility the main points of the new multicurrency 
facilities agreement have been agreed and the legal documentation 
is being finalised 
5 pensions
the group operates three final salary schemes in the uk one in 
the netherlands and one in germany following the acquisition of gsp  
the group also operates several defined contribution schemes
the movement in defined benefit pension scheme liabilities 
is shown below
figure 5 defined benefit pension schemes
year ended  
3 april 2011  
£m
year ended  
28 march 2010 
£m
synergy healthcare plc retirement 
benefits scheme 12 15
shiloh group pension scheme 10 19
vernon carus limited pension and 
assurance scheme 82 103
isotron bv pension and assurance 
scheme 13 17
gsp 06 –
balance sheet liabilities 123 154
in the uk the group is required to maintain a final salary pension 
scheme for employees who have transferred from the nhs which has 
to be acceptable to the government’s actuary department with the 
exception of nhs transfers the group’s defined benefit schemes are 
closed to new entrants effective from 1 april 2011 we have closed the 
three uk schemes to future accruals active members have been 
transferred to deferred status and invited to join the group’s uk 
defined contribution scheme
at 3 april 2011 the net liability arising from our defined benefit scheme 
obligations was £123 million 2010 £154 million an increase in the 
asset base and a small reduction in liabilities due to a change in 
inflation assumptions are the primary reasons for the fall in the 
total deficit
gavin hill 
group finance director
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 21 principal risks and uncertainties 
since 2007 the group has continued to expand and enhance its 
risk management efforts that identify assess and mitigate against 
the main challenges it faces this effort is led by the director of risk 
management who works closely with the senior directors and 
managers around the group to find the best solutions to the risks 
that arise in a rapidly changing business environment
the senior executive board ‘seb’ is responsible for setting and 
communicating an acceptable level of risk they are also responsible 
for ensuring that systems remain in place through appropriate 
delegation into the management chain for managing risks whilst 
avoiding actions that could stifle business expansion
well established risk groups exist in each business sector and carry 
out regular reviews of the specific risks they face these groups 
produce detailed risk registers that clearly identify the most serious 
threats to the business and communicate this message back to the 
seb the groups are also responsible for developing and implementing 
solutions and contingency plans to reduce all risks to a level that 
matches the group’s risk appetite 
progress is monitored by the seb to ensure that actions are taken 
within agreed timescales the process is fully contained and self 
regulating through the processes of review report action monitor and 
report again as individual risk scores drop to become less significant 
they are archived and then go into a two year review cycle as a result 
the risk registers do not become too large and focus on the most 
significant current challenges facing the business
during the past year the turmoil in the world markets continued to 
throw up situations that required us to modify our risk programme 
those which have been deemed to pose the highest threat are listed 
below under the following headings
• commercial 
• financial
• operational
• legal compliance
• people
commercial
business retention and expansion
a number of different factors come together to make trading conditions 
more uncertain across our different sectors the serious economic 
conditions in ireland could pose a threat to our medical device 
sterilisation services business should any fiscal changes make it a less 
attractive market for us multinational device manufacturers to do 
business there low cost imports and changing buying patterns in the 
nhs pose a threat to our healthcare solutions business in retaining 
and expanding its product offerings similarly the uk government’s 
proposals to replace 152 primary care trusts with gp consortia will 
require us to understand how we can maintain our success in offering 
outsourced sterilisation services to hospitals
mitigation
by ensuring that we maintain our cost leadership approach and can 
demonstrate value for money combined with excellence of service 
there is no reason why we cannot continue to capture new business 
the recent acquisition of gsp gives our europe and middle east region 
access to new markets and expansion opportunities rationalising 
and consolidating our manufacturing processes should also drive 
down costs and improve quality and delivery
commodity prices
increasing demand especially from asia for oil and other raw 
materials coupled with natural disasters and unrest in the middle 
east has resulted in sharp price increases at the same time economic 
recession is putting downward pressure on prices and squeezing 
margins the recent floods in pakistan resulted in the loss of much 
of the cotton harvest and our linen businesses in the uk and the 
netherlands are seeing rising costs and less availability oil prices 
continue to rise making energy dependent processes and distribution 
operations more expensive
mitigation
a two fold strategy on energy has enabled us to contain some of the 
recent increases our efforts to drive down energy use through a 
structured energy management programme combined with hedging 
a proportion of our energy costs have been effective in this regard 
further certain of our customer contracts allow for prices to be 
indexlinked to utility prices our competitors are facing the same 
pressures and it is our challenge to outperform them and be in a 
position to capture new business based on cost and quality of service
financial
new business – financial control and reporting
as the group expands into new markets and jurisdictions the risk 
of not being able to maintain adequate financial controls increases 
this risk includes potential local tax problems as well as ensuring 
that new investments realise their anticipated potential making sure 
that financial reporting from new businesses is accurate and complies 
with current approved practices will be key elements in avoiding 
financial underperformance and impact on profits and long term 
shareholder value
mitigation
the teams in our asia and africa and americas regions where the 
fastest growth is expected include employees with extensive financial 
experience who have worked in the region over many years we also 
take local professional advice and have well established relationships 
in all territories improvements including peer reviews are planned 
for 2012 both in asia and elsewhere synergy closely evaluates the 
strategic effects of its investments by forming multidisciplinary teams 
who are tasked with ensuring that new ventures are compatible with 
the long term goals of the business
legacy risks
as an acquisitive business synergy faces the risk of inheriting 
outstanding debts and liabilities one area where we face some 
exposure is in the uk final salary pension scheme deficits for the 
former shiloh vernon carus and synergy healthcare parts of 
our business 
mitigation
we have been actively developing a strategy of deficit reduction 
through better and more proactive management of the schemes 
with the exception of nhs transfers the group’s defined benefit 
schemes are closed to new entrants and with effect from 1 april 2011 
we have closed all three uk schemes to future accruals active 
members have been transferred to deferred status and invited to join 
the group’s defined contribution scheme 
in other areas extensive due diligence is carried out to make sure that 
any acquisitions whilst offering opportunities for growth represent 
a sound investment and will not threaten the financial health of 
the group 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 22 who we are our strategy governance financials operating and financial review
operational
security and safety of critical facilities
cost leadership requires us to carefully consider all new investment 
and to maximise the return we can obtain from existing assets our 
success in capturing new business across all our operational sectors 
increases the pressure on individual facilities to maintain high levels of 
service the sudden unexpected loss of a facility due to fire or natural 
disaster could impact on service and compromise the group’s ability 
to meet customer expectations customers are becoming more 
sophisticated in evaluating their suppliers in areas such as contingency 
planning and we need to be able to demonstrate that our response to 
disaster will be adequate to satisfy their requirements
mitigation
throughout the past year we have continued to evaluate and develop 
our business continuity planning we remain committed to treating 
this as an area of continual improvement so we can not only meet but 
exceed the expectations of our customers throughout the coming 
year we will work with our risk management partners to find better 
solutions to potential scenarios where we may need to initiate disaster 
recovery processes combined with this programme we also strive to 
improve our control of the working environment and implement risk 
reduction measures to minimise the likelihood of any loss occurring 
information technology ‘it’
the increasing size and sophistication of the group’s operations 
inevitably leads to a greater dependence on it systems these 
systems include financial and erp systems which are used widely 
across the business integrating with plant control software that may 
have its use limited to a single site or key piece of plant inevitably 
these systems and the platforms they rely on can become outdated 
redundant or unable to cope with the increased demand resulting 
from business growth the group is exposed to risks arising from 
outdated systems inherited through acquisitions which could slow 
its growth and development
mitigation
the group has initiated ‘project olympic’ which is designed to deliver 
a new worldwide financial system to replace our older erp systems 
and some operational control systems and to provide central support 
on a modern platform that will be able to expand as the group grows 
a project board sponsored by the group finance director has been set 
up to complete this project in 2012 the completion of this project is 
expected to eliminate many of the potential itrelated concerns and 
improve the efficiency of financial reporting it will also create 
opportunities for improved innovation scalability and cost reduction
quality risks
our business relies on maintaining the highest level of quality 
assurance to protect patient safety there can be no compromises 
in our commitment to deliver world class quality by developing and 
implementing procedures and training when errors do occur it is 
essential that lessons are learnt and where necessary procedures and 
work methods are adapted to prevent repetition failure to achieve this 
would result in a loss of confidence by our customers and increasing 
difficulty in retaining existing business and attracting new customers 
mitigation
the group continues to invest in improving its quality assurance 
programmes the appointment of a quality director for the uk and 
ireland emphasises this commitment towards excellence synergy will 
continue to evaluate and develop both its human and technological 
resources so it can exceed the minimum requirements set under 
international standards and those expected by our customers
legal compliance
changes in legislation
maintaining legal compliance in respect of financial environmental 
health and safety and other requirements worldwide is a significant 
challenge european directives set the framework for national laws 
within the eu but the interpretation and application can vary widely 
in differing national jurisdictions responding inappropriately to new 
regulations can expose the group to censure and uninsurable losses 
if fines are imposed in the uk the corporate manslaughter and 
corporate homicide act 2007 and the bribery act 2010 impose risk 
exposures on the company and its officers understanding and 
reacting correctly to these new laws will be an essential requirement in 
avoiding legal sanction
mitigation
the group has appointed senior directors and managers to take 
responsibility for maintaining legal compliance within the different 
jurisdictions where we operate this extends to corporate governance 
safety and environmental areas our company secretary in 
partnership with selected specialist advisers ensures that our 
standards of corporate governance reach the highest standards 
though our risk management processes the implications of new 
regulations are assessed and required changes and mitigation put 
in place
people risks
loss of critical knowledge
the group operates in a number of specialist areas providing 
outsourced services for companies who do not wish to invest directly 
in the expertise and technology required to carry out these services for 
themselves as such synergy has an interest in attracting and retaining 
the best people failure to continue to do this could compromise the 
successful growth of the group into new markets and impact on 
long term shareholder value
mitigation
synergy has long recognised the importance of its employees and has 
sought to provide an attractive and exciting environment for individuals 
to develop and prosper by contributing to the success of the business 
the introduction of development and leadership programmes along 
with our graduate recruitment programme underline this commitment 
in 2011 we have appointed a group talent manager to coordinate and 
improve our current efforts further
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 23 corporate social responsibility
overview
synergy is expanding its engagement with issues of 
corporate social responsibility ‘csr’ recognising the 
importance of managing daytoday activities in a 
responsible way being accountable for the impact of all 
operational activities on the environment and our local 
communities and creating a working environment in which 
our colleagues can ﬂourish csr is a business approach 
that creates value by embracing opportunities and 
managing risks deriving from economic environmental 
and social developments whilst maintaining global 
competitiveness and brand reputation
we recently received a rating of 87100 in the ftse4good index 
which is designed to measure the performance of companies that 
meet globally recognised corporate social responsibility standards 
in early 2011 we developed a group ceoled team to implement a 
csr programme which consists of representatives from different 
areas of our business to ensure the standards are cascaded 
effectively throughout our business the plc and senior executive 
boards are updated on progress within the programme on a 
regular basis
in the past year a second team has worked on a project to link 
synergy’s core values to its brand with the objective of creating a 
sustainable culture and leadership environment we chose our 
name synergy as an expression of the way we can work together 
with our colleagues customers and other stakeholders we want to 
achieve improved business outcomes by working collaboratively and 
it is important that we share common values as we expand globally 
we have taken into account the needs of our stakeholders and 
prioritised the key areas within our csr programme listed below
community relationships using our knowledge
charitable partnerships and giving educating others
employee fundraising help to healthcare
community projects
workplace environment environmental issues
diversity at work energy and carbon reduction
employee training and development transport pollution
health of employees recycling
employee retention materials 
health and safety waste management
risk management
quality management
we have also analysed our current performance to create a list of 
objectives to meet the responsibilities of our business
•  involving our business and employees in supporting the community
•  supporting healthcare related charities
•  using our knowledge and experience to interact at healthcare 
related events 
•  enhancing our internal communication methods which will assist 
in improving our business performance
•  using employee engagement surveys to understand the areas of 
improvement to continue our successful employee relationships
•  continuing the improvement of our health and safety performance
•  managing and minimising the waste and use of materials from 
our services
•  continuing to improve the efficiency of our energy use globally
synergy health was announced as the proud winner of  
the greater china rising star award at the greater china 
achievement in international trade awards organised by 
the uk trade investment ukti on friday 4th february 
at the lowry theatre in salford uk
the panel of judges praised synergy health who have 
developed local partnerships with chinese hospitals to 
help them comply with healthcare standards introduced 
by the chinese ministry of health in 2009
employee success 
winning the greater china business award
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 24 our strategy governance financials operating and financial review who we are
talent management 
training across the business
an introduction from the chief executive
corporate social responsibility is integral to the future of our business 
and we have developed both internal branding and corporate social 
responsibility teams to progress these aspects of our business 
i am pleased to sponsor both of these programmes and to provide 
supportive leadership 
our internal branding team has been responsible for defining and 
articulating the values that define synergy and then set out a 
programme that will see these values embedded within the synergy 
health brand one of the key objectives of developing our internal 
brand identity is to create a sustainable groupwide culture that lives 
beyond a small number of senior leaders in our business in time we 
also expect that this will create a source of competitive advantage as 
we seek to differentiate synergy through the actions of our people
our csr team is tasked with developing groupwide policies that will 
see synergy more engaged with its local communities reducing the 
impact of its operations on the environment and creating a positive 
environment for its employees 
we are delighted at the success of our education days in the past year 
for external audiences building relationships is very important to our 
business and we would like to see improvements in establishing 
community relationships along with more involvement in charitable 
work we shall be encouraging our employees to choose a company 
charity in the coming months
our success over the past 20 years has been derived from the 
creative committed and talented people that we have within our 
group we continue to make a commitment to broaden the training 
support and development opportunities that our employees deserve 
at all levels of the business in addition we are committed to reviewing 
and improving the working environment in support of our diversity 
policy and our objectives of ensuring that we attract and retain the 
very best people 
we have made progress in the past few years to improve the effect of 
our services environmentally which has resulted in reducing the level 
of total carbon emissions by over 7 in the past financial year in part 
resulting in the award of the carbon trust standard looking ahead we 
will continue to improve our energy utilisation and broaden our efforts 
in 2012 to make progress on improving our waste management 
controls enabling the business to reduce the levels of absolute waste 
along with providing and using more recycling facilities this will give us 
a great base to continue to improve our environmental performance
despite the challenging economic climate and the broader ambitions 
of the group we are pleased to have achieved so much progress in 
the past year and we look forward to making further progress in the 
coming year 
community relationships
charitable relationships
there are many examples of synergy’s employees organising 
charitable events internally the company has also supported 
charitable activities such as donating funds for important 
healthcare equipment
there is scope for further development within this area which will 
start by the implementation of a company charity to be chosen by 
employees to ensure the partnership is effective the company is 
donating employee time for charitable activities 
even though there will be a designated company charity we will 
continue to support employees who are involved in other fundraising 
exercises in the past individual facilities have arranged fundraising 
events and we are encouraging this to continue in the future
work in the community
we believe in supporting and building relationships within local 
communities we feel it is important for more people to understand the 
work we do and to understand the commitment we have to improving 
safety and reducing risk through our high quality services 
a prime example is our sterilisation business which recently held a 
student educational day in conjunction with the swindon academy 
sixthform students from the academy were provided with a tour of 
the gamma site at elgin and the south marston laboratory as well 
as receiving presentations from key personnel in the business 
additionally our senior management team has been active in 
providing talks and advice for university students looking for 
recruitment opportunities in the upcoming year
we look to build on these achievements by continuing to offer such 
educational days for local schools and build stronger relationships with 
hospitals in return for their continued support of our services
thought leadership
help to healthcare
our vision is to build a lasting reputation as the trusted experts in 
global healthrelated markets by differentiating our services and 
products through the way we work the healthcare sector has 
provided a platform to build a successful business and we would like 
to continue to work within the industry to share ideas and energy to 
inspire continuous improvement through innovative change
we work within a wide range of locations with different standards of 
healthcare and there are plenty of opportunities for us to improve 
these standards on a global basis we are proud of our work in china 
to aid the development of safety standards in chinese hospitals 
we recently entered into a formal partnership with the china britain 
education centre in a project to promote mutual exchanges in ideas 
knowledge and innovation amongst medical professions
to underline our achievements in this area we have been awarded the 
‘greater china rising star award’ at the greater china achievement in 
international trade ceremony and the ‘most promising new business 
award’ by the british chamber of commerce in china we were 
praised for developing local partnerships with chinese hospitals to help 
them comply with healthcare standards introduced by the chinese 
ministry of health in 2009 and the unique proposition to china’s 
synergy continues to invest in its 
teams to expand and deepen the 
group’s talent pool
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 25 healthcare community as well as commitment to developing the 
chinese management skills through our graduate programme
we are targeting closer working relationships with selected universities 
to aid development within the healthcare sector and provide 
opportunities to help medical professionals with their development 
for example we have been working in partnership with queen’s 
university belfast providing electron beam services for a research 
project on bioresorbable polymers after our recent american 
acquisition we intend to develop a strategy to help reduce infection 
rates within the usa and continue our work to improve healthcare 
standards in china
educating stakeholders in our markets
since the company was formed in 1991 our business and employees 
have built up a wide range of knowledge in sterilisation infection 
control and other health related areas we are committed to sharing 
this knowledge with a variety of people to educate them in the fields 
of our services
for example in the past year our sterilisation business has held a 
series of education days to broaden knowledge in this complex field 
and to ultimately raise standards within the healthcare sector these 
education days have included
•  microbiological validation and compliance for medical devices
•  electron beam featuring a tour of our tullamore facility
•  a good cleanroom practice and environmental monitoring day
•  an analysis of the various sterilisation processing techniques 
along with discussing effects on polymers and the usage of 
electronic components
•  ethylene oxide education day introducing theory and technology 
as well as a practical insight into the validation process
looking ahead we shall continue to hold our successful education 
days as well as broaden our contribution and thought leadership to 
both global and local healthcare markets 
workplace environment
our values
to progress the branding and csr programmes we have outlined 
the common values in our business a leadership model has been 
developed that includes our four core values and our intention is to 
have these values embedded within the synergy brand
thinking
analytical thinking
innovation
information seeking
oraganisation awareness 
and alignment
technical and 
professional expertise
driving forward
customer focus
commercial acumen
initiative and proactivity
planning and organising
focusing on results
developing  
self  others
adaptability
concern for accuracy
decisiveness
resilience
selfdevelopment and 
coaching others
leading  
 interacting
communication
inﬂuencing and 
persuading
interpersonal skills
relationship building
teamwork
leadership
achievement
integrity
innovation
accountability
achievement – we believe our success comes from our focus on 
exceeding expectations and our commitment to go that extra mile 
however small the difference may seem
accountability – we take personal responsibility for our actions and 
are equipped to take the right course of action
integrity – we believe that the way we work is as important as what we 
do we care deeply about the quality of our work and inspire trust by 
delivering on promises
innovation – we achieve the best possible results by working with 
customers to develop new ways of solving problems and reducing risk 
our ethics policy can be found online at  
httpwwwsynergyhealthplccominvestorrelationscodeofethicsaspx
corporate social responsibility
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 26 our strategy governance financials operating and financial review who we are
training and development
it takes a certain type of person to work at synergy one who 
understands the importance of the work we do recognises the 
implications of their actions and can make a difference with the 
development of the business we understand that our employees 
are a core asset to our continued success and we are focused on 
attracting and retaining talented and committed personnel strong 
growth within the business has given opportunities for our employees 
to develop their skills and progress their career within the business 
our human resources department works closely with managers 
and employees to meet their aspirations for personal growth and 
development we perform an organisational capability review to assess 
the management team’s performance against the skills required along 
with development centres to access their potential and assist them to 
create development plans our employees have semiannual and 
annual performance reviews 
at our senior executive board meetings a minimum of four talent 
reviews are undertaken per year where the board discusses the talent 
within the business with a view to how they can develop further 
an example of our desire to grow and develop our talent pool is our 
graduate management training programme which has been in place 
since 2008 to recruit and develop high calibre graduates
we are expanding the use of 360degree feedback in all business 
areas and using development centres to monitor the skills and 
development areas of our employees we aim to put kpis in place 
which measure people’s mobility in the company as part of our 
diversity programme we have informal mentoring schemes in place 
and we will be setting out support networks to assist women and other 
specific groups in the business to further advance their careers
employee opinions
employee engagement is important and we have a number of systems 
in place that enable us to understand the views of our employees 
these include employee forums works councils and engagement 
surveys the next major survey is in 2011 where we intend to more 
fully understand the perception of our business in relation to our 
brand values
the company has a senior leadership community which involves the 
top 65 managers from across the group the community is in place to 
build crossdivisional working practices and ensure that information 
and expertise is shared across the different businesses along with 
engaging management and developing their leadership skills we are 
looking to increase the visibility and interaction of senior management 
across the business 
diversity at work
our leadership embraces diversity creating the right environment 
for people from all walks of life to contribute to our pool of talent 
we passionately believe that our future success is dependent on 
attracting and retaining people from a cross section of our communities 
and in doing so we will create competitive advantage for synergy we 
promote a supportive and inclusive culture for all our employees and 
thirdparty business partners however we also recognise that there is 
a need to create the right environment to support our diversity strategy 
and the senior leadership of synergy together with the csr team are 
looking at how we develop our business to improve its attractiveness to 
new recruits as well as to provide support networks for minority groups 
within our business to positively support their personal development
senior leadership
this year we welcomed constance baroudel to the plc board as the 
first of two appointments that will see a more appropriate balance 
between men and women on the board within our senior leadership 
community which represents our top global 65 leaders women 
represent just 17 of the community whilst we are not intending to 
set targets per se we are putting in place support networks to ensure 
that all of our people who have senior leadership potential are given 
adequate support and to ensure that there are not artificial barriers that 
would impede their career development within synergy we take a 
similar view towards ethnicity where we believe we would benefit from 
a much more diverse population of senior leaders
ethnicity
there is a wide range of ethnic groups within the business largely 
due to our spread of facilities around the globe the uk and ireland 
and europe in particular consist of mainly white employees and as 
these regions account for a high proportion of our workforce it 
disproportionately influences the overall ethnic diversity of our group 
the group is looking to introduce a mobility policy with the intention 
of broadening employees’ international experience and creating the 
opportunity for minority groups to achieve senior leadership roles
age
our business possesses a number of strong teams to carry out and 
improve our daytoday services the age profile by region is set out 
below and the data is used for development and succession planning 
to ensure the long term sustainability of the group
uk  ireland
europe  middle east
asia  africa
americas
total
ethnicity 
0 20 40 60 80 100
white asian black asian
chinese
thai
hispanic mixed 
race
other
uk  ireland
europe  middle east
asia  africa
americas
total
age comparison 
0 20 40 60 80 100
under 30 3039 4049 5059 over 60
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 27 gender
we promote a supportive and inclusive culture within our business 
with equal opportunities for both genders 54 of our workforce 
are women
health and safety
synergy is committed to upholding high standards of health and safety 
consistently around the globe our track record is strong meeting and 
in most cases exceeding externally benchmarked standards
our group safety standard was introduced in 2009 to assist managers 
to understand and implement safe systems of work across the group 
core activities such as hazard assessment manual handling and 
contractor control are seen as essential requirements in attaining a 
safe workplace training has been provided to managers and other 
employees to further improve performance we have continued to 
implement an independent audit system across our sites with every 
site fully inspected and reports prepared that clearly identify where 
improvements can be achieved
the csr programme will aid our progress in raising health and 
safety standards with our healthcare customers as well as reinforce 
our diligence within the business we are improving the availability 
of health and safety data to our employees and will use these statistics 
to help identify and achieve best practice 
environmental issues
energy and carbon reduction
we are committed to ensuring that our services minimise their impact 
on the environment there will always be a need for a substantial level 
of energy use given the nature of our services however it is important 
that we continue to reduce carbon emissions and our environmental 
impact our initiatives have resulted in some substantial reductions 
in our carbon footprint this year as well as recognition for our efforts 
and approach
in october 2010 we were accredited with the carbon trust standard 
the accreditation was awarded following company wide dedication to 
achieving carbon emission reductions the level of carbon emissions 
from the business has fallen between 2010 and 2011 and the changes 
in consumption by type of utility are shown in the table below
in relative terms the change in emissions per unit of activity weighted 
to total energy consumption across the group is down 71 the 
overall reduction in tonnes of co2 per £ of revenue is 29 in real 
terms after adjusting for price inflation each measure indicates that 
our carbon emission reduction targets for 2011 have been exceeded 
the outcomes from this year indicate a growing and sustainable 
carbon management and reduction culture in our organisation as a 
whole the table below shows the absolute carbon emissions along 
with the total utility usage
200910 201011 variance variance 
absolute carbon 
emissions tc02 48700 46200 2500 51
– uk and ireland 14000 12100 1900 134
–  europe and 
middle east 30500 29400 1100 34
– asia and africa 4200 4600 405 97
total utilities 
mwh 190300 181900 8400 44
– electricity 47000 43700 3300 71
– gas 141700 136900 4800 34
– oil 1600 1300 300 188
the use of gas accounts for 75 of our total energy consumption with 
the majority of the 44 reduction in overall energy coming from gas 
and electricity the reduction in gas was led by changes in production 
within our dutch linen business 6 and thorne sterilisation facility 
16 electricity consumption fell 7 by 33 million kwh almost half 
of which came from reconfiguring work in our sterilisation facilities 
we are pleased with our achievement in reducing our energy use 
and carbon emissions and we will continue to work at reducing these 
levels we are analysing our operational performance to identify areas 
in which to minimise our usage further
uk  ireland
europe  middle east
asia  africa
americas
total
gender comparison 
0 20 40 60 80 100
male female
corporate social responsibility
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 28 our strategy governance financials operating and financial review who we are
transport
transportation is pivotal to our services especially in ensuring a fast 
track turnaround for medical instruments to our hospital customers 
each of our facilities has an objective to provide our logistics services 
as efficiently as possible with a minimum impact on the environment 
our vehicle capacity utilisation rates are monitored trucks are 
increasingly fitted with wind deflectors and we are investigating 
alternative energy sources we have adopted a company car policy 
which has reduced the number of cars and c02 levels between 2010 
and 2011 the following table shows statistics on our car and 
commercial fleet usage levels
cars
commercial  
fleet
2010 2011 2010 2011
number of cars 78 66 72 77
average c02 
per vehicle 306 270 324 297
total c02 
for fleet 11940 8900 23327 22850
the business has expanded its video conferencing technology to 
reduce the need for travel and further conferencing units will be 
installed at existing sites as well as our recently acquired beamone 
facilities in the usa and costa rica
recycling and waste management
this year the csr team has launched a new initiative to reduce 
the amount of waste that the group generates and to increase 
the level of recycling whilst the group complies with its waste 
management obligations this new initiative will set targets to reduce 
waste production further reducing the impact our business has on 
the environment
quality management
our businesses are heavily regulated by local and international 
standards an independent quality management system qms 
has been developed within each sector of the business with 
experienced quality management professionals working closely with 
their operational colleagues to implement documented systems that 
comply with all applicable standards all our sites are certified to 
the appropriate standards giving our customers the assurance that 
they are receiving a quality service our hospital sterilisation sites are 
ce certified for medical device processing and our medical device 
sterilisation facilities are approved to the necessary iso standards 
this commitment to quality was demonstrated when our site at suzhou 
became the first hospital sterilisation facility in china to be accredited 
to iso 13485 and iso 9001
there are a number of internal audits implemented throughout the 
year which provide the opportunity to implement best practice and 
reduce noncompliance rates to the lowest practicable levels possible 
we recognise the long term success of the group depends on its 
ability to consistently provide services of the highest quality last year 
this approach resulted in a number of successful new business 
projects including
•  the certification of a new hospital sterilisation site in leicester
•  the granting of a pharmaceutical manufacturing licence to our 
healthcare solutions facility in chorley
these developments prove our commitment to quality and our ability 
to obtain all necessary regulatory approval required by the business 
and by our customers
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 29
environmental accreditation 
the carbon trust standard
synergy health plc has been accredited 
with the prestigious carbon trust standard 
the accreditation was awarded to the 
specialist outsourced service provider 
following company wide dedication to 
achieving carbon emission reductions
in order to achieve the standard 
the company established a carbon 
management team comprising of 
representatives from each division  board of directors
1 robert lerwill
nonexecutive chairman
robert was appointed as a nonexecutive 
director of the company in january 2005 and 
chairman in september 2010 he is currently 
a nonexecutive director and chairman of the 
audit committee of bat plc and nonexecutive 
director and chairman of the audit committee 
of transcom worldwide sa until november 
2008 robert was chief executive of aegis 
group plc between 1997 and 2003 robert 
was an executive director of cable  wireless 
plc and prior to that was group finance 
director of wpp group plc robert qualified as 
a chartered accountant with arthur andersen 
he is chairman of the company’s nomination 
and audit committees and a member of the 
remuneration committee
2 richard steeves
group chief executive
richard founded the business in 1991 and 
was appointed chief executive in 1992 
previously he was corporate development 
manager for braithwaite plc a plant hire 
company and associate consultant with 
strategic consultants lek consulting 
richard has a phd in biochemistry from 
st john’s college cambridge and a bsc 
1st class hons in human physiology from 
the university of british columbia in 
vancouver canada richard is a companion 
of the chartered management institute
3 gavin hill
group finance director
gavin joined the group as finance director 
in april 2010 he was previously director 
corporate finance for serco group plc 
following a number of divisional finance 
director and commercial roles prior to 
serco gavin worked for syngenta ag and 
astrazeneca plc in both finance and 
corporate treasury gavin is a chartered 
accountant and associate member of the 
association of corporate treasurers
4 sir duncan k nichol
nonexecutive director
duncan became a nonexecutive director in 
november 2002 he was chief executive of 
the national health service management 
executive between 1989 and 1994 and a 
nonexecutive director of bupa between 
1994 and 2002 duncan is currently a 
nonexecutive director of lorica group 
deltex medical group plc the christie nhs 
foundation trust and ukas he is also 
chairman of skills for justice duncan was 
chairman of hm courts service board for 
england and wales between april 2008 
and march 2011 he is chairman of the 
company’s remuneration committee and 
a member of the audit and nomination 
committees
5 constance baroudel
nonexecutive director
constance was appointed to the board as a 
nonexecutive director in september 2010 
she is the group director of strategic 
marketing at de la rue plc prior to de la 
rue she was a senior consultant for strategic 
decisions group constance attended 
l’institut d’etudes politiques de paris where 
she majored in corporate finance and 
international relations constance also has 
an msc in international accounting and 
finance from the london school of 
economics constance is a member of 
the audit nomination and remuneration 
committees
1 2 3 5 4
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 30 who we are our strategy operating and financial review financials governance
senior executive board and advisors
6 7 8 9 10
senior executive board
richard steeves
group chief executive
gavin hill
group finance director
6 marcello smit
 ceo europe and middle east
7 paul santing
 group commercial director
8 tim mason
 group company secretary
9 glenn thibault
 ceo americas
10 adrian coward
 ceo uk and ireland
 paul wynne
 ceo asia and africa
company registration number 
3355631
registered office 
ground floor stella 
windmill hill business park 
whitehill way 
swindon wiltshire sn5 6nx
secretary
t c mason ma fcis mcipd 
advisors
bankers
lloyds tsb bank plc
25 gresham street 
london ec2v 7hn
the royal bank of 
scotland plc  
third floor 
3 temple back east 
bristol bs1 6dz
joint brokers
investec bank 
uk ltd  
2 gresham street 
london ec2v 7qp
morgan stanley  co 
international plc 
20 bank street 
canary wharf 
london e14 4ad
auditors
kpmg audit plc 
st nicholas house 
park row 
nottingham ng1 6fq
registrars
computershare 
investor services plc 
the pavilions 
bridgwater road 
bristol bs99 6zz
solicitors
taylor wessing llp 
5 new street square 
blackfriars 
london ec4a 3tw
dla piper uk llp 
victoria square house 
victoria square 
birmingham b2 4dl
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 31 report of the directors 
the directors present their management report together with financial 
statements for the period ended 3 april 2011 
principal activity  
the principal activities of the group are the provision of outsourced 
healthcare support services and contract sterilisation services  
business review  
the business review comprises the chairman’s statement on page 3 
the chief executive’s review on page 6 and the finance director’s report 
on page 18 
a separate report on page 22 sets out the principal risks and 
uncertainties facing the group  
a further separate report on page 24 sets out corporate and social 
responsibility activities 
the chief executive’s report on page 6 sets out the main trends and 
factors likely to affect the future development performance and position 
of the group’s business 
results and dividends 
there was a profit for the period after taxation amounting to 
£28799000 2010 £22159000 an interim dividend of £3298000 
2010£2676000 was paid on 10 december 2010 a final dividend 
of £5421000 2010 second interim £4540000 is proposed by 
the board for the period ended 3 april 2011 the final dividend will 
subject to shareholders’ approval be paid on 6 september 2011 to 
shareholders on the register at 12 august 2011 a review of the group’s 
performance for the period ended 3 april 2011 is contained in the 
chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review and the finance 
director’s report 
share capital 
as at 3 april 2011 the company’s authorised share capital consisted 
of one class of 106000000 ordinary shares of 0625 pence each of 
which there were 55090782 ordinary shares in issue no shares were 
held in treasury at that date the authority granted to the company 
for the purchase of up to 5479520 ordinary shares remained in force 
and unused  
the rights and obligations attached to the company’s ordinary shares 
and restrictions on the transfer of shares in the company are set out in 
the company’s articles of association copies of which can be obtained 
from companies house in the uk or the company secretary 
shareholders are entitled to receive dividends when declared to receive
the company’s reports and accounts to attend and speak at general 
meetings of the company to appoint proxies and to exercise voting 
rights  
no person holds securities in the company carrying special rights with 
regard to control of the company the company is not aware of any 
agreements between the holders of securities that may result in 
restrictions on the transfer of securities or on voting rights unless 
expressly specified to the contrary in the articles of association of the 
company the company’s articles of association may be amended by 
a special resolution of the company’s shareholders 
the company issued 386569 ordinary shares of 0625p each during 
the period for an aggregate consideration of £1189000 in respect of 
options exercised under the company’s share option schemes  
directors 
the present directors of the company are shown on pages 30 and 31 
g hill was appointed to the board on 26 april 2010 and i m jacques 
resigned on that date c f baroudel was appointed to the board on 
22 september 2010 and both s g wilson and m l m smit resigned 
on that date no other director served during the period in accordance 
with the recommendations set out in the uk corporate governance 
code all the elected directors will submit themselves for reelection 
at the annual general meeting c f baroudel having been appointed 
since the last annual general meeting submits herself for election 
details of the directors’ service contracts are given in the remuneration 
report on page 39 
the interests of the directors in the shares of the company as at 3 april 
2011 and 28 march 2010 were as follows 
 
3 april 2011 
ordinary shares  
of 0625p each 
28 march 2010
 ordinary shares 
of 0625p each
r m steeves 2477674 2455934
g hill 16300 –
r e lerwill  3000 3000
d k nichol – –
c f baroudel – –
or at date of appointment  
there was no change in the shareholding of any director between the 
end of the financial period and the date of this report details of options 
held by directors are contained within the remuneration report 
statement of directors’ responsibilities in respect of the annual 
report and the financial statements 
all the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and 
the group and parent company financial statements in accordance with 
applicable law and regulations 
company law requires the directors to prepare group and parent 
company financial statements for each financial period under that law 
the directors are required to prepare the group financial statements in 
accordance with international financial reporting standards ‘ifrs’ as 
adopted by the eu and applicable law and have elected to prepare the 
parent company financial statements in accordance with uk 
accounting standards and applicable law uk generally accepted 
accounting practice  
under company law the directors must not approve the financial 
statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of 
the state of affairs of the group and parent company and of their profit 
or loss for that period  
in preparing each of the group and parent company financial 
statements the directors are required to 
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently 
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent 
• for the group financial statements state whether they have been 
prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu 
• for the parent company financial statements state whether 
applicable uk accounting standards have been followed subject to 
any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial 
statements and 
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it 
is inappropriate to presume that the group and the parent company 
will continue in business 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 32
 the directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records 
that are sufficient to show and explain the parent company’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the 
financial position of the parent company and enable them to ensure 
that its financial statements comply with the companies act 2006 they 
have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open 
to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to prevent and detect 
fraud and other irregularities 
under applicable law and regulations the directors are also responsible 
for preparing a directors’ report directors’ remuneration report and 
corporate governance statement that comply with that law and those 
regulations 
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the 
corporate and financial information included on the company’s website 
legislation in the uk governing the preparation and dissemination of 
financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions 
employee engagement 
the group recognises the impact that positive employee engagement 
has on developing a culture of excellence maintaining organisational 
stability and fostering an environment in which people feel valued and 
included 
the group is an equal opportunities employer equal opportunities are 
offered to all regardless of race colour nationality ethnic origin sex 
including gender reassignment marital or civil partnership status 
disability religion or belief sexual orientation age or trade union 
membership 
the group gives full and fair consideration to applications for 
employment from people with disabilities the policy is to offer equal 
opportunity to all disabled candidates and employees who have a 
disability or become disabled in any way during the course of their 
employment a full assessment of the individual’s needs is undertaken 
and reasonable adjustments are made to the work environment or 
practices in order to assist those with disabilities 
all candidates and employees are treated equally in respect of 
recruitment promotion training pay and other employment policies 
and conditions all decisions are based on relative merits and abilities 
the group continues to employ multiple channels of communication 
and is committed to improving these channels so that all employees 
have access to information as well as having an opportunity to express 
their views and ideas on matters affecting their employment and the 
group channels include 
• employee forums and where appropriate works councils 
• ‘touch point’ the group intranet site 
• regular leadership briefings – followed by communication 
cascadesteam briefings 
• an employee satisfaction survey 
• regular business updates via circulars 
employment policies are updated in a timely way to reflect legislative 
changes and training to communicate or embed change is developed 
and rolled out as appropriate 
training is provided as required to ensure that we have a skilled 
workforce – this requires a balance of training for the work our 
employees do now and developing and preparing people for the future 
 
for several years the company has operated a savings related share 
option scheme which gives employees an opportunity to enter into a 
savings contract for a fixed period with an opportunity to acquire shares 
in the company at the end of that period 
directors’ indemnity 
in accordance with the company’s articles of association directors 
have been granted a continuing indemnity issued by the company to 
the extent permitted by law in respect of liabilities incurred as a result of 
their office the indemnity would not provide any coverage to the extent 
that the director is proved to have acted fraudulently or dishonestly 
directors’ and officers’ liability insurance 
during the period the company maintained insurance cover for 
directors’ and officers’ liability as permitted under section 233 of the 
companies act 2006 
corporate and social responsibility 
the statement on corporate and social responsibility on page 24 
contains disclosures concerning environmental matters employee 
involvement and social and community issues  
substantial shareholders 
at the date of this report the company had been notified of the following 
holdings of voting rights attaching to the company’s ordinary shares of 
0625p each in accordance with the disclosure and transparency 
rules  
name shareholding
axa sa 7660171 1390
prudential plc group of companies 3458504 628
global aegon asset management group 3296843 598
invesco asset management ltd 3154839 573
f  c asset management plc 2726059 495
black rock advisors 2705645 491
artemis investment management limited 2688327 488
old mutual asset managers uk limited 2599250 472
newton investment management 2561177 465
r m steeves 2477674 450
legal  general group plc 2084368 378
contractual relationships or other arrangements 
the company has no contractual relationships or other arrangements 
with contractors customers or suppliers that are critical to the business 
policy and practice on payment of creditors 
all group companies are responsible for establishing terms and 
conditions with their suppliers and it is group policy that payments are 
made within such agreed terms and conditions trade creditors at the 
period end amount to 58 days 2010 57 days of average supplies for 
the period 
political and charitable donations 
during the period the group made charitable donations totalling 
£17000 2010 £5000 no political donations were made during 
the period 2010 £nil further information on the group’s charitable 
donations is contained in the corporate and social responsibility report 
on page 24 
treasury and risk management 
the group’s treasury and financial risk management objectives and 
details in respect of the group’s exposure to these risks are detailed in 
note 19 to the financial statements 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 33
 report of the directors corporate governance 
going concern 
the company’s business activities together with the factors likely to 
affect its future development performance and position are set out in 
the business review on pages 4 to 17 the financial position of the 
company its cash flows liquidity position and borrowing facilities 
are described in the finance director’s report on pages 18 to 21 
in addition notes 18 to 19 to the financial statements include the 
company’s objectives policies and processes for managing its capital 
its financial risk management objectives details of its financial 
instruments and hedging activities and its exposure to credit risk 
and liquidity risk 
the company has considerable financial resources together with  
long term contracts with a number of customers and suppliers across 
different geographic areas and market places as a consequence the 
directors believe that the company is well placed to manage its 
business risks successfully despite the current uncertain economic 
outlook the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company 
has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis 
of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements 
this statement in respect of the business as a going concern has 
been prepared in accordance with going concern and liquidity risk 
guidance for directors of uk companies 2009 published by the 
financial reporting council in october 2009 
disclosure of information to auditors 
the directors who held office at the date of approval of this report 
confirm that so far as they are each aware there is no relevant audit 
information of which the group’s auditors are unaware and each 
director has taken all steps that he ought to have taken as a director to 
make himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish 
that the group’s auditors are aware of that information 
auditors 
a resolution for the reappointment of kpmg audit plc as auditors of the 
company is to be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting 
annual general meeting 
the annual general meeting will be held on 27 july 2011 at the offices 
of investec bank plc 2 gresham street london ec2v 7qp the notice 
convening the meeting together with explanatory notes for the special 
business are set out in a shareholder circular which will be posted with 
the annual report and financial statements and proxy voting papers 
full details of all the resolutions to be proposed are provided in the 
notice of meeting 
responsibility statement of the directors in respect of the annual 
financial report 
we confirm that to the best of our knowledge 
• the financial statements prepared in accordance with the applicable 
set of accounting standards give a true and fair view of the assets 
liabilities financial position and profit or loss of the company and the 
undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole and 
• the directors’ report includes a fair review of the development 
and performance of the business and the position of the issuer and 
the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole 
together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties 
that they face 
on behalf of the board 
t c mason 
group company secretary 
7 june 2011  
combined code compliance 
the board is committed to the highest standards of corporate 
governance the system by which the company is directed managed 
and controlled in the interests of its stakeholders in the year to 3 april 
2011 the company was subject to the combined code on corporate 
governance ‘combined code’ published in june 2008 by the 
financial reporting council ‘frc’ the directors are of the opinion 
that the company has been in compliance with the conditions of the 
combined code up to the date of this report except where any non
compliance is disclosed and explained 
in may 2010 the frc published its new corporate governance code 
dated june 2010 replacing the combined code which will now be 
known as the uk corporate governance code from 4 april 2011 
the company is subject to the uk corporate governance code 
the board has carefully considered the uk corporate governance code 
and is confident that its corporate governance policies and procedures 
are appropriate and will ensure that it remains able to comply with or 
explain clearly any divergences from the proposed new uk corporate 
governance code 
the following statements set out the principles and methods to which 
they adhere 
the statement of directors responsibilities in respect of the annual 
report and the financial statements is set out in the report of the 
directors on page 32 
the board 
as at 3 april 2011 and as at the date of this report the board of 
directors was made up of five members comprising a nonexecutive 
chairman two further nonexecutive directors and two executive 
directors the nonexecutive directors are considered by the board 
to be independent of management and free of any relationship which 
could materially interfere with the exercise of their independent 
judgement the nonexecutive directors are considered to reflect 
a suitable breadth of skills knowledge and experience d k nichol is 
the senior independent director 
biographical details of the directors currently in office are shown on 
page 30 the company’s policy relating to the terms of appointment 
and the remuneration of both executive and nonexecutive directors is 
detailed in the remuneration report on page 39 
the procedure for appointing directors is detailed in the nomination 
committee section below 
the board meets regularly during the year as well as on an ad hoc basis 
as required the board met 11 times during the year and attendance 
for each is set out on page 37 
the board’s primary role is to provide entrepreneurial leadership and 
to review the overall strategic development of the group as a whole 
in addition the board sets the group’s values and standards and 
ensures that it acts ethically and that its obligations to its shareholders 
are understood and met 
the board has a formal schedule of matters reserved to it for decision 
which it reviews and agrees annually but also delegates specific 
responsibilities to a senior committee the senior executive board 
‘seb’ and certain board committees
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 34
  
specific responsibilities reserved for the board include 
• setting and amending the group’s overall business strategy 
strategic business plan and the annual operating budget 
• approval of the annual report  financial statements interim 
dividends and recommendation of the final dividend 
• approval of any changes to the company’s capital structure 
including the raising of additional capital and the purchase of the 
company’s shares 
• approval of any significant changes in accounting policies 
or practices 
• approval of contracts with annual revenue in excess of £5 million 
• approval of any investment or disposal of the share capital of another 
company greater than 5 of the company’s share capital 
• approval of the acquisition of assets with a consideration in excess 
of £10 million and any disposal of assets greater than £25 million 
• approval of any capital expenditure in excess of £10 million 
• major changes in the rules of the company pension schemes 
or changes of trustees or fund management arrangements 
• approval of changes to the employee share and other incentive 
schemes and the allocation of executive share options 
• all stock exchange related issues including approval of 
communications to the stock exchange 
• establishing board membership and powers including the 
appointment and removal of board members and the group 
company secretary 
• establishing terms of reference and membership of the 
board committees 
• approval of all related party transactions 
• setting the remuneration of the auditors and making 
recommendations for the appointment or removal of auditors 
• approving any major changes in policy with respect to risks covered 
by insurance 
• approving all treasury matters including the setting of policies to enter 
into contracts that are not in the ordinary course of business and 
authorising bank facilities including bank borrowing other loans and 
internal rate swaps and approval of all foreign currency transactions 
in excess of £5 million 
• overseeing the group’s main controls and their effectiveness 
• other matters including health and safety and risk management 
the board sets aside at least two consecutive days each year to 
conduct a review of its strategy with the seb and other senior executives 
in attendance for certain sessions as appropriate 
directors receive papers several days in advance of board meetings and 
also have access to the advice and services of the company’s advisers 
the board has established a procedure for directors if deemed 
necessary to take independent professional advice at the company’s 
expense in the furtherance of their duties this is in addition to the 
access that every director has to the group company secretary  
who is charged with ensuring that the board procedures are followed 
and that good corporate governance and compliance is implemented 
within the group together with the group chief executive and the 
group company secretary the chairman ensures that the board is 
kept properly informed and consulted on all issues reserved for it 
the role of chairman and group chief executive is separate and 
clearly defined with the division of responsibilities set out in writing 
and approved by the board the chairman’s principal responsibilities 
are to chair the board and shareholder meetings and to ensure the 
effective running of the board the group chief executive’s principal 
responsibility is leading the seb in the day to day running of the group’s 
business the chairman and group chief executive meet regularly 
between meetings 
in accordance with best practice the chairman addresses the 
developmental needs of the board as a whole with a view to developing 
its effectiveness as a team and ensures that each director refreshes and 
updates his or her individual skills knowledge and expertise 
during the year the board conducted a detailed evaluation of its own 
performance and that of the audit nomination and remuneration 
committees by means of a written questionnaire the evaluation 
focused on several areas including board structure meeting 
administration meetings and their content strategy board 
committees communication and information and governance 
the results of the evaluation were considered and discussed by 
the board performance evaluations including skills brought to the 
board and the contributions each director made to it were carried 
out for each director  
there was a change in chairman during the year the nonexecutive 
directors have not yet held formal meetings to consider the chairman’s 
performance but this will be undertaken during the forthcoming 
financial year 
the board has arranged to hold board meetings at group business 
locations to help all board members gain a deeper understanding of the 
business this also provides senior managers from across the group 
with the opportunity to present to the board as well as to meet the 
directors on more informal occasions the nonexecutive directors 
are also invited to attend the group’s leadership conference which 
is held annually 
succession planning is a matter for the whole board rather than for a 
committee the company’s articles of association provide that one 
third of the directors will seek reelection at the agm every three years 
however all directors will now submit themselves for annual reelection 
by shareholders at the company’s agm in accordance with the uk 
corporate governance code additionally new directors may be 
appointed by the board but are subject to election by shareholders 
at the first opportunity after their appointment 
following their appointment a formal comprehensive and tailored 
induction is given to all directors including visits to key locations 
within the group and meetings with members of the seb and other 
key executives 
although the nonexecutive directors are not formally required to meet 
the shareholders of the company their attendance at presentations of 
the annual and interim results is encouraged 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 35
 corporate governance  
board committees 
the seb comprises the group chief executive group finance director 
the group company secretary the group commercial director and the 
ceos of each of the regions of the group and meets at least monthly 
the seb is primarily responsible for 
• the management of all the group’s businesses 
• delivering the strategy and the agreed business plans and budgets 
which have been signed off by the board 
• making key commercial decisions within the framework of the agreed 
business plan and strategy 
• monitoring all risks operational financial and reputational 
• reviewing and maintaining the effectiveness of the group’s system 
of internal control on a day to day basis and 
• managing the business in a manner appropriate for a ftse 250 
company 
remuneration committee 
at the date of this report the remuneration committee comprises  
d k nichol chairman and the two nonexecutive directors r e lerwill 
and c f baroudel all of whom were independent in accordance with 
the definition set out in the combined code the committee met four 
times during the year and directors’ attendance for each meeting is 
shown in the table on page 37 the chairman of the remuneration 
committee attends the annual general meeting to respond to any 
questions that might be raised on the committee’s activities  
the remuneration committee has the following key duties 
• reviewing and making recommendations on the company’s 
framework of executive remuneration and cost including all 
emoluments pension entitlements and other benefits of the  
executive directors and as appropriate other senior executives 
this includes agreeing the level of cash bonuses that are paid 
• determining on behalf of the board the executive directors’ 
remuneration by reference to individual performance and 
market data 
• setting and confirming the rewards under the group’s long term 
incentive plan ltip and 
• reviewing the operation of executive share option schemes and the 
granting of such options 
audit committee 
at the date of this report the audit committee comprised r e lerwill 
chairman and also the two nonexecutive directors d k nichol and  
c f baroudel all of whom were independent in accordance with the 
definition set out in the combined code 
the company recognises the fact that in accordance with the 
combined code following his appointment as chairman of the 
company r e lerwill should not also chair the audit committee 
an additional suitably qualified nonexecutive director is being sought 
via external recruitment consultants to chair the audit committee  
it is hoped that an appointment will be made in the near future 
the appointment of an additional nonexecutive director will be 
considered within the terms of reference of the nomination committee 
each member of the committee brings relevant financial experience 
from senior executive levels the expertise and the experience of the 
members of the committee are summarised on page 30 
the committee met three times during the year and the directors’ 
attendances for each meeting is shown in the table below executive 
directors are invited to attend meetings and provide reports as and 
when considered appropriate the committee meets with external 
auditors without management present at least once during the year 
the committee has direct access to the group’s auditors and liaises 
with executive management to review the effectiveness of internal 
controls 
kpmg audit plc were appointed as auditors to the company in 2006 
and are reappointed annually by shareholders to ensure objectivity 
key members of the audit team rotate off the company’s audit during 
the year the committee reviewed kpmg audit plc’s fees effectiveness 
and whether the agreed audit plan had been fulfilled and the reasons 
for any variation from the plan the committee also considered its 
robustness and the degree to which kpmg audit plc was able to 
assess key accounting and audit judgements and the content of the 
management letter the committee concluded that the audit was 
effective and that the relationship and effectiveness of the external 
auditor be kept under review kpmg audit plc also audits the 
subsidiaries of the group  
the committee has developed and implemented a policy on the 
supply of nonaudit services by the external auditors to ensure their 
continued objectivity and independence the committee is satisfied 
that the provision by kpmg audit plc of nonaudit services does not 
impair their independence or objectivity the committee has approved 
the range of services that may be provided by kpmg audit plc 
these include transaction due diligence and accountancy assistance 
on projects subject to approved authorisation limits the services 
require prior authority from either the group finance director the 
chairman of the audit committee or the full audit committee 
the chairman of the audit committee attends the annual general 
meeting to respond to any shareholder questions that might be raised 
on the committee’s activities 
the audit committee has the following key duties 
• to review the annual financial statements and interim reports prior to 
approval focusing on changes in accounting policies and practices 
major judgemental areas significant audit adjustments going 
concern and compliance with accounting standards stock exchange 
and legal requirements 
• to monitor the group’s systems of internal control 
• to consider the appointment of the auditors and their remuneration 
including allocation of nonaudit fees to ensure that their 
independency and objectivity is maintained 
• to meet with the auditors to discuss the scope of the audit issues 
arising from their work and any matters the auditors wish to raise and 
• to review the group’s corporate review procedures and any 
statement on internal controls prior to endorsement by the board 
nomination committee 
the nomination committee meets when required and at the date of this 
report comprised r e lerwill chairman and also the nonexecutive 
directors d k nichol and c f baroudel only members of the 
committee are entitled to be present at meetings but others may be 
invited by the committee to attend if appropriate 
the nomination committee is responsible for considering all potential 
appointments to the board and for making suitable proposals to the 
board in relation to potential appointments it meets as and when board 
appointments or other senior positions within the group are made 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 36
  
the systems are designed to manage rather than eliminate risk of failure 
to achieve the group’s objectives the systems provide reasonable 
not absolute assurances against material misstatement or loss 
such systems are reviewed by the board to deal with changing 
circumstances 
the group does not have an internal audit function although this is 
continually under review by the board and the audit committee the 
board is presently of the view that having reviewed and considered the 
current control environment it is still adequate given the group’s size 
and range of businesses 
the group has a group finance function that reports to the group 
finance director and is independent of the business units to ensure 
objectivity and control when preparing group financial information 
the group finance function undertakes financial reviews of the regional 
finance functions on an ad hoc basis and provides technical and 
commercial support when required 
assessment of business risk 
a system of business risk identification assessment and evaluation 
has been in place during the year within the management process 
throughout the group through a formal risk management framework 
led by the group director of risk management this is explained in the 
reports of principal risks and uncertainties and corporate and social 
responsibility on pages 22 and 24 respectively the board regularly 
reviews strategic risks 
control environment 
the group’s operating procedures include a comprehensive system for 
reporting financial and nonfinancial information to the board including 
• the definition of authorisation limits both financial and otherwise 
detailed appraisal documents are produced for any major capital 
projects 
• a review of annual budgets and forecasts against budgets that are 
produced at least twice a year 
• a review of monthly management accounts at group and operational 
level including financial performance together with balance sheet 
and cash flow analysis which are reported against budget forecasts 
and prior year with major variances explained 
• a risk management report for each board meeting focusing on any 
new risks arising and management of existing risks 
on an annual basis the group finance function undertakes a review 
of financial controls as part of its year end process which is considered 
by the board the annual review gives a comprehensive update on 
the previous year’s report and outlines actions taken to redress any 
weaknesses in each regional business and across group functions 
the review also highlights areas where improved controls have been 
implemented and key actions to be addressed in the coming financial 
year which are monitored by both the board and the audit committee 
control procedures 
detailed operational procedures that embody key controls have been 
developed for each of the group’s businesses the implications of 
change in law and regulations are taken into account within those 
procedures 
the board has agreed formal rigorous and transparent procedures 
to be followed by the committee in making its recommendations 
and appointments to the board the committee has access to such 
information and advice both within the group and externally at the 
cost of the company as it considers necessary this may include the 
appointment of external executive search consultants where considered 
appropriate the committee met twice during the year 
for the appointment of c f baroudel as nonexecutive director  
on 22 september 2010 the company engaged a firm of external 
search consultants to handle the search and recruitment process 
the nomination committee was fully involved with both the recruitment 
and assessment of potential candidates a shortlist of candidates was 
put through a rigorous assessment process and final candidates were 
interviewed by the whole nomination committee 
the group company secretary acts as secretary to all board 
committees 
directors’ attendance record 
the attendance of directors at relevant meetings of the board and its 
committees was as follows 
 board
audit  
committee 
remuneration 
committee
nomination
committee
total number of meetings 11 3 4 2
r e lerwill 10 of 11 3 of 3 4 of 4 2 of 2
r m steeves 11 of 11 – – –
g hill
i
 10 of 10 – – –
d k nichol 11 of 11 2 of 3 4 of 4 2 of 2
c f baroudel
ii
 4 of 6 2 of 2 1 of 1 –
i m jacques
iii
 0 of 1 – – –
s g wilson
iv
 3 of 5 1 of 1 1 of 3 2 of 2
m l m smit
v
 2 of 5 – – –
notes 
i g hill was only entitled to attend 10 board meetings following his appointment as a 
director on 26 april 2010 
ii c f baroudel was only entitled to attend 6 board meetings following her appointment as a 
director on 22 september 2010 
iii i m jacques resigned as a director on 26 april 2010 
iv s g wilson resigned as a director on 22 september 2010 
v m l smit resigned as a director on 22 september 2010 
directors’ conflict of interest 
there are procedures in place to deal with directors’ conflict of interest 
arising under section 175 of the companies act 2006 and such 
procedures have operated effectively during the year 
articles of association 
the company’s articles of association may only be amended by special 
resolution at a general meeting of shareholders 
internal control 
the directors acknowledge that they have overall responsibility for the 
group systems of internal control and for reviewing the effectiveness of 
those controls 
the board has taken into account the relevant provisions of the 
combined code the turnbull report and the listing rules and an 
ongoing process has been established for identifying managing and 
evaluating the risks faced by the group 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 37
 corporate governance  
monitoring process 
there are clear procedures for monitoring the system of key controls 
the significant components are 
• cyclical and random reviews of operational and financial controls 
by the director of risk management the group’s quality managers 
the head of it senior finance managers and the group finance team 
• review by the audit committee of the process for identifying and 
assessing risks and of the effectiveness of controls via the work 
of external audit and direct access to group and operational 
management 
the board confirms that it has considered the effectiveness of the 
group’s system of internal controls described above for the financial 
year and up to the date of this report 
relationship with shareholders 
the group chief executive group finance director and the group 
company secretary are responsible for ensuring effective 
communication with shareholders the company places considerable 
importance on communication with the shareholders including its 
employee shareholders 
apart from the annual general meeting the company communicates 
with its shareholders by way of the annual report  financial 
statements which are available to all shareholders either in paper 
form or electronically and can be accessed via the company’s website 
httpwwwsynergyhealthplccom the group’s annual and interim 
results as well as all announcements issued by the london stock 
exchange are published on the company’s website 
the company also communicates with its institutional shareholders 
through a combination of analysts’ briefings throughout the year but 
particularly at the interim and year end results stage 
business at the company’s annual general meeting will cover the 
annual report  financial statements the directors’ remuneration 
report election and reelection of directors reappointment and 
remuneration of auditors political donations and political expenditure 
authority to allot shares disapplication of preemption rights purchase 
by the company of its own shares notice period for general meetings 
and reapproval of the save as you earn share option scheme 
full details and an explanation of these resolutions are set out in the 
notice of meeting the proxy votes for and against each resolution as 
well as abstentions are counted before the annual general meeting and 
the results will be made available at the meeting after shareholders have 
voted on each resolution on a show of hands all results statements and 
company announcements are accessible to all shareholders via the 
group’s website httpwwwsynergyhealthplccom 
all shareholders are invited to the annual general meeting at which they 
have the opportunity to put questions to the board
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 38
 remuneration report 
the board presents its remuneration report which has been prepared 
on the recommendation of the remuneration committee and in 
accordance with the requirements of the companies act 2006 
composition of the remuneration committee 
the remuneration committee of the board is chaired by d k nichol 
and also comprises the nonexecutive directors r e lerwill and  
c f baroudel s g wilson served on the committee until 22 september 
2010 when appropriate the committee also invites the views of the 
chief executive the group finance director and the company 
secretary 
remuneration policy 
the group is committed to meeting best practice in areas of corporate 
governance and executive remuneration the company’s executive 
remuneration policy is in line with the company’s overall practice on 
pay and benefits which is to reward employees competitively in setting 
executive salaries the committee takes into account a number of 
factors including market conditions salaries in comparable companies 
in similar industries and affordability in order to attract and retain 
competent executives the committee also considers general pay 
and employment conditions of all employees within the group and is 
sensitive to them to prevailing market conditions and to governance 
trends when assessing the level of salaries and the remuneration 
packages of executive directors remuneration is considered with 
regard to personal performance responsibilities and experience and 
this is benchmarked alongside independently compiled salary survey 
information 
the committee recognises the need to link an executive’s remuneration 
package to individual and corporate performance and considers it has 
achieved a balance between basic salary annual bonuses to reward 
individual performance during the period and share options and long 
term incentive plans to encourage longer term career planning within 
the group and future participation in its growth 
the committee does not consider that the targets that are included 
in the executive’s remuneration package are incompatible with the 
director’s responsibility for environmental social and governance 
matters whilst the committee’s terms of reference do not require 
specific targets on these matters the committee is obliged to ensure 
that when setting remuneration policy appropriate incentives are 
provided to encourage enhanced performance in a fair and reasonable 
manner  
the committee has determined that the company’s executive directors 
are appointed to the board on terms of a contract that can be 
terminated by the company with 12 months’ notice after the first year 
of service the committee believes that this arrangement provides a 
measure of stability in that it provides an opportunity for the recruitment 
of replacement executives and an orderly hand over of duties 
the service contracts of all the executive directors which are rolling 
contracts contain a provision exercisable at the option of the company 
to pay an amount on early termination of employment the company 
will use the pay in lieu of notice provisions when the speed certainty 
and protection of restrictive covenants afforded by such clauses are 
thought to be in the best interests of the company and the 
circumstances surrounding the departure of the relevant director justify 
their use the committee’s policy is that payments to directors on 
termination should reflect the circumstances that prevail at the time 
also taking account of if applicable and appropriate the director’s duty 
to mitigate the committee continuously reviews its policies of executive 
remuneration and severance in the best interests of shareholders 
guidance on best practice expectations is taken into account prior to 
agreeing directors’ contractual provisions 
executive directors are eligible to participate in the appropriate defined 
contribution pension schemes and other regular employee benefit plans 
including health and life insurance only base salary is included in the 
calculation of pension contributions 
the details of individual components of the remuneration package and 
service contracts are disclosed below 
components of executive directors’ remuneration 
overview 
the principal components of executive directors’ remuneration 
packages are base salary which is the only element of pay on which 
pension benefits are calculated annual bonus scheme long term 
incentive plan and pension benefits each of these components is 
explained further below 
salary 
the committee meets at least once a year in order to consider and set 
the annual salaries for executive directors the committee also reviews 
the policies adopted regarding remuneration across the group last 
year the committee initiated a benchmark exercise to ensure levels of 
directors’ remuneration were competitive with the market the guide 
adopted was the hewitt new bridge street guide for ftse 250 
remuneration for 2009 with the appropriate benchmark for the 
company being the ftse 250 bottom half with a median market 
capitalisation of £375 million 
incentive arrangements 
annual bonus scheme 
the executive directors participate in the group’s performancerelated 
annual bonus scheme bonuses are currently awarded for achieving 
profit and cash flow targets set by the board together with an element 
related to achieving personal objectives during the year the executive 
directors are entitled to receive their full bonus if all of these objectives 
have been achieved maximum potential bonuses as a percentage of 
annual base salary were 100 in respect of r m steeves and 55 in 
respect of g hill no bonus payments are pensionable  
the board aims to achieve a balance between short term targets that 
are rewarded by an annual cash bonus payment and longer term 
targets that are rewarded by sharebased incentives 
long term incentive plan ltip 
the long term incentive plan for executive directors and senior 
executives was approved by shareholders in 2005 the principal 
features are as follows  
all executive directors and senior executives nominated by the 
committee are entitled to be considered for the grant of awards under 
the ltip the awards take the form of an option over shares ‘ltip 
option’ where granting the option is conditional upon the performance 
of the company over the measurement period 
the performance conditions were chosen because the committee 
believes that these targets are aligned and compatible with the interests 
of shareholders and the creation of shareholder value 
an award under the ltip to a nominated participant will take two forms 
1 the first type of award is a right to acquire a specified number of 
shares by way of an option ‘ltip option’ with award conditional upon 
the performance of the company over the measurement period the 
remuneration committee has discretion to set the level of conditional 
award up to a maximum of 450 of basic salary the initial conditional 
award granted in june 2005 in respect of r m steeves and i m jacques 
was 450 of basic salary and that of m l m smit was 150 of basic 
salary the maximum conditional awards for 2006 and 2007 did not  
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 39
 remuneration report  
2 the second type of award takes the form of a ‘coinvest’ 
arrangement and requires that the participant to whom the award is 
to be made invests in shares in the company and continues to hold 
those shares throughout the measurement period ‘ltip coinvest’ 
at the end of the measurement period depending upon the growth 
in earnings per share adjusted as above of the company over the 
measurement period the participant will receive a number of free 
‘matching’ shares under the ltip coinvest 
the maximum amount that a participant may invest is the bonus 
achieved under the annual bonus scheme during the previous 
financial period 
the number of matching shares will be determined in accordance with 
the following table 
growth in earnings per share ratio of matching shares received 
over 15 each year two shares for each one purchased
between 10 and 15 each year one share for each one purchased 
before the end of the last financial period the committee consulted with 
the company’s advisors in view of the changes to uk taxation 
arrangements coming into effect on 6 april 2010 having received 
appropriate advice and having conservatively estimated the likely level 
of awards under the scheme in july 2010 the committee amended the 
rules of the ltip scheme to permit the early exercise of awards under 
the eps element of the ltip option and the option under the ltip  
coinvest arrangements subject to a clawback agreement in the event 
that the option did not vest fully following the completion of the audit of 
the accounts accordingly options were exercised by r m steeves and 
i m jacques as described in the detailed schedules below  
pensions 
the company makes pension contributions equivalent to 10 of the 
base annual salary for g hill and 15 of the base annual salary for  
r m steeves into defined contribution schemes 
m l m smit participated in a multiemployer industrywide defined 
benefits scheme as the company’s share of the underlying assets 
and liabilities of the scheme cannot be accurately determined the 
company’s share of the overall surplusdeficit of the scheme is treated 
as defined contribution in nature pension contributions in respect of 
m l m smit were equivalent to 17 of his basic salary 
service contracts 
the contract details for the current executive directors are as follows 
 effective date unexpired term notice period 
r m steeves 1 november 1999 12 months 12 months 
g hill 26 april 2010 12 months 12 months 
i m jacques who resigned as a director on 26 april 2010 also had 
a service contract with 12 months’ notice on which he gave notice 
to terminate in november 2009 mr jacques left the company on 
30 october 2010 he was paid the balance of his contracted salary 
entitlement on that date 
m l m smit who resigned from the board on 22 september 2010 but 
continues to be a member of the company’s senior executive board 
has a service contract that requires six months’ notice to be given to the 
company and 12 months’ notice to be given by the company if the 
company serves notice then in addition to such notice m l m smit is 
entitled to compensation of not less then 24 months’ salary and 
benefits plus the bonus for the previous calendar year  
exceed 150 of basic salary in accordance with the conclusion of the 
remuneration committee reported in last year’s remuneration report 
that a conditional award of 200 of basic salary is appropriate for the 
chief executive a conditional award of 200 of salary was made to  
r m steeves conditional awards of 150 of salary were made to  
i m jacques and m l m smit  
the remuneration committee carried out a detailed review of the level 
of awards under this scheme in july 2009 and adjusted the levels of the 
award so that conditional awards were reduced to 150 of salary in 
respect of r m steeves and 125 of salary in respect of i m jacques 
and m l m smit performance targets were also amended as detailed 
in the table below the committee considered that in the current 
economic conditions the targets needed to be achievable in order to 
provide the necessary motivation for the executive directors it should 
be noted that the targets remain very demanding notably that in order 
to receive the maximum award relating to the part of the award 
described in note a below the earnings per share must grow by 
20 on a compound basis over the three year measurement period  
these changes were made following consultation with the company’s 
top ten shareholders who all confirmed that they were supportive of the 
proposed changes 
the vesting of the shares will be dependent on the extent to which 
the following performance targets have been satisfied 
a  50 of the ltip option is determined by a comparison of the 
earnings per share figure at the end of the measurement period with 
that at the start for these purposes earnings per share will be adjusted 
for amortisation of intangibles nonrecurring items share option 
charges and any other items deemed reasonable by the committee 
b  the other 50 of the ltip option is determined by the total 
shareholder return generated by the company in comparison to that 
generated by companies in the ftse 250 index a table ranking the 
companies in order of performance will be produced in july of each 
year of the measurement period to establish the ranking of the 
company awards in previous years used the ftse small companies 
excluding investment trusts index but the ftse 250 index is now 
considered more appropriate following the company’s admission to 
the full list in july 2008  
the shares in each element of the conditional award will vest in 
accordance with the following table 
awards made up to june 2008 
vesting level eps growth  position in the tsr table 
vesting at 100 25 top 10 
vesting on straight line basis 
between 50 and 100 
between 20  
and 25 
top 25 but 
outside top 10 
vesting on straight line basis 
between 25 and 50 
between 15  
and 20 
top 50 but 
outside top 25 
none of the shares will vest below 15 below top 50 
awards made from july 2009 onwards 
vesting level eps growth  position in the tsr table 
vesting at 100 20 top 25 
vesting on straight line basis 
between 50 and 100 
between 15  
and 20  
vesting on straight line basis 
between 25 and 50 
between 10  
and 15  
vesting on straight line basis 
between 25 and 100  
top 50 but 
outside top 25 
none of the shares will vest below 10 below top 50 
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 40
  
r m steeves and g hill will stand for reelection at the company’s forthcoming annual general meeting and the unexpired term of their service 
contracts is disclosed above 
nonexecutive directors’ remuneration 
the remuneration of nonexecutive directors is established by the whole board details of each nonexecutive director’s remuneration is included 
below the nonexecutive directors do not receive any pension or other benefits all nonexecutive directors are engaged on letters of appointment 
that set out their duties and responsibilities and confirm their remuneration in the event that either party wishes to terminate the appointment 
six months’ notice is required the company may terminate each of these appointments at any time without the payment of compensation other 
than the notice payment 
the following information has been audited 
directors’ remuneration 
the remuneration of the directors who served throughout the period except where indicated for the period to 3 april 2011 is as follows 
 
salary 
£’000
bonus 
£’000
benefit in kind 
£’000
2011 total  
excl pension 
£’000
2010 total  
excl pension 
£’000 
2011
pension 
£’000
2010 
pension 
£’000
r m steeves
5
  420 420 10 850 563 63 181
g hill
1
 225 132 17 374 – 22 –
i m jacques
2 
 150 – 4 154 392 15 24
c f baroudel
3 
 26 – – 26 – – –
r e lerwill 63 – – 63 32 – –
d k nichol 45 – – 45 32 – –
m l m smit
4 
 92 31 9 132 326 18 41
s g wilson
4
 35 – – 35 44 – –
 1056 583 40 1679 1389 118 246
notes 
1 appointed 26 april 2010 2  resigned 26 april 2010 3  appointed 22 september 2010 4  resigned 22 september 2010 5  during the previous financial year r m steeves sacrificed 
salary and bonus related emoluments amounting to £123000 which were paid into his pension scheme without that sacrifice the disclosures for total remuneration and pension would have 
been £686000 and £58000 respectively 
the committee considered the performance of the executive directors against each of the elements of the targets set for them and concluded that 
the maximum bonus was payable in each case for m l m smit the disclosure relates to that part of the bonus earned during the period in which 
he was a director of the company 
the total directors’ compensation in relation to other long term benefits ltip and other sharebased payments was £501000 2010 £745000 
calculated in accordance with ifrs 2 share based payments 
r m steeves also served as nonexecutive deputy chairman of caretech holdings plc until his resignation from this position on 15 april 2010 
he received a fee of £3000 2010 £39000 for his services  
share options 
details of the company’s share option schemes are set out in note 26 to the financial statements 
the following directors hold options over ordinary shares of 0625p in the company’s share option schemes as follows 
 
options held at 
28 march 2010 
options granted 
during the period 
options 
exercised 
during the period
options lapsed 
during the period
options held at 
3 april 2011
exercise price 
pence
market value at 
date of exercise date from which exercisable expiry date
r m steeves    
sharesave
1
 2950 – – – 2950 527p – 1 february 2015 1 august 2015
g hill    
sharesave
1
 – 2313 – – 2313 658p – 1 february 2016 1 august 2016
i m jacques    
sharesave
1
 1377 – – 1377 – 686p – 1 november 2010 1 may 2011
approved scheme
2
 4000 – 4000 – – 279p 625p 1 december 2005 1 december 2013
notes 
1 ‘sharesave’ refers to the savings related share option scheme  
2 ‘approved scheme’ refers to the approved share option plan 
these schemes are described in detail in note 26 to the accounts 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 41
 remuneration report  
directors’ interest in long term incentive plan shares 
a ltip options 
date of award 
maximum number 
of options as at  
28 march 2010 
maximum number 
of options granted 
during the period
number of options 
exercised during 
the period
number of options 
lapsing during 
the period
maximum number 
of options as at 
3 april 2011
midmarket share 
price on date  
of award 
midmarket share 
price on date 
of exercise note
r m steeves   
1262007 72487 – 35240 37247 – 7760p see note 5 1
3062008 104603 –––1046037385p –2
1472009 114841 –––1148415045p –3
1462010 – 101559––10155962033p –4
g hill   
1462010 – 38689––3868962033p –4
i m jacques   
1262007 45425 – 22084 23341 – 7760p see note 6 1
3062008 49163 ––49163–7385p –2
1472009 59972 ––59972–5045p –3
m l m smit   
1262007 28117 – 13669 14448 – 7760p see note 7 1
3062008 38370 –––383707385p –2
1472009 50339 –––503395045p –3
1462010 – 43030––4303062033p –4
notes 
1 this award was made on 12 june 2007 over shares that have a value of 150 of the relevant director’s salary the measurement period for this award ran from this date to 12 june 2010 
2 this award was made on 30 june 2008 over shares that have a value of 200 of the salary of r m steeves and 150 of the salary of i m jacques and m l m smit the measurement 
period for this award runs from this date to 30 june 2011 
3 this award was made on 14 july 2009 over shares that have a value of 150 of the relevant director’s salary the measurement period for this award runs from this date to 14 july 2012 
4 this award was made on 14 june 2010 over shares that have a value of 150 of the salary of r m steeves 125 of the salary of m l m smit and 100 of the salary of g hill 
the measurement period for this award runs from this date to 14 june 2013 
5 r m steeves exercised 16310 of these shares on 31 march 2010 under the arrangements described earlier when the mid market price was 60075 and 18930 on 30 june 2010 when the 
mid market price was 64625p 
6 i m jacques exercised 10221 of these shares on 31 march 2010 under the arrangements described earlier when the mid market price was 60075 and 11863 on 15 july 2010 when the 
mid market price was 670p 
7 m l m smit exercised these shares on 14 july 2010 when the mid market price was 6665p 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 42
  
b ltip coinvest 
date of award 
maximum number 
of matching 
options as at 
28 march 2010 
maximum number 
of matching 
options granted 
during the period
number of matching 
options exercised 
during the period
number of matching 
options lapsing during 
the period
maximum number  
of matching  
options as at  
3 april 2011 
price paid by director 
for coinvest shares
midmarket 
price on date 
of exercise
r m steeves   
1262007 36500 –36500–– 7900p60075p
3062008 59420 –––59420 7100p–
2172009 28896 –––28896 50125p–
1462010 – 86890––86890 668p–
g hill   
1462010 – 32600 – – 32600 see note 2 –
i m jacques   
1262007 5000 –5000–– 7900p60075p
3062008 5000 ––5000– 7100p–
30102008 20000 ––20000– 3500p–
m l m smit   
1262007 2000 –2000–– 8580p6665p
30102008 28000 –––28000 3500p–
2272009 1500 –––1500 5100p–
1462010 – 17976––17976 667p–
notes 
1 the actual number of matching shares that will vest is contingent on the performance targets described earlier 
2 g hill purchased shares on three separate occasions at prices of 656p 674p and 675p  
the aggregate amount of gains made by the executive directors on the exercise of share options was £728000 2010 £2107000 the market 
price of the 0625p ordinary shares was 823p at 3 april 2011 the market price ranged from 5625p to 948p during the period 
performance graph 
the graph below shows the group’s performance for the fiveyear period to 3 april 2011 measured by total shareholder return ‘tsr’ compared 
with the performance of the ftse small cap index excluding investment trusts also measured by tsr which is defined as share price growth 
plus reinvested dividends the ftse small cap index has been chosen because it provides a basis for comparison against companies in a relevant 
broad based equity index in which the group would have been a constituent member if it had been on the full list of the london stock exchange 
for the whole measurement period  
synergy health
ftse 250 ex investment trust
250
200
150
100
50
apr06
source datastream
apr10 oct10 mar11 oct06 apr07 oct07 apr08 oct08 apr09 oct09
share price p
 
 
d k nichol 
chairman of the remuneration committee
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review financials governance
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 43
 independent auditors’ report to the members of synergy health plc  
we have audited the financial statements of synergy health plc for the 
period ended 3 april 2011 set out on pages 45 to 89 the financial 
reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the 
group financial statements is applicable law and international financial 
reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the eu the financial 
reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the 
parent company financial statements is applicable law and uk 
accounting standards uk generally accepted accounting practice 
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body 
in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the companies act 2006 
our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the 
company’s members those matters we are required to state to them 
in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent 
permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone 
other than the company and the company’s members as a body 
for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors 
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set 
out on page 32 the directors are responsible for the preparation of the 
financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair 
view our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the 
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and international 
standards on auditing uk and ireland those standards require us to 
comply with the auditing practices board’s apb’s ethical standards 
for auditors 
scope of the audit of the financial statements 
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is provided 
on the apb’s website at wwwfrcorgukapbscopeprivatecfm 
opinion on financial statements 
in our opinion 
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the 
group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 3 april 2011 and 
of the group’s profit for the period then ended 
• the group financial statements have been properly prepared in 
accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu 
• the parent company financial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with uk generally accepted accounting 
practice and 
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the 
requirements of the companies act 2006 and as regards the group 
financial statements article 4 of the ias regulation 
opinion on other matters prescribed by the companies act 2006 
in our opinion 
• the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been 
properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 2006 and 
• the information given in the directors’ report for the financial period 
for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the 
financial statements and 
• the information given in the corporate governance statement set 
out on page 34 with respect to internal control and risk management 
systems in relation to financial reporting processes and about share 
capital structures is consistent with the financial statements  
matters on which we are required to report by exception 
we have nothing to report in respect of the following 
under the companies act 2006 we are required to report to you if 
in our opinion 
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent 
company or returns adequate for our audit have not been received 
from branches not visited by us or 
• the parent company financial statements and the part of the 
directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not in agreement 
with the accounting records and returns or 
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not 
made or 
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require 
for our audit or 
• a corporate governance statement has not been prepared by the 
company 
under the listing rules we are required to review 
• the directors’ statement set out on page 34 in relation to going 
concern  
• certain elements of the report to shareholders by the board on 
directors’ remuneration and 
• the part of the corporate governance statement on page 34 relating 
to the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the june 
2008 combined code specified for our review 
 
 
wayne cox senior statutory auditor 
for and on behalf of kpmg audit plc statutory auditor 
chartered accountants 
st nicholas house 
park row 
nottingham 
ng1 6fq 
7 june 2011 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 44
 consolidated income statement 
for the period ended 3 april 2011 
2011 2010
note
before
 amortisation 
of acquired 
intangibles and 
nonrecurring 
items
£’000
amortisation 
of acquired 
intangibles and 
nonrecurring 
items
note 4
£’000
total
£’000
before 
 amortisation  
of acquired 
intangibles and 
nonrecurring  
items 
£’000 
amortisation 
of acquired 
intangibles and 
nonrecurring 
items
note 4
£’000
total
£’000
continuing operations  
revenue 3 287314 – 287314286421 –286421
cost of sales 177633 – 177633182736 –182736
gross profit 109681 – 109681103685 –103685
administrative expenses  
– administration expenses excluding amortisation 
of acquired intangibles  66637 3278 63359 63943 1903 65846
– amortisation of acquired intangibles – 6265 6265 – 6200 6200
 66637 2987 69624 63943 8103 72046
operating profit 43044 2987 40057 39742 8103 31639
finance income 6 4205 1446 5651 2579 – 2579
finance costs 7 8975 – 8975 9687 – 9687
net finance costs 4770 1446 3324 7108 – 7108
profit before tax 4 38274 1541 36733 32634 8103 24531
income tax 8 8686 752 7934 7661 5289 2372
profit for the year 29588 789 28799 24973 2814 22159
attributable to  
equity holders of the parent 29406 789 28617 24846 2814 22032
noncontrolling interests 182 – 182 127 – 127
 29588 789 28799 24973 2814 22159
earnings per share  
basic 10 5210p 4056p
diluted 10 5123p 3990p
 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 45
 consolidated statement of comprehensive income  
for the period ended 3 april 2011 
note 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
profit for the year  28799 22159
other comprehensive incomeexpense for the year  
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations  2647 3068
cash flow hedges – derivative instrument effective portion  438 2029
actuarial gainloss on defined benefit pension plans 27 2454 6695
provision for deferred tax on defined benefit pension plans  932 1875
  687 5859
total comprehensive income for the year  28112 16300
attributable to  
equity holders of the parent  28029 16287
noncontrolling interests  83 13
  28112 16300
 
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 46
 consolidated statement of financial position 
at 3 april 2011 
 note 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
noncurrent assets  
goodwill 11 193577 194778
other intangible assets 12 39380 44119
property plant and equipment 13 209829 200028
investment property 14 970 980
trade and other receivables 17 1361 1144
total noncurrent assets  445117 441049
current assets  
inventories 16 13513 12717
trade and other receivables 17 48673 47162
cash and cash equivalents  38781 6275
total current assets  100967 66154
total assets  546084 507203
capital and reserves attributable to the group’s equity holders  
share capital 23 344 342
share premium account  63531 62344
translation reserve  45438 47986
cash flow hedging reserve  112 550
merger reserve  106757 106757
retained earnings  72634 48928
equity attributable to equity holders of the parent  288592 265807
noncontrolling interest  644 561
total equity  289236 266368
current liabilities  
interestbearing loans and borrowings 18 139414 12998
trade and other payables 21 60254 56728
derivative financial instruments  112 550
current tax liabilities  9539 5308
short term provisions 22 375 631
total current liabilities  209694 76215
noncurrent liabilities  
interestbearing loans and borrowings 18 11689 126705
retirement benefit obligations 27 12251 15403
deferred tax liabilities 20 12171 13725
provisions 22 10705 8405
deferred government grants  338 382
total noncurrent liabilities  47154 164620
total liabilities  256848 240835
total equity and liabilities  546084 507203
the consolidated financial statements on pages 45 to 80 were approved by the board on 7 june 2011 and signed on its behalf by 
r m steeves   g hill 
director    director 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 47
 consolidated cash flow statement  
for the period ended 3 april 2011 
note 
2011
£’000
2010
restated 
£’000
profit for the year  28799 22159
adjustments  54932 54340
cash generated from operations  83731 76499
income tax paid  6262 2414
net cash generated from operating activities  77469 74085
cash flows from investing activities  
acquisition of subsidiary – net of cash  24 1560 –
purchases of property plant and equipment ppe  37599 27911
purchase of intangible assets  569 275
proceeds from sale of ppe  1293 1047
receipt of government grants  63 63
interest received  2856 112
net cash used in investing activities  35516 26964
cash flows from financing activities  
dividends paid  7838 6372
proceeds from borrowings  90531 4261
repayment of borrowings  82784 35634
repayment of hire purchase loans and finance leases  3880 2558
interest paid  5863 7560
proceeds from issue of shares  1189 1469
net cash used in financing activities  8645 46394
net increase in cash and bank overdrafts 33308 727
cash and bank overdrafts at beginning of period  6275 5542
exchange differences  802 6
cash and bank overdrafts at end of period 38781 6275
 
 
2011 
£’000
2010
£’000
cash generated from operations 
profit for the period 28799 22159
adjustments for 
– depreciation and impairments 33799 33665
– amortisation of intangible assets 6591 6445
– equitysettled sharebased payments 1088 1506
– lossgain on sale of tangible fixed assets 156 271
– finance income 5651 2579
– finance costs 8975 9687
– income tax expense 7934 2372
changes in working capital 
– inventories 769 153
– trade and other receivables 1332 1146
– trade other payables and provisions 2028 3501
cash generated from recurring operations 81618 75492
increase in other payables from nonrecurring items 2113 1007
cash generated from operations 83731 76499
the comparative has been restated to reclassify interest paid from operating activities to financing activities 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 48
 share  
capital  
£’000 
share 
premium 
£’000
merger 
reserve 
£’000
cash flow 
hedging 
reserves 
£’000
translation 
reserve 
£’000
retained  
earnings  
£’000 
total  
attributable to 
equity holders  
of the parent  
£’000 
noncontrolling 
interest
£’000
total 
equity 
£’000
balance at 29 march 2009 337 60880 106757 2579 50940 35905 252240 548 252788
consolidated statement of 
comprehensive income – – – 2029295417212 16287 1316300
dividends paid – – – – – 6372 6372 – 6372
issue of shares 5 1464 – – – – 1469 – 1469
sharebased payments net of tax – – – – – 2183 2183 – 2183
balance at 28 march 2010 342 62344 106757 550 47986 48928 265807 561 266368
consolidated statement of 
comprehensive income – – – 438254830139 28029 8328112
dividends paid – – – – – 7838 7838 – 7838
issue of shares 2 1187 – – – – 1189 – 1189
sharebased payments net of tax – – – – – 1405 1405 – 1405
balance at 3 april 2011 344 63531 106757 112 45438 72634 288592 644 289236
the cash flow hedging reserve of £112000 debit 2010 £550000 debit and 2009 £2579000 debit represents the fair value gains and losses 
on hedging arrangements that are effective and qualify for cash flow hedge accounting the brought forward reserve of £550000 debit unwound 
during the year and revaluation of existing instruments at the balance sheet date gave rise to the closing reserve 
the sharebased payment credit of £1405000 2010 £2183000 includes a debit of £211000 2010 credit £110000 relating to deferred 
taxation and a credit of £481000 2010 credit £567000 relating to current taxation 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements 
 
statement of changes in equity 
for the period 3 april 2011 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 49
 notes to the consolidated financial statements  
for the period ended 3 april 2011 
1 general information 
synergy health plc ‘the company’ and its subsidiaries together ‘the group’ deliver a range of specialist outsourced services to healthcare 
providers and other customers concerned with health management the company is registered in the united kingdom under company 
registration number 3355631 and its registered office is ground floor stella windmill hill business park whitehill way swindon wilts sn5 6nx 
the consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the company and entities controlled by the company 
its subsidiaries made up to the nearest weekend to 31 march each year the current accounting period is 53 weeks in length 
2010 52 weeks in length  
the financial statements are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and have been prepared and approved by the directors in accordance 
with international financial reporting standards as adopted for use in the eu ‘ifrs’ the company has elected to prepare its parent company 
financial statements in accordance with uk gaap these are presented on pages 81 to 89 
2 accounting policies 
basis of accounting 
the group financial statements have been prepared in accordance with ifrs and therefore comply with article 4 of the eu ias regulation  
basis of consolidation 
control is achieved where the company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee entity so as to obtain 
benefits from its activities 
the results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included in the consolidated income statement from the effective date 
of acquisition or up to the effective date of disposal as appropriate 
where necessary adjustments are made to the financial statements of subsidiaries to bring the accounting policies used in line with those 
used by the group 
all intragroup transactions balances income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation 
jointlycontrolled entities are those entities over whose activities the group has joint control established by contractual agreement 
the consolidated financial statements include the group’s proportionate share of the entities’ assets liabilities revenue and expenses 
with items of a similar nature on a linebyline basis from the date that joint control commences until the date that joint control ceases 
measurement convention 
the financial statements are prepared on the historical cost basis except for derivative financial instruments which are stated at their fair value 
through profit and loss  
going concern 
the group’s business activities together with the factors likely to affect its future development performance and position are set out in the chief 
executive’s review and the financial position of the group and its cash flows and borrowing requirements are described in the finance director’s 
report both of which are set out in the business review section of the annual report the finance director’s report and note 19 to the financial 
statements include the group’s objectives policies and processes for managing its capital financial risks and hedging activities together with its 
exposure to credit and liquidity risks 
the current global economic conditions create uncertainty particularly over the level of demand for the group’s products the price of its raw 
materials for certain business areas and the carrying value of group debt denominated in foreign currency 
the directors have reviewed the group’s medium term forecasts through to june 2012 and beyond along with reasonable possible changes 
in trading performance and foreign exchange rates arising from these uncertainties to determine whether the committed banking facilities are 
sufficient to support the group’s projected liquidity requirements and whether the forecast earnings are sufficient to meet the covenants associated 
with the banking facilities 
the group’s committed banking facilities are due for renewal in january 2012 and the directors have good reasons to believe that they will 
be renewed the group is in advanced discussions with an identified club of banks in respect of new unsecured five year revolving credit facilities 
to replace the existing facility the main points of the new multicurrency facilities agreement have been agreed and the legal documentation is 
being finalised 
business combinations 
from 28 march 2010 the group has applied ifrs 3 business combinations revised in accounting for business combinations the acquisition 
of subsidiaries is accounted for using the purchase method the cost of the acquisition is measured at the aggregate of the fair values at the date 
of exchange of assets given liabilities incurred or assumed and equity instruments issued by the group in exchange for control of the acquiree 
the acquiree’s identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities that meet the conditions for recognition are recognised at their fair value at 
the acquisition date provisional fair value allocations are reviewed and if necessary adjusted no later than one year from the acquisition date 
costs relating to the acquisition other than those associated with the issue of debt or equity securities that the group incurs in connection with 
a business combination are expensed as incurred 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 50
  
2 accounting policies continued 
goodwill 
goodwill arising on consolidation represents the excess of the cost of acquisition over the group’s interest in the fair value of the identifiable assets 
and liabilities of a subsidiary at the date of acquisition goodwill is initially recognised as an asset at cost and is subsequently measured at cost less 
any accumulated impairment losses  
goodwill which is recognised as an asset is reviewed for impairment at least annually any impairment is recognised immediately in profit or loss 
and is not subsequently reversed 
for the purpose of impairment testing goodwill is allocated to each of the group’s cashgenerating units expected to benefit from the synergies of 
the combination cashgenerating units to which goodwill has been allocated are tested for impairment annually or more frequently where there is 
an indication that the unit may be impaired if the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit is less than the carrying amount of the unit the 
impairment loss is allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the unit and then to other assets of the unit pro rata on 
the basis of the carrying amount of each asset in the unit  
on disposal of a subsidiary the attributable goodwill is included in the determination of the profit or loss on disposal 
goodwill arising on acquisitions before the date of transition to ifrs has been retained at the previous uk gaap amounts subject to being tested 
for impairment at that date  
intangible assets 
intangible assets that are acquired by the group are initially capitalised at fair value as at the date of the acquisition and subsequently stated at 
cost less accumulated amortisation and impairment losses 
amortisation is charged to the income statement on a straightline basis over the estimated useful lives of intangible assets unless such lives are 
indefinite intangible assets with an indefinite useful life are systematically tested for impairment at each balance sheet date intangible assets with 
a finite life are tested for impairment if there is indication of impairment intangible assets are amortised from the date they are available for use 
the estimated useful lives of the identified intangible assets are as follows 
customerrelated intangibles   5–15 years 
trade names    10 years 
costs incurred in setting up long term agreements are capitalised as intangible assets and amortised over the life of the contract to which the costs 
relate technology licences are amortised from the date that they generate economic benefit and over the period of that benefit 
revenue recognition 
revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and services 
provided in the normal course of business net of discounts vat and other sales related taxes 
the principal activity of the group is the provision of services but sometimes goods are also supplied usually as part of a service offering revenue 
is recognised once the service has been completed and the group has transferred the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the goods to 
the buyer the group does not participate in activities which need to be accounted for under long term contract accounting rules 
finance charges and income 
interest charges and income are accounted for on an accruals basis financing transaction costs that relate to financial liabilities are charged 
to interest expense by reference to the effective interest rate method and are recognised within the carrying value of the related financial liability 
on the balance sheet fees paid for the arrangement of credit facilities are recognised through the finance expense over the term of the facility 
where assets or liabilities on the group balance sheet are carried at net present value the increase in the amount due to unwinding the 
discount is recognised as a finance expense or finance income as appropriate 
leasing 
leases are classified as finance leases whenever the terms of the lease transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the lessee 
all other leases are classified as operating leases  
assets held under hire purchase contracts are recognised as assets of the group at their fair value or if lower the present value of the minimum 
lease payments each determined at the inception of the lease the corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet as 
a finance lease obligation lease payments are apportioned between finance charges and reduction of the lease obligation so as to achieve 
a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability  
rentals payable under operating leases are charged to income on a straightline basis over the term of the relevant lease  
benefits received and receivable as an incentive to enter into an operating lease are also spread on a straightline basis over the lease term 
foreign currencies 
the individual financial statements of each group company are presented in the currency of the primary economic environment in which 
it operates its functional currency for the purpose of the consolidated financial statements the results and financial position of each group 
company are expressed in pounds sterling which is the functional currency of the company and the presentation currency for the consolidated 
financial statements 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 51
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
2 accounting policies continued 
in preparing the financial statement of the individual companies transactions in currencies other than the entity’s functional currency foreign 
currencies are recorded at rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions at each balance sheet date monetary assets and liabilities 
that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing on the balance sheet date nonmonetary items that are 
measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are not retranslated 
exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items and on the retranslation of monetary items are included in profit or loss for 
the period  
in order to manage its exposure to certain foreign exchange risks the group enters into forward contracts and options see below for the details 
of the group’s accounting policies in respect of such derivative financial instruments 
for the purpose of presenting consolidated financial statements the assets and liabilities of the group’s foreign operations are translated at 
exchange rates prevailing on the balance sheet date income and expense items are translated at the average exchange rates for the period 
unless exchange rates fluctuate significantly during that period in which case the exchange rates at the date of transactions are used exchange 
differences arising if any are classified as equity and transferred to the group’s translation reserve such translation differences are recognised 
as income or expenses in the period in which the operation is disposed of  
borrowing costs 
borrowing costs directly attributable to the acquisition construction or production of qualifying assets which are assets that necessarily take a 
substantial period of time to get ready for their intended use are added to the cost of those assets until such time as the assets are substantially 
ready for their intended use  
government grants 
government grants towards staff retraining costs are recognised as income over the periods necessary to match them with the related costs and 
are deducted in reporting the related expense  
government grants relating to property plant and equipment are treated as deferred income and released to profit or loss over the expected useful 
lives of the assets concerned 
operating profit 
operating profit is stated before investment income and finance costs and before any profitlosses on business disposals 
retirement benefit costs 
payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due payments made to statemanaged 
retirement benefit schemes are dealt with as payments to defined contribution schemes where the group’s obligations under the schemes are 
equivalent to those arising in a defined contribution retirement benefit scheme 
for defined benefit schemes the cost of providing benefits is determined using the projected unit credit method with actuarial valuations being 
carried out at each balance sheet date actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the period in which they occur and presented in the 
statement of comprehensive income 
past service cost is recognised immediately to the extent that the benefits are already vested and otherwise is amortised on a straightline basis 
over the average period until the benefits become vested 
the retirement benefit obligation recognised in the balance sheet represents the present value of the defined benefit obligation as adjusted for 
unrecognised past service cost and as reduced by the fair value of scheme assets any asset resulting from this calculation is limited to past 
service cost plus the present value of available refunds and reductions in future contributions to the scheme 
tax 
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax 
the tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year taxable profit differs from profit as reported in the income statement because it 
excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible 
the group’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date 
deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial 
statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit and is accounted for using the liability method deferred tax 
liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits 
will be available against which deductible temporary differences can be utilised  
deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries and joint ventures except where the 
group is able to control the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the temporary difference will not reverse in the foreseeable 
future deferred tax is not recognised on taxable temporary differences arising on the initial recognition of goodwill or for temporary differences 
arising from the initial recognition of assets and liabilities in a transaction that is not a business combination and that affect neither accounting nor 
taxable profit  
deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date deferred tax is charged or 
credited in the income statement except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity in which case the deferred tax is also dealt 
with in equity 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 52
  
2 accounting policies continued 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax liabilities and 
when they relate to income taxes levied by the same tax authority and the group intends to settle its current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis 
property plant and equipment 
land and buildings held for use in the production or supply of services or goods or for administrative purposes are stated in the balance sheet at 
their book value being cost less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses  
fixtures and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment loss 
land is not depreciated depreciation is charged so as to write off the cost over their estimated useful lives using the straightline method with the 
exception of cobalt on the following bases 
freehold property 50 years 
leasehold improvements period of lease 
plant and machinery 3–20 years 
office equipment 3–5 years 
cobalt 15 years 
circulating inventory 1–5 years 
assets in the course of construction are not depreciated assets held under finance leases are depreciated over their expected useful lives on the 
same basis as owned assets or where shorter over the term of the relevant lease 
cobalt is depreciated over 15 years as follows the reducing balance is used for the first eight years the residual net book value at the end of year 
eight is then depreciated on a straightline basis over the remaining seven years of the asset’s useful life potential decommissioning costs are 
capitalised and amortised over the estimated residual working life of the cobalt on a straightline basis a corresponding provision is recognised 
in the balance sheet circulating inventory mainly comprises linen textile assets provided to customers on a rental service basis 
impairment of tangible and intangible assets excluding goodwill 
at each balance sheet date the group reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether there is any 
indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss if any such indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in 
order to determine the extent of the impairment loss if any where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets 
the group estimates the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit to which the asset belongs an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life 
is tested for impairment annually and whenever there is an indication that the asset may be impaired 
recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future cash flows are 
discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks 
specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted 
if the recoverable amount of an asset or cashgenerating unit is estimated to be less than its carrying amount the carrying amount of the asset 
cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount an impairment loss is recognised as an expense immediately 
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying amount of the asset or cashgenerating unit is increased to the revised estimate 
of its recoverable amount but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined 
had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset or cashgenerating unit in prior years a reversal of an impairment loss is recognised as 
income immediately 
investment property 
investment properties are properties land and buildings which are held either to earn rental income or for capital appreciation or for both 
investment properties are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation depreciation is charged so as to write off the cost of the buildings 
over 50 years land is not depreciated 
inventories 
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost comprises direct materials and where applicable direct labour costs and 
those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition net realisable value represents the 
estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing selling and distribution 
financial instruments 
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised on the group’s balance sheet when the group becomes a party to the contractual provisions 
of the instrument 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 53
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
2 accounting policies continued 
trade receivables trade receivables are nonderivative financial assets which arise when the group provides goods or services directly to a third 
party and where there is no intention of trading the financial asset the receivables are initially recognised at fair value they are subsequently 
measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method less provision for impairment any change in their value through impairment 
or reversal of impairment is recognised in the income statement 
provision against trade receivables is made when objective evidence is received that the group will not be able to collect all amounts due to it in 
accordance with the original terms of those receivables the amount of the write down is determined as the difference between the asset’s carrying 
amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows 
cash and cash equivalents cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits and other short term highly liquid 
investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value 
overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the group’s cash management are netted off against cash 
financial liabilities and equity instruments financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual 
arrangements entered into an equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the group after deducting all of 
its liabilities 
bank borrowings interestbearing bank loans and overdrafts are initially recorded at fair value net of direct issue costs finance charges including 
premiums payable on settlement or redemption and direct issue costs are accounted for on an accrual basis in profit or loss using the effective 
interest rate method and are added to the carrying amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the period in which they arise 
trade payables trade payables are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest 
rate method 
equity instruments equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting the group’s activities expose it to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency 
exchange rates and interest rates the group uses floating to fixed interest rate swaps and foreign exchange forward contracts to manage these 
exposures some of these contracts are designated as cash flow hedges under ias 39 the group does not use derivative financial instruments 
for speculative purposes derivative financial instruments are measured at fair value  
changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges of future cash flows or against net 
investment in overseas subsidiaries are recognised directly in equity and any ineffective portion is recognised immediately in the income statement 
if the cash flow hedge of a firm commitment or forecasted transaction results in the recognition of a nonfinancial asset or liability then at the time 
the asset or liability is recognised the associated gains or losses on the derivative that had previously been recognised in equity are included in the 
initial measurement of the asset or liability for hedges that do not result in the recognition of an asset or a liability amounts deferred in equity are 
recognised in the income statement in the same period in which the hedged item affects net profit or loss 
changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting are recognised in the income statement as 
they arise 
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or no longer qualifies for hedge 
accounting at that time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument recognised in equity is retained in equity until the forecasted 
transaction occurs if a hedged transaction is no longer expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss recognised in equity is transferred to the 
income statement 
derivatives embedded in other financial instruments or other host contracts are treated as separate derivatives when their risks and characteristics 
are not clearly related to those of the host contracts and the host contracts are not carried at fair value with gains or losses reported in the income 
statement 
provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that the group will be required to 
settle that obligation provisions are measured at the directors’ best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the balance sheet 
date and are discounted to present value where appropriate 
sharebased payments 
the group has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 sharebased payments in accordance with the transitional provisions ifrs 2 has been applied 
to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested at 3 april 2005 
the group issues equitysettled sharebased payments to certain employees equitysettled sharebased payments are measured at fair value 
excluding the effect of nonmarketbased vesting conditions at the date of grant the fair value determined at the grant date of the equitysettled 
sharebased payments is expensed on a straightline basis over the vesting period based on the group’s estimate of shares that will eventually vest 
and adjusted for the effect of nonmarketbased vesting conditions 
fair value is measured by use of a blackscholes model except for the longterm incentive plan awards which are subject to a total shareholder 
return performance condition where a model following similar principles to the monte carlo approach is used the expected life used in the model 
has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural 
considerations 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 54
  
2 accounting policies continued 
critical accounting estimates and judgements 
the preparation of financial statements in conformity with ifrs requires management to make judgements estimates and assumptions that affect 
the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities income and expenses where estimates and associated assumptions are 
made they are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances the results of 
which form the basis of making the judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources 
actual results may differ from these estimates 
the estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis key areas of estimate uncertainty are set out below 
• in relation to the group’s cobalt provision costs of future disposal are based on contractual arrangements with third parties and latest disposal  
cost estimates 
• the group cobalt depreciation policy is based on the actual physical decay of the cobalt 60 isotope 
• in relation to the group’s property plant and equipment note 13 useful economic lives and residual values of assets have been established 
using historical experience and an assessment of the nature of the assets involved  
• impairment tests have been undertaken with respect to goodwill note 11 using commercial judgement and a number of assumptions and 
estimates have been made to support their carrying amounts 
• in relation to the group’s defined benefit pension schemes actuarial assumptions are established using relevant market benchmark data and 
with the advice of external qualified actuaries 
• in relation to compensation received from third parties for insurance receipts it can be uncertain how the amount received relates to specific 
items of property plant and equipment that were impaired lost or given up 
adoption of new standards 
in the current year the group has adopted the following new standards and interpretations 
• ifrs 3 business combinations revised ifric 16 hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation and consequential amendments to ias 27 
‘consolidated and separate financial statements’ and ias 31 ‘interests in joint ventures’  
the following new standards amendments to standards or interpretations must be applied for the first time by the group for the period ending 
3 april 2011 but are not currently relevant 
• amendments to ifrs 2 group cashsettled sharebased payment transactions 
• amendments to ias 32 rights of issue 
• amendments to ias 39 embedded derivatives 
• ifric 15 agreements for the construction of real estate 
• ifric 17 distribution of noncash assets to owners 
• ifric 18 transfers of assets from customers 
• ias 28 investments in associates 
in addition to the above amendments to a number of standards under the annual improvements project to ifrs which are mandatory for the 
period ending 3 april 2011 have been adopted in the year none of these amendments has had a material impact on the group’s financial 
statements 
the following standards and interpretations have been published endorsed by the eu and are available for early adoption but have not yet been 
applied by the group in these financial statements 
• ifric 19 extinguishing financial liabilities with equity instruments – deals with how entities should measure equity instruments issued in a debt 
for equity swap it addresses the accounting for such a transaction by the debtor only 
• ias 24 related parties – effective for periods commencing on or after 1 january 2011 – provides an exemption to all government related entities 
which is not applicable to the group however the revised standard also amends the definition of a related party which will be applicable 
management is currently assessing the impact of these standards and interpretations on the financial statements these amendments and the 
new standards are not expected to impact the group significantly although additional disclosure may be required 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 55
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
3 segmental information 
the group is organised into three operating segments and information on these segments is reported to the chief operating decision maker 
‘codm’ for the purposes of resource allocation and assessment of performance the chief operating decision maker has been identified as the 
board of directors these three operating segments are the uk and ireland europe and middle east and asia and africa subsequent to the 
balance sheet date the americas was created as a fourth operating segment due to the acquisition of beamone  
the segments derive their revenues from the same range of products and services – being the provision of healthcare services medical device 
sterilisation services and hospital sterilisation services the codm monitors the performance of the operating segments based on adjusted 
operating profit being operating profit excluding the impact of amortisation on acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items 
segment information about these divisions is presented below 
uk and ireland 
2011 
£’000
europe and  
middle east  
2011  
£’000 
asia and africa 
2011 
£’000
total 
2011 
£’000
revenue from external customers 154916 118764 13634 287314
segment profit 25010 20548 2708 48266
segment depreciation 14014 16427 3358 33799
segment assets 260180 207485 78419 546084
the comparative figures for the previous year are shown below 
uk and ireland 
2010 
£’000
europe and  
middle east  
2010 
£’000 
asia and africa 
2010 
£’000
total 
2010 
£’000
revenue from external customers 158034 117426 10961 286421
segment profit 23327 17769 2165 43261
segment depreciation 12612 16560 2726 31898
segment assets 234491 203128 69584 507203
the table below reconciles the total segment profit above to the group’s operating profit and profit before tax 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
total segment profit 48266 43261
unallocated amounts  
– corporate expenses 5222 3519
– nonrecurring costs 3278 1903
amortisation of acquired intangibles 6265 6200
operating profit 40057 31639
net finance costs 3324 7108
profit before tax 36733 24531
the table below analyses the group’s revenues from external customers between the three principal productservice groups 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
healthcare solutions 160380 174631
hospital sterilisation services 56860 50004
medical device sterilisation services 70074 61786
 287314 286421
ifrs 8 operating segments requires the group to disclose information about the extent of its reliance on its major customers the group has no 
single customer making up more than 10 of total revenues  
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 56
  
3 segmental information continued 
the table below analyses the group’s revenues from external customers and noncurrent assets other than financial instruments investment 
properties deferred taxation and rights under insurance by geography 
 2011  2010
 
revenue 
£’000
noncurrent  
assets  
£’000  
revenue 
£’000
noncurrent 
assets 
£’000
uk 141732 146926  146394 143785
netherlands 104547 135312  106145 142034
rest of world 41035 161909  33882 154250
 287314 444147  286421 440069
4 profit before tax 
profit before tax has been arrived at after chargingcrediting 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
release of government grants received 107 61
depreciation of property plant and equipment 33799 31898
depreciation of investment property 10 10
amortisation of acquired intangibles  6265 6200
amortisation of purchased intangible assets 326 245
cost of inventories recognised as expense 39858 48936
staff costs note 5  113487 105860
foreign exchange gains 190 280
auditors’ remuneration for audit services 362 344
nonrecurring items of £3278000 2010 £1903000 charge have been credited in arriving at operating profit the table and accompanying 
notes provide further details 
£’000
 
costs incurred on the acquisition of businesses 889
gain net of costs on legal case 4167
 3278
transaction costs incurred on the acquisition of businesses have been recognised in the income statement these costs relate primarily to the 
acquisition of gsp in late 2010 and beamone which completed just after the year end these acquisitions are disclosed in more detail in notes 24 
and 29 respectively  
during the year the group received a summary court judgment in our favour relating to an insurance claim arising from a fire at our dunstable 
facility in early 2007 the nonrecurring gain of £4167000 reflects the recognition of insurance proceeds received less costs associated with the 
claim and final additional costs of working not previously written down  
in addition to the above a nonrecurring credit of £1446000 2010 £nil relating to court awarded interest on the dunstable insurance case has 
been recognised in finance income  
the total impact of nonrecurring items on profit after tax is a credit of £3153000  
in the prior year nonrecurring items of £1903000 were charged in arriving at operating profit the table and accompanying notes provide 
further details 
£’000
partial closure of harwell sterilisation plant 609
closure of a uk linen management facility 400
closure of dutch treasury operation 252
other restructuring costs 642
 1903
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 57
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
4 profit before tax continued 
the costs associated with closing a uk linen management facility increased on the amounts reported in 2009 due to the deterioration in the 
uk commercial property market the costs included future liabilities under the property lease the costs associated with the partial closure of the 
harwell medical device sterilisation facility include staff redundancy costs decommissioning costs and future liabilities under the property lease 
both closures are part of a programme of cost rationalisation in the uk business 
other restructuring costs were incurred to generate ongoing reductions in the operating cost base in order to restore operating margins throughout 
the group’s businesses 
in the prior year we also recognised a nonrecurring tax credit of £3020000 this relates to a tax credit received on a foreign exchange movement 
on intercompany sterling borrowings within a eurodenominated legal entity tax clearances have been received by the dutch and uk authorities 
and we have also received the associated repayment the foreign exchange movement on which the tax credit was derived was taken direct to 
equity in accordance with applicable international accounting standards  
the total impact of nonrecurring items to profit after tax in the prior year was a credit of £1700000 
a more detailed analysis of auditors’ remuneration is provided below 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
audit services 
– audit of these financial statements 62 62
– audit of financial statements of subsidiaries 300 282
 362 344
– auditrelated regulatory reporting 18 2
– other services 58 18
5 staff costs 
the average number of monthly employees employed by the group during the year including executive directors was as follows 
 
2011 
number
2010
number
production 3632 3485
selling and distribution 101 85
administration 568 427
 4301 3997
their aggregate remuneration comprised 
 
2011
£’000
2010 
£’000
wages and salaries 97363 89134
social security costs 11166 9887
sharebased payments  1088 1674
other pension costs 3870 5165
 113487 105860
6 finance income 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
interest on bank deposits 1410 463
expected return on defined benefit pension plan assets 2795 2116
interest on insurance receipts 1446 –
 5651 2579
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 58
  
7 finance costs 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
on bank loans and overdrafts 4683 6375
finance charges in respect of hire purchase loans 720 578
other interest payable and similar charges 131 100
total external borrowing costs 5534 7053
unwinding of discount on provisions 266 111
interest on defined benefit plan obligations 3175 2729
total financing cost 8975 9893
less amounts included in the cost of qualifying assets – 206
 8975 9687
during the previous year borrowing costs on specific and general borrowings were included in the cost of qualifying assets an average 
capitalisation rate of 53 was applied to expenditure on such assets 
8 tax 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
current tax 
uk tax 4598 4297
overseas tax  6375 2649
adjustment in respect of prior years 233 3299
total current tax 10740 3647
deferred tax 
origination and reversal of temporary differences 109 493
adjustment in respect of prior years 1856 782
effect of rate change 841 –
total deferred tax 2806 1275
total tax in income statement 7934 2372
uk corporation tax is calculated at 28 2010 28 of the estimated assessable profit for the year taxation for overseas operations is calculated 
at the local prevailing rates  
on 23 march 2011 the chancellor announced the reduction in the main rate of uk corporation tax to 26 with effect from 1 april 2011 
this change became substantively enacted on 29 march 2011 and therefore the effect of the rate reduction creates a reduction in the deferred 
tax liability which has been included in the figures above 
the charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit before tax per the income statement as follows 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
profit before tax 36733 24531
tax at the uk corporation tax rate of 28 2010 28 10285 6869
effect of 
expenses not deductible for tax purposes 866 108
different tax rates on overseas earnings 1096 942
overseas withholding tax – 113
adjustment in respect of prior years 2090 4140
effect of change in uk corporation tax rate 633 –
previously unrecognised unused tax losses 602 364
tax charge for year 7934 2372
the adjustment in respect of prior years in 2010 includes a nonrecurring tax credit of £3020000 this relates to a tax credit received on a foreign 
exchange movement on intercompany sterling borrowings within a eurodenominated legal entity tax clearances have been received by the 
dutch and uk authorities we have also received the associated repayment  
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 59
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
9 dividends 
 
2011
£’000
2010 
£’000
amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period 
final dividend for the year ended 29 march 2009 of 68p per share – 3696
second interim dividend for the year ended 28 march 2010 of 83p per share 4540 –
interim dividend for the period ended 3 april 2011 of 60p 2010 49p per share 3298 2676
 7838 6372
the group paid a second interim dividend on 1 april 2010 in lieu of a final dividend for the year ended 28 march 2010 the board of directors 
will recommend to the shareholders a final dividend in respect of the period ended 3 april 2011 of 984p  
10 earnings per share 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
earnings 
earnings for the purposes of basic earnings per share being net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent 28617 22032
 
 
shares 
’000
shares 
’000
number of shares 
weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings per share 54923 54318
effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares 
share options 940 903
weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of diluted earnings per share 55863 55221
earnings per ordinary share 
basic  5210p 4056p
diluted  5123p 3990p
 
 £’000 £’000
adjusted earnings per share 
operating profit 40057 31639
amortisation of acquired intangible assets 6265 6200
nonrecurring items 3278 1903
adjusted operating profit 43044 39742
net finance costs 4770 7108
adjusted profit on ordinary activities before taxation 38274 32634
taxation on adjusted profit on ordinary activities 8686 7661
noncontrolling interest 182 127
adjusted net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent 29406 24846
adjusted basic earnings per share  5354p 4574p
adjusted diluted earnings per share  5264p 4499p
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 60
  
11 goodwill 
 £’000
cost and carrying amount 
at 29 march 2009 197114
exchange differences 2336
at 28 march 2010  194778
exchange differences 1858
recognised on acquisition of businesses 657
at 3 april 2011 193577
goodwill acquired on a business combination is allocated at acquisition to the cashgenerating units ‘cgus’ that are expected to benefit 
from that business combination the carrying amount of goodwill has been allocated as shown in the table below this table also provides the 
assumptions used by management in assessing the carrying value of these amounts goodwill arising on the acquisition of gamma service 
produktbestrahlung gmbh during the year note 24 has been allocated to the rest of europe sterilisation services segment 
 2011 2010
 
pretax
discount 
rate 

long term 
growth 
rates 
 £’000
pretax 
discount  
rate  
 
long term 
growth 
rates 
 £’000
uk segment  
healthcare solutions 94 2–5 23556 106 2–5 23156
hospital sterilisation services 92 5 4654 104 5 4654
medical device sterilisation services 91 5 32586 103 5 33185
rest of europe segment   
healthcare solutions 89 3–4 29314 101 3–4 29928
medical device sterilisation services 86 5 79992 98 5 80825
rest of world a single cgu 89 5 23475 101 8 23030
 193577 194778
the group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill might be impaired an impairment test is 
a comparison of the carrying value of the assets of a cgu to their recoverable amount based on a value in use calculation where the recoverable 
amount is less than the carrying value an impairment results during the year the goodwill for each cgu was separately assessed and tested for 
impairment with £nil 2010 £nil impairment charges resulting 
as part of testing goodwill for impairment detailed forecasts of operating cash flows for a period of five years are derived from the most recent 
financial forecasts approved by management cash flows for the period beyond the financial forecasts are extrapolated based on estimates of future 
growth rates as disclosed above for each cgu the future growth rates used in the recoverable amount calculation do not exceed the long term 
average growth rates for the markets to which the cgu is dedicated  
a number of key assumptions are used as part of impairment testing these key assumptions are made by management reflecting past experience 
combined with their knowledge as to future performance and relevant external sources of information 
in determining the recoverable amount of each cgu the key assumptions are discount rate long term growth rate future sales prices and 
volumes new business won and the cost structure of each business 
sensitivity analysis as at 3 april 2011 has indicated that no reasonable foreseeable change in the key assumptions used in the impairment model 
will result in a significant impairment charge being recorded in the financial statements 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 61
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
12 other intangible assets 
trade 
name 
£’000
customer  
contracts and 
relationships  
£’000 
other 
£’000
total 
£’000
cost  
at 29 march 2009 9635 56132 2791 68558
exchange differences 72 849 – 921
additions – – 275 275
at 28 march 2010  9563 55283 3066 67912
exchange differences 74 537 – 611
additions – – 569 569
acquired on acquisition of businesses – 1767 – 1767
at 3 april 2011 9489 56513 3635 69637
  
amortisation  
at 29 march 2009 2470 14372 656 17498
exchange differences 2 152 – 150
charge for the year 971 5229 245 6445
at 28 march 2010 3443 19449 901 23793
exchange differences 9 118 – 127
charge for the year 970 5295 326 6591
at 3 april 2011 4404 24626 1227 30257
  
carrying amount  
at 3 april 2011 5085 31887 2408 39380
at 28 march 2010  6120 35834 2165 44119
at 29 march 2009  7165 41760 2135 51060
amortisation of intangible assets is included in administrative expenses in the income statement  
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 62
  
13 property plant and equipment 
 
freehold and 
long leasehold 
property 
£’000
short 
leasehold 
property 
£’000
plant 
machinery 
and office 
equipment 
£’000
cobalt  
£’000
circulating  
inventory  
£’000 
assets in 
course of 
construction 
£’000
total 
£’000
cost   
at 29 march 2009 63744 6997 130265 62472 48950 20698 333126
additions 30288810088518210356 66829410
exchange differences 1011 – 2082 233 1253 794 5373
disposals 36676103073661 16560 4934250
transfers 6438–6764–– 13202–
at 28 march 2010  68532 7079 134728 63760 41493 7321 322913
additions 445521212207970710486 42138478
acquisitions 1884–41252343– –8352
exchange differences 1086 – 1376 629 615 219 3925
disposals 1167651743119 13182 22648
transfers 158–69320 691 2074868
at 3 april 2011 68450 12285 145203 72042 38873 5449 342302
accumulated depreciation and impairment  
at 29 march 2009 14866 1454 58561 19468 31083 – 125432
charge for the year 2237 714 11886 5944 11117 – 31898
exchange differences 504 – 1499 295 883 – 3181
disposals 1823595953642 16199 –31264
at 28 march 2010 14776 2163 59353 21475 25118 – 122885
charge for the year 2414 2153 12195 6640 10397 – 33799
exchange differences 312 – 834 567 462 – 2175
disposals 331–48192863 13155 –21168
transfers 566–1434–– –868
at 3 april 2011 17113 4316 64461 24685 21898 – 132473
carrying amount  
at 3 april 2011 51337 7969 80742 47357 16975 5449 209829
at 28 march 2010  53756 4916 75375 42285 16375 7321 200028
at 29 march 2009 48878 5543 71704 43004 17867 20698 207694
the carrying amount of the group’s plant and equipment includes an amount of £122 million 2010 £136 million in respect of assets held 
under hire purchase loan contracts 
the group has pledged land and buildings having a carrying amount of approximately £139 million 2010 £188 million to secure banking 
facilities and other loans granted to the group 
at 3 april 2011 the group had entered into contractual commitments for the acquisition of property plant and equipment amounting to 
£80 million 2010 £80 million 
included in the cost of property plant and equipment is £805000 2010 £805000 of capitalised interest 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 63
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
14 investment property 
 £’000
cost 
at 29 march 2009 28 march 2010 and 3 april 2011 1000
accumulated depreciation 
at 29 march 2009 10
charge for the year 10
at 28 march 2010 20
charge for the year 10
at 3 april 2011 30
carrying amount 
at 3 april 2011 970
at 28 march 2010 980
at 29 march 2009 990
based on discussions with the group’s professional advisors the directors estimate the fair value of the investment property to be £1000000 
2010 £1000000 
15 interest in jointlycontrolled entity  
as part of the acquisition of isotron plc and its group in 2007 the group obtained a 50 interest in a jointlycontrolled entity isotron logistics bv 
whose principal activity is the provision of logistics consultancy this jointlycontrolled entity is incorporated and operates in the netherlands and is 
proportionately consolidated into the group financial statements on a linebyline basis included in the consolidated financial statements are the 
following items that represent the group’s interests in the assets liabilities revenue and expenses of the jointlycontrolled entity 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
current assets 117 131
current liabilities 48 81
net assets 69 50
income 481 453
expenses including interest and tax 401 397
profit from operations 80 56
16 inventories 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
raw materials 3284 2965
workinprogress 94 127
finished goods 8386 7958
process consumables 1749 1667
 13513 12717
the value of stock recognised as cost of sales is shown in note 4 the write down of inventories to net realisable value amounted to £96000 
2010 £124000 the write down is included in cost of sales 
17 trade and other receivables 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
current 
amounts receivable for the sale of goods and services 43000 40051
other receivables 1907 3361
prepayments and accrued income 3766 3750
 48673 47162
noncurrent 
prepayments 1361 1144
total 50034 48306
the average credit period taken on sales of goods and services is 47 days 2010 47 days the directors consider that the carrying amounts of 
trade and other receivables approximate their fair value 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 64
  
18 interestbearing loans and borrowings 
this note provides information about the contractual terms of the group’s interestbearing loans and borrowings for more information about 
the group’s exposure to interest rate and foreign currency risk see note 19 the directors consider that the carrying amount of the group’s  
interestbearing loans and borrowings approximates to their fair value 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
current liabilities 
bank loans 136786 9610
other interestbearing loans 397 495
finance lease liabilities 2231 2893
 139414 12998
long term liabilities 
bank loans 4793 119162
other interestbearing loans 1265 1694
finance lease liabilities 5631 5849
 11689 126705
total 151103 139703
analysis of borrowings by currency 
 
total 
£’000
sterling  
£’000
euros  
£’000 
us dollars 
£’000
chinese 
renminbi 
£’000
2011  
bank loans 141579 46407 63344 23519 8309
other interestbearing loans 1662 – 1662 – –
finance lease liabilities 7862 7238 624 – –
 151103 53645 65630 23519 8309
2010  
bank loans 128772 61012 59851 – 7909
other interestbearing loans 2189 – 2189 – –
finance lease liabilities 8742 6062 2680 – –
 1397036707464720 –7909
the weighted average interest rates paid were as follows 
 
2011 

2010 

bank overdrafts 23 23
bank and other loans 35 45
terms and debt repayment schedule  
1 bank loans under the main syndicated facility of £160 million are due for renewal on 15 january 2012 and all fall due for repayment in total 
on that date the loans are unsecured these loans attract a floating rate of interest although fixing arrangements have been entered into as 
described in note 19 
2 certain eurodenominated loans outside of the main syndicated facility totalling £69 million are secured by mortgages on certain dutch 
freehold properties the loans attract both floating and fixed rates of interest 
3 at 3 april 2011 the group had available £335 million of undrawn committed borrowing facility 
4 in addition the group had undrawn overdraft and other uncommitted facilities totalling £123 million which it expects to renew during the 
financial year 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 65
 18 interestbearing loans and borrowings continued 
financial liabilities gross maturity 
the following are the contractual cash flows of financial liabilities including interest payments 
2011 
carrying 
value 
£’000
total 
£’000
0–6 months 
£’000
6–12 months  
£’000 
1–3 years 
£’000
3 years 
£’000
trade payables 21007 21007 21007 – – –
nontrade payables and accrued expenses 39247 39247 39247 – – –
bank loans less than one year 136786 139350 1368 137982 – –
other interestbearing loans less than one year 397 406 225 181 – –
finance leases less than one year 2231 2462 1370 1092 – –
bank loans greater than one year 4793 5338 90 90 4596 562
other interestbearing loans greater than one year 1265 1363 16 16 951 380
finance leases greater than one year 5631 5829 – – 3692 2137
financial liabilities excluding derivative instruments 211357 215002 63323 139361 9239 3079
forward exchange contracts 27 27 24 3 – –
interest rate swaps 85 85 5 80 – –
financial liabilities 211469 215114 63352 139444 9239 3079
 
2010 
carrying 
value 
£’000
total 
£’000
0–6 months 
£’000
6–12 months  
£’000 
1–3 years 
£’000
3 years 
£’000
trade payables 15716 15716 15716 – – –
nontrade payables and accrued expenses 41012 41012 41012 – – –
bank loans less than one year 9610 9647 1280 8367 – –
other interestbearing loans less than one year 495 498 272 226 – –
finance leases less than one year 2893 3469 1955 1514 – –
bank loans greater than one year 119162 123528 1319 1193 119797 1219
other interestbearing loans greater than one year 1694 1760 12 12 1350 386
finance leases greater than one year 5849 6076 – – 4524 1552
financial liabilities excluding derivative instruments 196431 201706 61566 11312 125671 3157
forward exchange contracts 69 69 69 – – –
derivative financial assets 619 619 72 357 190 –
financial liabilities 196981 202256 61569 11669 125861 3157
finance lease liabilities 
finance lease liabilities are payable as follows 
2011 2010
minimum lease 
payments 
£’000
interest 
£’000
principal 
£’000
minimum lease  
payments  
£’000 
interest 
£’000
principal 
£’000
less than one year 2462 231 2231 3469 576 2893
between one and five years 5829 198 5631 6076 227 5849
 8291 429 7862 9545 803 8742
all finance lease liabilities are contracted at fixed rates of interest in both years 
 
notes to the consolidated financial statements 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 66
 19 financial instruments 
financial instruments carried at fair value are required to be measured by reference to the following levels 
level 1 quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities 
level 2 inputs other than quoted prices included within level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly ie as prices 
or indirectly ie derived from prices 
level 3 inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable market data unobservable inputs 
all financial instruments have been measured by a level 2 valuation method 
a financial risk management objectives and policies 
the group’s principal financial instruments other than derivatives comprise bank loans finance leases and cash the main purpose of these 
financial instruments is to raise finance for the group’s operations the group also has various other financial instruments such as trade 
receivables and trade payables which arise directly from its operations 
the group also enters into derivative transactions primarily interest rate swaps and forward currency contracts the purpose is to manage the 
interest rate and currency risks arising from the group’s operations and its sources of finance 
it is and has been throughout the period under review the group’s policy that no trading in financial instruments shall be undertaken 
the main risks arising from the group’s financial instruments are interest rate risk foreign currency risk credit risk and liquidity risk the board 
reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks and they are summarised below 
b interest rate risk 
the group is subject to fluctuations in interest rates on its loans and surplus cash deposits at 3 april 2011 the group held hedging arrangements 
in order to fix the interest charge on £103 million of its bank debt 
the swap arrangements cover 
debt covered millions fixed rate expiry
£150 476 3 may 2011
€1000 230 13 january 2012
amounts to be paid or received under these arrangements will be recognised in the interest expense consistent with the terms of the agreement  
the expiry of each agreement is disclosed in the table above 
the arrangements are fully effective in fixing the interest on the underlying debt in revaluing them to fair value the group has recognised £85000 
2010 £619000 in current liabilities and equity 
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a reasonable possible change in interest rates on the element of the total group interest which is 
not subject to fixed interest arrangements the reasonable change is based on the difference between current market interest rates and one year 
forward rates 
increasedecrease  
in basis points 
effect on profit after tax and equity 
£’000
2011 9797 874874
2010 8787 674674
c foreign currency risk 
the group has exposure to foreign currency risk where it has investment in overseas operations which are affected by foreign exchange 
movements the group is not exposed to significant transactional foreign currency risk in respect of its overseas operations  
whilst the exposure is limited the group’s principal currency exposure is to fluctuations in the exchange rate between sterling and the euro 
during the 12 months to march 2011 the average exchange rate for sterling against the euro strengthened by 4 in comparison to the 12 month 
average to march 2010 a 4 strengthening in the average exchange rate for sterling against the euro over the entire year to march 2011 would 
have resulted in reduced adjusted operating profit of £10 million 2010 a 7 weakening which would have led to an increase of £18 million 
this analysis assumes that all other variables remain constant a 4 weakening in the average exchange rate for sterling against the euro would 
have an equal but opposite effect 
the board considers that the costs of mitigating any exposure to movements in foreign currency earnings from subsidiaries currently would 
outweigh the benefits 
where the group subsidiaries make significant purchases in nonfunctional currencies such as us and canadian dollars the group enters 
into forward exchange currency contracts to manage this exposure during the 12 months to march 2011 the average exchange rate for sterling 
against the us dollar has weakened by 3 in comparison to the 12 months average to march 2010 a 3 weakening in the average exchange 
rate for sterling against the us dollar over the entire year to march 2011 would have resulted in increased adjusted operating profit of £01 million 
2010 a 9 weakening which would have led to a reduction of £04 million this analysis assumes all other variables remain constant 
a 3 strengthening in the average exchange rate for sterling against the us dollar would have an equal but opposite effect 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 67
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
19 financial instruments continued 
currency derivatives the group utilises currency derivatives to hedge significant future transactions and cash flows in foreign currencies and 
is a party to a variety of foreign currency forward contracts in the management of its exchange rate exposures the instruments purchased are 
denominated in the functional currencies of the group’s trading entities and its suppliers 
the group does not trade in derivatives the derivatives held hedge specific exposures and have maturities designed to match the exposures 
they are hedging it is the intention to hold the financial instruments giving rise to the exposure and the underlying hedged item until maturity 
and therefore no net gain or loss is expected to be realised 
additionally the group holds eurodenominated loans in uk companies totalling £704 million 2010 £630 million this represents a fully 
effective designated net investment hedge against the first £704 million of the group’s eurodenominated net assets of £2353 million 2010 
£1944 million the revaluation of these loans resulted in a loss of £22 million 2010 gain of £48 million which has been posted to the 
translation reserve 
d credit risk 
the group’s principal financial assets are bank balances and cash and trade and other receivables the group’s credit risk is primarily attributable 
to its trade receivables the amounts presented in the balance sheet are net of allowances for impairment 
the credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited because the counterparties are banks with high credit ratings assigned 
by international credit rating agencies 
the group has no significant concentration of credit risk with exposure spread over a large number of counterparties and customers 
credit risk is the risk of financial loss to the group if a customer or counterparty to a financial instrument fails to meet its contractual obligations 
and arises principally from the group’s receivables from customers 
management has credit policies in place to manage risk and to monitor exposure to risk on an ongoing basis these include the use of customer 
specific credit limits based on third party credit reports and in cases of customer default or requests for credit above agreed limits the use of pro 
forma invoices to secure payment in advance of delivery given these factors and based on extensive past experience the group believes that its 
financial assets are of good credit quality  
exposure to credit risk the carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure therefore the maximum exposure 
to credit risk at the balance sheet date was £83688000 2010 £49687000 being the total trade and other receivables and cash and cash 
equivalents in the balance sheet this figure is higher than last year as a result of the cash drawn down to fund the acquisition of beamone after 
the period end 
the group’s customer base mainly comprises major medical device companies commercial distributors nhs trusts and healthcare providers 
including public sector private sector and charitable organisations throughout the world no single customer or top 10 customer grouping 
accounts for a significant proportion of the group’s trade receivables the group has in place an insurance policy to cover the majority of its 
healthcare solutions uk export customers 
credit quality of trade receivables and impairment losses  
at the balance sheet date the ageing of trade receivables was 
group 
2011 
gross 
£’000 
2010 
gross 
£’000
current 33110 30339
1–30 days overdue 7740 7032
31–60 days overdue 1290 1155
61–90 days overdue 573 1034
more than 90 days overdue 287 491
 43000 40051
financial assets are reviewed for impairment at the balance sheet date and a full provision for impairment is made against trade receivables that 
are not considered to be recoverable the total provision against trade receivables at the period end was £418000 2010 614000 
no further analysis has been provided for cash and cash equivalents trade receivables from group companies other trade receivables and other 
financial assets as there is limited exposure to credit risk and no provisions for impairment have been recognised 
liquidity risk 
liquidity risk is the risk that the group will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due 
details of the maturity of the group’s financial liabilities are given in note 18 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 68
 19 financial instruments continued 
capital management 
the group’s objectives when managing capital are 
i to safeguard the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern so that it can continue to provide returns for shareholders and benefits to other 
stakeholders and 
ii to provide an adequate return to shareholders by a pricing products and services commensurate with the level of risk and b ensuring returns 
on new investment programmes will maintain or increase shareholder returns 
the group manages its capital structure and makes adjustments to it in light of changes in economic conditions to maintain or adjust the capital 
structure the group may adjust the dividend payment to shareholders return capital to shareholders or issue new shares if required no changes 
were made in the objectives policies or processes during the periods ended 3 april 2011 and 28 march 2010 
the table below presents the quantitative data for the components the group manages as capital 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
shareholders’ funds 288592 265807
finance leases 7862 8742
bank loans 141579 128772
other interestbearing loans 1662 2189
 439695 405510
20 deferred tax 
the following are the major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the group and movements thereon during the current and prior 
reporting period 
accelerated capital 
allowances 
£’000
recognition of 
intangibles 
£’000
sharebased  
payments  
£’000
other temporary  
differences  
£’000 
pension 
schemes 
£’000
total 
£’000
at 29 march 2009 9536 12179 420 1514 2780 17001
chargecredit to income 197 1535 469 123 409 1275
chargecredit to equity – – 110 – 1875 1985
exchange differences 19 – – – 35 16
at 28 march 2010  9752 10644 999 1391 4281 13725
chargecredit to income 373 2246 270 334 304 2919
chargecredit to equity – – 211 – 932 1143
acquired with business during the period – – – 499 152 347
exchange differences 125 – – – – 125
at 3 april 2011 9254 8398 1058 1226 3197 12171
the group has deferred tax assets of £2552000 2010 £1364000 in respect of tax losses that have not been recognised as their recoverability 
is uncertain deferred tax assets and liabilities have been offset where appropriate 
on 23 march 2011 the chancellor announced the reduction in the main rate of uk corporation tax to 26 with effect from 1 april 2011 
this change became substantively enacted on 29 march 2011 and therefore the effect of the rate reduction creates a reduction in the deferred 
tax liability which has been included in the figures above 
the chancellor also proposed changes to further reduce the main rate of corporation tax by 1 per annum to 23 by 1 april 2014 but these 
changes have not yet been substantively enacted and therefore are not included in the figures above  
 
 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 69
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
21 trade and other payables 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
trade payables 21007 15716
nontrade payables and accrued expenses 39247 41012
 60254 56728
trade payables and accruals principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs the average credit period taken 
for trade purchases is 58 days 2010 57 days 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade payables approximates to their fair value  
22 provisions  
cobalt 
disposal costs
£’000
environmental 
provision 
£’000 
other 
provisions
£’000
total
£’000
at 29 march 2010 2792 2994 3250 9036
additional provision in the year 114 – 1078 1192
unwinding of discounting 150 116 – 266
utilised in the year – 17 1196 1213
acquired with businesses during the period 1092 359 364 1815
exchange differences 34 53 3 16
at 3 april 2011 4182 3399 3499 11080
included in current liabilities  375
included in noncurrent liabilities  10705
  11080
the brought forward environmental provision was agreed with the vendor of lips textielservice holding bv as part of the acquisition completion 
accounts to the extent that the environmental provision is not utilised by 30 july 2012 it is to be paid to the vendor together with interest at the rate 
of euribor plus 075 accordingly the interest to date has been accrued and reflected in the income statement  
the cobalt disposal cost provision recognises a potential decommissioning liability in respect of particular types of cobalt used at medical device 
sterilisation sites it is anticipated that the provision will be utilised as the cobalt to which the provision relates reaches the end of its useful 
economic life 
other provisions include provisions against vacated properties and other restructuring costs  
23 share capital 
 
2011 
£’000
2010 
£’000
allotted called up and fully paid 344 342
the company has issued 386569 ordinary shares 2010 787104 ordinary shares of 0625p during the year in respect of options exercised 
under share option schemes total share proceeds amounted to £1189000 2010 £1469000 the difference between the total consideration 
and the total nominal value of shares issued has been credited to the share premium account 
the holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends from time to time and are entitled to one vote per share at meetings of the group 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 70
 24 acquisition of subsidiary 
with effect from 1 november 2010 the group acquired the entire issued share capital of gamma service produktbestrahlung gmbh ‘gsp’ 
a company incorporated in germany gsp is located in saxony and provides sterilisation services 
the fair value of the net assets acquired and the related consideration were as follows 
fair value
£’000
property plant and equipment 8352
intangible assets 1767
inventories 33
trade and other receivables 619
cash and cash equivalents 1310
trade and other payables 284
pension provisions 539
other provisions 1815
deferred tax liabilities 347
finance leases 150
loans 6305
fair value of assets acquired 2641
 
cash consideration 2870
deferred consideration 428
total consideration 3298
 
goodwill arising on acquisition 657
the deferred consideration is due for payment one year after the date of acquisition  
the goodwill arising on the acquisition of gsp is attributable to the assembled workforce and the synergies that can be generated following the 
integration of gsp into the group  
in accordance with ifrs 3 business combinations revised management have made adjustments to the book value of net assets acquired 
to arrive at the fair values disclosed above the most significant of these are the recognition of intangible assets customer lists and adjustments 
to the carrying value of provisions for the disposal of cobalt  
acquisition costs of £169000 have been expensed within nonrecurring items  
the gsp business contributed £2492000 to revenue and £439000 to operating profit for the period had the business been owned for the entire 
year the contribution to revenue and operating profit would have been £5117000 and £922000 respectively  
summary of cash flow associated with the acquisition of gsp 
cash consideration 2870
cash acquired with business 1310
acquisition of subsidiaries – net of cash 1560
 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 71
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
25 operating lease arrangements 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
minimum lease payments under operating leases recognised in income for the year 4685 3500
at the balance sheet date the group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases 
which fall due as follows 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
in one year or less 3903 1934
between one and five years 7824 4427
in five years or more 14851 19051
 26578 25412
operating lease payments represent rentals payable by the group for certain of its properties vehicles and equipment  
26 sharebased payments 
the group recognised total expenses of £1088000 related to sharebased payment transactions in 2011 and £1506000 in 2010 in 2011 
£nil related to cashsettled sharebased payments with the balance relating to equitysettled sharebased payments in 2010 £73000 related 
to cashsettled sharebased payments with the balance relating to equitysettled sharebased payments  
the group operates seven separate share option schemes as follows 
the executive share option scheme 2007 
a new share option scheme was adopted on 3 july 2007 and was approved by the inland revenue on 12 july 2007 it is administered by the 
board and is open to all employees and to directors who devote not less than 25 hours per week to their duties 
options are exercisable at a price equal to the average quoted market price of the company’s shares on the three dealing days prior to the date 
of grant the vesting period is three years if the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant the options expire 
options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest except in the case of retirement redundancy or similar situations 
options granted to a participating individual are approved options to the extent that when taken together with any other approved options held 
by that individual they do not exceed £30000 in value any option granted in excess of that figure is unapproved  
exercise of the options is subject to performance conditions determined by the remuneration committee linked to a sustained and significant 
improvement in the underlying financial performance of the company over a three year period options granted during the year will vest in 
accordance with an increase in the company’s earnings per share adjusted for the amortisation of acquired intangibles and nonrecurring items 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011  2010
number of 
share options
£
weighted average 
exercise price 
 £  
number of  
share options 
£ 
weighted average
exercise price
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 587289 674  447475 761
granted during the period 9049 749  205341 521
forfeited during the period 67415 685  65527 732
exercised during the period 27847 749  – –
outstanding at end of period 501076 676  587289 674
exercisable at end of period 195196 793  – –
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 72
  
26 sharebased payments continued 
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the period was £859 2010 £nil  
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at prices between £504 and £796 and had a weighted average remaining contractual 
life of 73 years 2010 83 years during the year ended 3 april 2011 options were granted on 6 july 2010 the aggregate of the estimated 
fair values of the options granted at that date is £004 million during the year ended 28 march 2010 options were granted on 15 july 2009 
7 september 2009 23 september 2009 2 november 2009 9 december 2009 and 16 february 2010 the aggregate of the estimated fair 
values of the options granted on those dates is £02 million the weighted average fair value of options granted in the year is £106 2010 £139 
the inputs into the blackscholes model for grants during the year are as follows 
 2011 2010
weighted average share price £672 £529
weighted average exercise price £663 £520
expected volatility 2775 3948
expected life in years 30 30
risk free rate 138 219
dividend yield 224 177
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’s share price over the previous three years at the date of grant 
the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise 
restrictions and behavioural considerations 
the approved share option plan 
the approved share option plan was adopted on 13 july 2001 and was approved by the inland revenue on 3 august 2001 it is administered by 
the board and was open to all employees and to directors who devote not less than 25 hours per week to their duties no further options will be 
granted under this scheme 
options are exercisable at a price equal to the average quoted market price of the company’s shares on the three dealing days prior to the date of 
grant the vesting period is between three and four years if the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant the 
options expire options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011  2010
number of 
share options
£
weighted average 
exercise price  
 £  
number of 
share options
£
weighted average
exercise price 
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 91829 408  185550 425
forfeited during the period – –  15271 692
exercised during the period 53459 405  78450 393
outstanding at end of period 38370 412  91829 408
exercisable at end of period 38370 412  91829 408
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the period was £720 2010 £614 
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at prices between £173 and £772 and had a weighted average remaining contractual 
life of 40 years 2010 51 years  
the unapproved share option plan 
the unapproved share option plan was adopted on 30 november 1999 and was not submitted for approval by the board to the inland revenue 
the scheme was open to all employees no further options will be granted under this scheme 
options are exercisable at a price equal to the average quoted market price of the company’s shares on the three dealing days prior to the date 
of grant the vesting period is between three and four years if the options remain unexercised after a period of seven years from the date of grant 
the options expire options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 73
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
26 sharebased payments continued 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011  2010
number of 
share options
£
weighted average 
exercise price  
 £  
number of 
share options
£
weighted average
exercise price 
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 213317 523  537025 412
forfeited during the period 20795 680  21293 503
exercised during the period 107368 460  302415 327
outstanding at end of period 85154 566  213317 523
exercisable at end of period 85154 566  213317 523
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the period was £763 2010 £591 
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at prices between £290 and £772 and had a weighted average remaining contractual 
life of 22 years 2010 30 years  
the save as you earn scheme 
the save as you earn scheme was adopted on 13 july 2001 and is open to all employees and fulltime directors who have at least six months 
service with the group options are granted for a period of either three five or seven years 
options are exercisable at a price equal to the average quoted market price of the company’s shares on the three dealing days prior to the date 
of grant discounted by 20 options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest except in the case of retirement 
redundancy or similar situations 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011  2010
number of 
share options
£
weighted average 
exercise price  
 £  
number of 
share options
£
weighted average
exercise price 
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 341370 331  348888 494
granted during the period 88834 658  130305 527
forfeited during the period 61243 579  91482 476
exercised during the period 59955 450  46341 340
outstanding at end of period 309006 570  341370 331
exercisable at end of period 3856 458  ––
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the period was £803 2010 £594  
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at prices between £174 and £686 and had a weighted average remaining contractual 
life of 278 years 2010 12 years during the year ended 3 april 2011 options were granted on 1 february 2011 the aggregate of the estimated 
fair values of the options granted on this date is £019 million during the year ended 28 march 2010 options were granted on 5 december 2009 
the aggregate of the estimated fair values of the options granted on this date is £02 million the weighted average fair value of options granted in 
the year is £274 2010 £198 
the inputs into the blackscholes model for grants during the year are as follows 
 2011 2010
weighted average share price £894 £615
weighted average exercise price £658 £527
expected volatility 2660 3819
expected life in years 37 37
risk free rate 213 219
dividend yield 224 177
the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise 
restrictions and behavioural considerations 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 74
  
26 sharebased payments continued 
long term incentive plan ‘ltip’ 
the ltip for executive directors and senior executives was approved at the annual general meeting on 28 june 2005 and is described in the 
remuneration report on page 39  
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011 2010
number of 
share options 
£
weighted average 
exercise price 
 £  
number of 
share options 
 £
weighted average
exercise price
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 1059766 001  1068116 001
granted during the period 487895 001  384311 001
forfeited during the period 342720 001  101190 001
exercised during the period 131287 001  291471 001
outstanding at end of period 1073654 001  1059766 001
exercisable at end of period – –  ––
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the period was £631 2010 £594 
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at a price of £001 being the nominal value of the ordinary shares and had a weighted 
average remaining contractual life of 14 years 2010 14 years  
during the year ended 3 april 2011 options were granted on 14 june 2010 and 14 july 2010 the aggregate of the estimated fair values of the 
options granted on those dates is £115 million during the year ended 28 march 2010 options were granted on 14 july 2009 22 july 2009 
1 september 2009 and 24 september 2009 the aggregate of the estimated fair values of the options granted on this date is £05 million 
the weighted average fair value of options granted in the year is £608 2010 £494 
the fair value of an award of shares under the ltip has been adjusted to take into account tsr as a marketbased performance condition using  
a pricing model that takes into account expectations about volatility and the correlation of share price returns in the comparator group the model 
follows similar principles as the monte carlo approach and takes into account that tsr vesting and share price performance are not independent 
the inputs into the fair value models are as follows 
 2011 2010
weighted average share price £652 £521
weighted average exercise price £001 £001
expected volatility 2776 3986
expected life in years 30 30
risk free rate 143 223
dividend yield 224 177
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’s share price over the previous three years at the date of grant 
the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise 
restrictions and behavioural considerations 
the performance share plan psp 
following the acquisition of isotron plc the group allowed members of the isotron psp scheme to roll forward their entitlement into an identical 
scheme based on synergy shares the vesting period is three years the vesting of 75 of the options was subject to the relative performance of 
isotron’s total shareholder return and 25 is subject to the group achieving growth in earnings per share under the terms of the scheme the 
vesting conditions were waived as a result of the acquisition by synergy health plc if the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years 
from the date of grant the options expire no new options will be granted under this scheme  
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011 2010
number of 
share options 
£
weighted average 
exercise price 
 £  
number of
 share options 
 £
weighted average
exercise price
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 15147 001  74685 001
forfeited during the period 1430 001  764 001
exercised during the period 6651 001  58774 001
outstanding at end of period 7066 001  15147 001
exercisable at end of period 7066 001  15147 001
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for psp options exercised during the period was £869 2010 £552 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 75
 26 sharebased payments continued 
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at an exercise price of 083p and had a weighted average remaining contractual life of 
53 years 2010 61 years no options have been granted under this scheme since the acquisition the fair values of the options granted remain 
unchanged postacquisition 
‘phantom’ performance share plan ‘phantom psp’ 
phantom psp was adopted by the group in a similar manner to the psp scheme following the acquisition of isotron plc it is available to certain 
overseas employees of the group ‘phantom’ options are issued and the vesting conditions of the scheme are identical to the psp no new options 
will be granted under this scheme the scheme is cashsettled 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
2011 2010
number of 
share options 
£
weighted average 
exercise price 
 £  
number of 
share options 
 £
weighted average
exercise price
 £
outstanding at beginning of period 37310 001  66276 001
forfeited during the period 851 001  2558 001
exercised during the period 13444 001  26408 001
outstanding at end of period 23015 001  37310 001
exercisable at end of period 23015 001  37310 001
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for phantom psp options exercised during the period was £742 2010 £602 
the options outstanding at 3 april 2011 were exercisable at an exercise price of £083p and had a weighted average remaining contractual life 
of 50 years 2010 62 years no options have been granted under this scheme since acquisition  
the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise 
restrictions and behavioural considerations 
27 retirement benefit schemes 
defined contribution schemes 
the group contributes towards a number of defined contribution and stakeholder schemes the assets of these schemes are administered by 
trustees in funds independent from those of the group 
the total cost charged to income of £2850000 2010 £1390000 represents contributions payable to these schemes by the group at rates 
specified in the rules of the plans  
defined benefit schemes 
during the year the group operated four defined benefit pension schemes for the benefit of certain employees of its subsidiaries in the uk and 
the netherlands a fifth defined benefit pension scheme for the benefit of certain employees and exemployees in germany was added during 
the year with the acquisition of gsp in addition the group participates in a multiemployer scheme in the netherlands 
scheme 1 – synergy health plc retirement benefits scheme the scheme is a defined benefit final salary funded pension scheme 
the scheme is only open to new employees transferring their employment from nhs trusts the employer expects to contribute £730000 for the 
year starting 4 april 2011 the current arrangements as regards to contribution levels are described in the scheme’s schedule of contributions 
dated 24 june 2010  
the last full actuarial valuation for the scheme was conducted as at 31 march 2009 this has been updated to 3 april 2011 by a qualified 
independent actuary 
scheme 2 – shiloh group pension scheme the scheme is a defined benefit final salary funded pension scheme the scheme is closed to future 
accrual the employer expects to contribute £345000 for the year starting 4 april 2011 the current arrangements as regards to contribution 
levels are described in the scheme’s schedule of contributions dated 22 march 2010  
the last full actuarial valuation for the scheme was conducted as at 31 march 2009 this has been updated to 3 april 2011 by a qualified 
independent actuary  
scheme 3 – isotron bv pension plan the scheme is a defined benefit career average salary funded pension scheme the scheme is closed 
to new entrants an actuarial valuation of the scheme was carried out at 3 april 2011 by a qualified independent actuary 
scheme 4 – vernoncarus limited pension and assurance scheme the scheme is a defined benefit final salary funded pension scheme 
the scheme is closed to future accrual the employer expects to contribute £1546000 for the year starting 4 april 2011 the current 
arrangements as regards to contribution levels are described in the scheme’s schedule of contributions dated 7 may 2010  
the last full actuarial valuation for the scheme was conducted as at 31 march 2009 this has been updated to 3 april 2011 by a qualified 
independent actuary  
notes to the consolidated financial statements 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 76
  
27 retirement benefit schemes continued 
scheme 5 – gamma service produktbestrahlung scheme the scheme is a defined benefit funded pension scheme the scheme is closed to new 
entrants an updated actuarial valuation of the scheme was carried out at 3 april 2011 by a qualified independent actuary 
scheme 6 – lips textielservice our dutch linen business participates in a multiemployer industrywide defined benefit scheme the plan is 
managed by the industry pension fund and obligations are reinsured in the event that there is an underfunding position the trustees of the 
scheme can take a range of actions including increasing employee contributions and reducing member benefits as well as asking employers to 
increase their contributions 
it is not possible to identify the share of the underlying assets liabilities and overall surplusdeficit of the plan attributable to the business because 
the plan is industrywide however to the extent that a surplus or deficit in the plan may affect the amount of future contributions the company will 
be required to recognise its share of these obligations under the specific exemptions within ias 19 the scheme is therefore treated as a defined 
contribution scheme within the group financial statements the total cost charged to the income statement in respect of this scheme was 
£2482000 2010 £2235000 
ias 19 disclosures 
the key weighted average assumptions used by the actuary and the directors for the significant pension schemes were 
 
2011

2010 

rate of increase in salaries 34 40
rate of increase for pensions in payment 32 34
inflation 30 37
discount rate for liabilities 56 56
expected rate of return on scheme assets 64 66
in assessing the group’s postretirement liabilities the group monitors mortality assumptions and uses uptodate mortality tables the following 
mortality tables have been used 
– pa92 year of birth long cohort with a minimum improvement of 1 per annum and scaling factor of between 125 and 130  
– dutch standard table 2006 minus two year age range offset 
it has been assumed that the remaining average lifespan of a plan member if they retire at a normal retirement age is on average 22 years  
the mortality assumptions for the schemes are updated regularly allowance is made for expected future increases in life expectancy 
amounts recognised in income in respect of these defined benefit pension schemes are as follows 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
current service cost less employee contributions 1020 777
of the charge for the year £475000 2010 £376000 has been included in cost of sales and £545000 2010 £401000 has been included in 
administrative expenses actuarial gains and losses have been reported in the statement of recognised income and expense 
the other finance costsincome charged comprises 
 
2011
£’000
2010
 £’000
expected return on pension scheme assets 2795 2116
interest on pension scheme liabilities 3175 2729
net charge to income statement 380 613
the amount recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income is 
 
2011
£’000
2010 
£’000
actual return less expected return on pension scheme assets 1437 7154
experience lossesgains arising on scheme liabilities – 589
changes in assumptions underlying the present value of the scheme liabilities 3891 14438
 2454 6695
the actual gain on the scheme assets was £1358000 2010 £9270000 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 77
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
27 retirement benefit schemes continued 
the amount included in the balance sheet arising from the group’s obligation in respect of its defined benefit retirement benefit schemes is  
as follows 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
present value of defined benefit obligations  55916 56723
fair value of scheme assets 43665 41320
deficit in scheme 12251 15403
liability recognised in the balance sheet 12251 15403
movements in the present value of defined benefit obligations were as follows 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
beginning of year 56723 41516
service cost 970 777
interest cost 3175 2729
contributions from scheme members 251 254
actuarial gains and losses 3891 13849
benefits paid 1889 2322
losses on settlements and curtailments 50 –
obligation transferred on acquisition of subsidiary 593 –
exchange adjustments 66 80
end of year 55916 56723
none of the schemes has contingent liabilities 
movements in the fair value of scheme assets were as follows 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
beginning of year 41320 32220
expected return on scheme assets 2795 2116
actuarial lossesgains 1437 7154
contributions from sponsoring companies 2627 1948
contributions from scheme members 251 254
benefits paid 1889 2322
fair value of assets transferred on acquisition of subsidiary 51 –
exchange adjustments 53 50
end of year 43665 41320
the analysis of the scheme assets and the expected rates of return at the balance sheet date were as follows 
2011 2010
rate of return 

value 
£’000  
rate of return 

value
£’000
equities 85 15490  80 23532
bonds 51 19060  55 11552
other assets 55 9115  53 4137
cash 45 –  05 2099
total market value of assets 43665  41320
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 78
  
27 retirement benefit schemes continued 
the assets of these schemes are administered by trustees in funds independent from those of the group the scheme assets do not include 
investments issued by the group nor any properties occupied by the group the overall expected rate of return on the scheme assets has been 
based on the average expected return for each asset class weighted by the amount of assets in each class  
the five year history of experience gains and losses is 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
2009 
£’000 
2008
£’000
2007
£’000
present value of defined benefit obligations 55916 56723 41516 40692 17420
fair value of scheme assets 43665 41320 32220 36749 14421
deficit in the scheme 12251 15403 9296 3943 2999
experience adjustments on scheme liabilities  
amount £’000 – 589 1578 6831 47
percentage of the present value of the scheme liabilities 0 1 4 17 0
experience adjustments on scheme assets  
amount £’000 1437 7154 8000 4157 459
percentage of scheme assets 3 17 25 11 3
following the announcement by the government on 8 july 2010 of their intention to use cpi rather than rpi to calculate statutory minimum 
increases in both deferred pensions and pensions in payment the company has given due consideration including discussions with its legal 
advisors and the trustees to the impact of the change on the valuation of the scheme liabilities as at 3 april 2011 management have concluded 
that for two of the uk schemes a change to cpi is permitted under the scheme rules and this has been recognised as a change in assumption 
through the consolidated statement of comprehensive income during the period 
28 related party transactions 
transactions between the company and its subsidiaries which are related parties have been eliminated on consolidation and are not disclosed 
in this note the group’s share of the net assets and income of the jointlycontrolled entity are disclosed in note 15 
remuneration of key management personnel 
the remuneration of key personnel including directors of synergy health plc was 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
short term benefits 2768 2170
postemployment benefits 219 322
sharebased payments 651 962
 3638 3454
key personnel including directors comprise the executive and nonexecutive directors and six senior executives 2010 five three of the senior 
executives are directly responsible for the group’s operating regions the others are the group hr director the group commercial director and 
the group company secretary 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 79
 notes to the consolidated financial statements 
29 postbalance sheet event – acquisition of subsidiary 
with effect from 7 april 2011 the group acquired the entire issued share capital of beamone llc ‘beamone’ a company incorporated in the 
us beamone has sites in san diego california denver colorado lima ohio saxonburg pennsylvania with a fifth site in costa rica 
the fair value of the net assets acquired and the related consideration were as follows 
 
fair value
£’000
property plant and equipment 5397
investment 429
intangible assets 5003
trade and other receivables 2575
cash and cash equivalents 589
trade and other payables 1582
other provisions 643
loans 4278
fair value of assets acquired 7490
 
cash consideration 16341
deferred consideration 8582
total consideration 24923
 
goodwill arising on acquisition 17433
the deferred consideration is due for payment 14 months after the date of acquisition  
the goodwill arising on the acquisition of beamone is attributable to the assembled workforce and the synergies that can be generated following 
the integration of beamone into the group  
in accordance with ifrs3 revised business combinations management have made adjustments to the book value of net assets acquired to 
arrive at the fair values disclosed above the most significant of these are the recognition of intangible assets customer lists  
acquisition costs of £608000 related to beamone have been expensed during the period within nonrecurring items  
had beamone been owned for the entire year the contribution to revenue and operating profit would have been £8800000 and 
£2200000 respectively  
summary of cash flow associated with the acquisition of beamone 
cash consideration 16341
cash acquired with business 589
acquisition of subsidiaries – net of cash 15752
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 80
 company balance sheet 
as at 3 april 2011 
notes 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
fixed assets  
tangible assets 4 403 329
investments 5 359293 358719
  359696 359048
current assets  
debtors 6 58001 38040
current investments  – –
cash at bank and in hand  – –
  58001 38040
creditors amounts falling due within one year 7 157016 26869
net current liabilitiesassets  99015 11171
total assets less current liabilities  260681 370219
creditors amounts falling due after one year 8 – 111283
net assets  260681 258936
capital and reserves  
called up share capital 9 344 342
share premium account 10 63531 62344
merger reserve 10 106757 106757
cash flow hedging reserve 10 112 550
profit and loss account 10 90161 90043
shareholders’ funds 11 260681 258936
the company financial statements on pages 81 to 89 were approved by the board on 7 june 2011 and signed on its behalf by 
r m steeves  g hill 
director   director 
the notes on pages 82 to 89 form part of these financial statements 
 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 81
 notes to the financial statements 
1 principal company accounting policies 
the term ‘company’ refers to synergy health plc the separate financial statements of the company are presented as required by the companies 
act 2006 ‘the act’ as permitted by the act the separate financial statements have been prepared in accordance with uk generally accepted 
accounting principles ‘uk gaap’ 
the following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items that are considered material in relation to the company’s 
financial statements 
basis of accounting 
the financial statements presented under uk gaap are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable 
accounting standards 
under section 408 of the act the company is exempt from the requirement to present its own profit and loss account the company’s profit 
for the financial year is disclosed in note 2 
goodwill 
purchased goodwill is capitalised and amortised over its estimated useful economic life 
intangible assets 
intangible assets that are acquired by the company are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and impairment losses costs incurred 
in setting up long term arrangements are capitalised as intangible assets and amortised over the life of the contract to which the costs relate 
tangible fixed assets and depreciation 
tangible fixed assets are stated at cost net of depreciation and any provision for impairment freehold land is not depreciated for all assets 
depreciation is provided on a straightline basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets  
the estimated useful lives are as follows 
leasehold improvements period of lease 
plant and machinery 3–20 years  
office equipment  3–5 years  
stocks 
stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value 
deferred taxation 
except where otherwise required by accounting standards full provision without discounting is made for all timing differences between the 
treatment of certain items for taxation and accounting purposes which have arisen but not reversed by the balance sheet date deferred tax assets 
are recognised when it is more likely than not that they will be recovered deferred tax is measured using rates of tax that have been enacted or 
substantively enacted by the balance sheet date 
financial instruments 
financial assets and liabilities are recognised on the company’s balance sheet when the company becomes a party to the contractual provisions 
of the instrument 
trade and other receivables trade and other receivables are stated at fair value they are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest method less provision for impairment 
trade and other payables trade and other payables are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest rate method  
equity instruments equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting the company’s activities expose it to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency 
exchange rates and interest rates the company uses foreign exchange forward contracts and interest rate swap contracts to hedge these 
exposures the company does not use derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes the use of financial derivatives is governed 
by the company’s treasury policy as approved by the board of directors 
derivative financial instruments are recognised initially at fair value the gain or loss on remeasurement to fair value is either recognised 
immediately in the profit and loss account or if the underlying derivative qualifies for cash flow hedge accounting then the gain or loss 
is recognised in equity to the extent that the hedge is effective 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 82
  
1 principal company accounting policies continued 
financial instruments continued 
if the cash flow hedge of a firm commitment or a forecast transaction results in the recognition of an asset or a liability then at the time the asset  
or liability is recognised the associated gains or losses on the derivative that had previously been recognised in equity are included in the initial 
measurement of the asset or liability for cash flow hedges that do not result in the recognition of an asset or liability amounts deferred in equity 
are recognised in the profit and loss account in the same period in which the hedged item affects the profit and loss account  
when a cash flow hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised but the hedged forecast transaction is still expected to occur 
the cumulative gain or loss at that point remains in equity and is recognised in accordance with the above policy when the transaction occurs 
if the hedged transaction is no longer expected to take place the cumulative unrealised gain or loss recognised in equity is recognised immediately 
in the profit and loss account 
retirement benefits 
defined contribution pension schemes the pension costs charged against operating profits are the contributions payable to the schemes in respect 
of the accounting period  
government grants 
government grants in respect of capital expenditure are credited to a deferred income account within creditors and are released to the profit and 
loss account by equal annual instalments over the expected useful lives of the relevant assets 
government grants of a revenue nature are credited to the profit and loss account in the same period as the related expenditure 
leased assets 
assets held under hire purchase contracts are capitalised in the balance sheet and depreciated over their expected useful lives  
the interest element of leasing payments represents a constant proportion of the capital balance outstanding and is charged to the profit and loss 
account over the period of the lease 
all other leases are regarded as operating leases and the payments made under them are charged to the profit and loss account on a straightline 
basis over the lease term 
investments 
in the company’s financial statements investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost except where they have experienced a permanent 
diminution in value where shares have been issued to acquire a subsidiary the cost of the investment is the market value of the company’s 
shares on the date the transaction took place  
sharebased payments 
the company has applied the requirements of frs 20 sharebased payment the company issues equitysettled sharebased payments to 
certain employees equitysettled sharebased payments are measured at fair value at the date of grant the fair value of options granted is 
recognised as an employee expense with a corresponding increase in equity 
the fair value is measured at the date of grant of the equitysettled sharebased payments and is spread over the period during which the 
employees become unconditionally entitled to the options the fair value of the options granted is measured using both the blackscholes and 
monte carlo models taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted the amount recognised as an expense  
is adjusted to reflect the actual number of share options that vest except where forfeiture is only due to growth in the company’s total shareholder 
return not achieving the growth threshold for vesting  
the company also provides employees with the option to purchase the company’s ordinary shares at a discount of 20 of market value on the 
date of grant the fair value of the options granted is measured using the blackscholes model 
in accordance with the transitional provisions frs 20 has been applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were 
unvested as of 3 april 2005 
where the company grants options over its own shares to the employees of its subsidiaries it recognises in its individual financial statements 
an increase in the cost of investment in its subsidiaries equivalent to the equitysettled sharebased payment charge recognised in its consolidated 
financial statements with the corresponding credit being recognised directly in equity 
financial guarantees 
where the company enters into financial guarantee contracts to guarantee the indebtedness of other companies within the group the company 
considers these to be insurance arrangements and accounts for them as such in this respect the company treats the guarantee contract as a 
contingent liability until such time as it becomes probable that the company will be required to make a payment under the guarantee 
cash flow and related party transactions 
under the provisions of frs 1 cash flow statements revised the company has not presented a cash flow statement because the consolidated 
financial statements contain a cash flow statement 
under the provisions of frs 8 related party disclosures the company has not disclosed details of intergroup transactions because consolidated 
financial statements have been prepared 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 83
 notes to the financial statements 
2 profit and loss account 
the directors have taken advantage of the exemption available under section 408 of the act and not presented a profit and loss account for the 
company alone a profit of £6740000 2010 profit £16642000 is included within the consolidated financial statements audit fees and 
expenses paid to the company’s auditors were £62000 2010 £72000  
amounts receivable by the company’s auditor in respect of services to the company other than the audit of the company’s financial statements 
have not been disclosed as the information is required instead to be disclosed on a consolidated basis in the consolidated financial statements 
3 dividends 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period 
final dividend for the year ended 29 march 2009 of 68p per share – 3696
second interim dividend for the year ended 28 march 2010 of 83p per share 4540 –
interim dividend for the period ended 3 april 2011 of 60p 2010 49p per share 3298 2676
 7838 6372
the group paid a second interim dividend on 1 april 2010 in lieu of a final dividend for the year ended 28 march 2010 the board of directors 
will recommend to the shareholders a final dividend in respect of the period ended 3 april 2011 of 984p  
4 tangible fixed assets 
short leasehold 
properties 
£’000 
plant machinery
and office
equipment 
£’000
total
£’000
cost  
at 28 march 2010 78 688 766
additions – 232 232
disposals – 44 44
at 3 april 2011 78 876 954
depreciation  
at 28 march 2010 78 359 437
charge for the year – 114 114
disposals – – –
at 3 april 2011 78 473 551
net book value at 3 april 2011 – 403 403
net book value at 28 march 2010 – 329 329
the net book value of company plant machinery and office equipment includes £nil 2010 £nil in respect of assets held under finance leases 
depreciation of £nil 2010 £nil was charged on such assets 
5 fixed asset investments 
investments in subsidiary undertakings held by synergy health plc as at 3 april 2011 are 
 
shares in group
undertakings
£’000
balance at 28 march 2010 358719
additions 574
balance at 3 april 2011 359293
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 84
  
5 fixed asset investments continued 
the company holds either directly or through subsidiary companies 100 except where shown of the issued share capital of the following 
principal subsidiaries 
equity owned by 
the company
  country of incorporation principal activity
synergy health holdings limited 100 england holding company
synergy health uk limited 100 england healthcare products and services
isotron limited 100 england device sterilisation and holding company
synergy health systems limited 100 england provision of it services
fastaid products limited 100 scotland healthcare product distribution
synergy health laboratory services limited 100 england laboratory services
synergy healthcare holdings bv 100 the netherlands holding company
synergy health europe bv 100 the netherlands healthcare products and services
lips textielservice holding bv 100 the netherlands holding company
lips alkmaar bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips bergen op zoom bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips bombeke bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
regilabs bv 100 the netherlands laboratory services
lips emmen bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips duiven bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips gemert bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips gezondheidszorg bv 100 the netherlands holding company
lips goes bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips hoorn bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips linnenmanagement bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips rijnmond bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips salland bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips sittard bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips tiel bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips tilburg bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips voorburg bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips hengelo bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
lips kerkhoffs bv 100 the netherlands provision of linen management services
synergy health belgium nv 100 belgium healthcare products and services
gamma service produkbestrahlung gmbh 100 germany medical device sterilisation 
isotron investments limited 100 england holding company
isotron ireland limited 100 republic of ireland medical device sterilisation 
isotron westport limited  100 republic of ireland medical device sterilisation
isotron nederland bv  100 the netherlands medical device sterilisation
isotron holding sas 100 france holding company
isotron france sas 100 france medical device sterilisation
isotron deutschland gmbh  625 germany medical device sterilisation
isotron malaysia sdn bhd 100 malaysia medical device sterilisation
isotron thailand limited 100 thailand medical device sterilisation
isotron south africa pty limited 100 south africa medical device sterilisation
synergy health suzhou limited 100 china hospital sterilisation
synergy health suzhou sterilisation technologies limited 100 china medical device sterilisation
isotron logistics bv 50 the netherlands logistics consultant
a full list of the group companies is available for inspection at the company’s registered office all the above companies are included in the 
consolidated financial statements 
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 85
 notes to the financial statements 
6 debtors 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
amounts falling due within one year 
amounts owed by group undertakings 53474 35610
prepayments and accrued income 586 801
corporation tax receivable 3357 1071
deferred taxation 584 558
 58001 38040
deferred taxation 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
deferred taxation 
balance at 28 march 2010 558 277
credit to the profit and loss account 9 224
charge to equity 17 57
balance at 3 april 2011 584 558
the amounts provided for deferred taxation for the company are analysed below 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
accelerated capital allowances 81 81
sharebased payments 28 11
other timing differences 475 466
 584 558
7 creditors amounts falling due within one year 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
bank overdraft 2689 6817
bank loans 126522 –
trade creditors 61 181
amounts owed to group undertakings 26666 17122
other creditors including taxation and social security 378 431
accruals and deferred income 588 1699
derivative financial instruments 112 619
 157016 26869
 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 86
  
8 creditors amounts falling due after one year  
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
loans – 111283
obligations under bank loans 
amounts falling due 
between one and two years – 111283
between two and five years – –
 – 111283
long term loans are due for renewal in january 2012 and fall due for full repayment on that date  
bank overdraft facilities of £10 million 2010 £10 million were available to the company subject to the group overdraft pool not exceeding  
£5 million 2010 £5 million the group pool is shared with other uk subsidiaries overall none of the uk overdraft pool was utilised at  
3 april 2011 2010 £nil 
the interest rates are disclosed in note 19 of the consolidated financial statements  
9 share capital 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
issued and fully paid 
55090782 2010 54704213 ordinary shares of 0625p each  344 342
the consideration received in respect of the ordinary shares issued under the share option schemes was £1191000 2010 £1469000 
10 reserves 
share premium
account  
£’000
merger reserve 
£’000 
cash flow hedging
reserve
£’000
profit and loss
account
£’000
balance at 29 march 2009 60880 106757 2582 77868
profit for the financial year – – – 16642
dividends – – – 6372
arising on issue of new share capital 1464 – – –
cash flow hedges – derivative instruments – – 2032 –
expense in relation to equitysettled sharebased payments – – – 1905
balance at 28 march 2010 62344 106757 550 90043
profit for the financial year – – – 6740
dividends – – – 7838
arising on issue of new share capital 1187 – – –
cash flow hedges – derivative instruments – – 438 –
expense in relation to equitysettled sharebased payments – – – 1216
balance at 3 april 2011 63531 106757 112 90161
the profit in the company is £6740000 2010 profit £16642000 after tax and before dividends  
in the year to 30 march 2008 a surplus arose on a group reorganisation in the sum of £73629000 which was credited to profit and loss account 
but was considered to be unrealised and therefore nondistributable  
who we are our strategy operating and ﬁnancial review governance financials
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 87
 notes to the financial statements 
11 reconciliation of movements in shareholders’ funds 
 
2011
£’000
2010
£’000
profit for the financial year 6740 16642
dividends 7838 6372
 1098 10270
new share capital 1189 1469
expense in relation to sharebased payments 1216 1905
cash flow hedges – derivative instruments 438 2032
net increase in shareholders’ funds 1745 15676
opening shareholders’ funds  258936 243260
closing shareholders’ funds 260681 258936
12 financial instruments 
the disclosure requirements of frs 25 are covered by the disclosure requirements of ifrs 7 financial instruments disclosures financial 
instruments included in the company are included in the group disclosure in note 19 of the consolidated financial statements 
as at 3 april 2011 the company held forward exchange contracts which are deemed to be fully effective in managing the foreign exchange 
exposures to which they relate on revaluing the contracts to fair value the company has recognised £27000 in current liabilities and equity 
2010 £69000 in current assets  
elements of the interest hedging arrangements described in note 19b to the consolidated financial statements were held in the name of synergy 
health plc the arrangements are deemed to be fully effective in fixing the interest on the underlying debt and in revaluing them to fair value 
the company has recognised £85000 in current liabilities and equity 2010 £619000 
the directors consider that the fair value of the company’s financial assets and liabilities is equivalent to the value at which they are carried in the 
company’s financial statements 
13 other commitments 
financial guarantees 
where the company enters into financial guarantee contracts to guarantee the indebtedness of other companies within the group the company 
considers these to be insurance arrangements and accounts for them as such in this respect the company treats the guarantee contract as a 
contingent liability until such time as it becomes probable that the company will be required to make a payment under the guarantee 
14 pensions 
the company operates a number of defined contribution pension schemes for all eligible employees company contributions are charged to the 
profit and loss account in the period in which they relate the charge for the period in respect of the defined contribution schemes was £151000 
2010 £123000  
15 sharebased payments 
the requirements of frs 20 sharebased payment have been applied to grants of equity instruments made since 7 november 2002 outstanding 
at 3 april 2005 the disclosure requirements of frs 20 are identical to those of ifrs 2 sharebased payment and sharebased payments included 
in the company are included in the group disclosure full ifrs 2 disclosures are provided in note 26 to the consolidated financial statements 
the charge in the company only accounts in relation to equitysettled sharebased payments was £514000 2010 £884000 in addition the 
company recognised £574000 2010 £790000 in the cost of investment in its subsidiaries of which £574000 2010 £665000 relates to the 
equitysettled sharebased payment charge recognised in its consolidated financial statements with the corresponding credit being recognised 
directly in equity and £nil 2010 £125000 relates to the cashsettled element where the credit is recognised in liabilities 
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 88
 financial calendar 
 
agm 27 july 2011
group results 
interim results announced november 2011
full year results announced june 2012
dividend dates 
interim dividend for 2012 announced november 2011
interim dividend for 2012 payable january 2012
 
70 million
reusable surgical 
instruments 
processed  
every year
99 sites
across 13 
countries
2nd largest
global provider 
of outsourced 
sterilisation 
services
05 million
items of healthcare 
linen processed 
every day
synergy health delivers a range of specialist 
outsourced services to healthcare providers 
and other customers concerned with health 
management these services are aimed  
at supporting our customers to improve the 
quality and efﬁciency of their activities whilst 
reducing risks to their patients and clients 
governance financials operating and ﬁnancial review our strategy who we are
designed and produced by radley yeldar wwwrycom
89
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 synergy health plc wwwsynergyhealthplccom
group head office
ground floor stella 
windmill hill business park 
whitehill way 
swindon wiltshire  
sn5 6nx
tel   44 0 1793 891880 
fax  44 0 1793 891892
enquiriessynergyhealthplccom
registrars
computershare 
investor services plc 
the pavilions 
bridgwater road 
bristol 
bs99 6zz
helpline 0870 7036273
wwwcomputersharecom
synergy health plc  
annual report  financial statements 2011
a global leader  
in outsourced 
sterilisation 
services
synergy health plc annual report  financial statements 2011


Summary:
 chief executive’s review
our services are missioncritical 
to our customers and for 
this reason the demand 
for outsourcing is growing
synergy health is an expert in outsourced sterilisation 
services to the medical device market as well as to 
hospitals and other healthcare providers in addition 
the business provides other outsourced services such as 
healthcare linen pathology and specialist laboratory services 
by focusing on niche outsourced services the group has 
the benefit of significant barriers to entry good cash 
generation and long term contracts
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 6 operating and financial review governance financials our strategy who we are
£701m £569m 139 138
introduction
during the year we exceeded our expectations in terms of margin 
progression but the uplift in revenue growth was slower to come 
through we have now seen growth filtering through during the early 
part of this new financial year 
the group performed well during the year meeting our expectations 
in all areas with the exception of our products based business in the 
uk underlying revenues were up 41 on last year after taking into 
account currency effects and the closure of noncore businesses 
gross margins were up by 20 to 382 2010 362 and 
adjusted operating margin was up 11 on last year to 150 2010 
139 the strategy is serving the business well with solid underlying 
growth geographic diversification and a focus on niche outsourcing 
services which will enable us to sustain our operating margins at the 
current levels
there are however still challenges to be faced and we are taking 
proactive steps to address these growth in europe and the uk is 
more subdued as a result of our mature linen businesses operating in 
mature markets and the general state of the economy our strategy of 
focusing more resources on asia is paying off with growth outstripping 
the other two regions asia and africa make up 47 of global 
revenues up from 38 last year meanwhile europe and the middle 
east’s contribution was steady at 413 2010 410 and the uk 
and ireland’s share reduced to 539 from 552 asia’s share of 
revenue generation is increasing in line with our strategy our entry into 
the americas will provide further opportunity for fast growth within our 
core services as well as supporting our asian business through closer 
links with large usbased medical device manufacturers another 
challenge is our products based business which faced a further 
decline in revenues in the uk this year holding back group revenue 
growth we are focusing very heavily on cost leadership within the uk 
and directing investment into our international markets where growth 
will be stronger
overall the group is in good shape with an internationally diversified 
business providing long term contracted high value added services 
with a forward order book of £920 million 2010 £850 million the 
business has a strong balance sheet and excellent cash generation
strategy
we set out a strategy three years ago that has resulted in synergy 
becoming one of the leading global providers of niche outsourced 
services to health related markets our core service is the provision 
of outsourced sterilisation for medical device manufacturers and for 
healthcare providers such as acute hospitals in addition we are 
leading providers of healthcare linen services in the uk and the 
netherlands manufacturers of infection control products and 
providers of specialist laboratory services 
underlying global revenues excluding noncore businesses for 
medical device sterilisation and hospital sterilisation were up 139 
and 138 respectively our healthcare solutions businesses declined 
by 29 reflecting our strategy to direct our investments towards 
sterilisation services as well as some difficult trading in the uk 
products business
looking ahead our strategic objectives are threefold firstly we will 
continue to expand the business internationally making synergy a 
truly global business secondly we will focus on high value added 
outsourced services that have high barriers to entry thirdly we will 
differentiate synergy from its competitors through its people and at 
the same time maintain a cost leadership strategy to ensure that we 
achieve greater levels of efficiency 
1 internationalisation
synergy is the leading provider of sterilisation services to hospitals 
having created the market in the uk in 1996 today we have facilities 
in the uk europe and china and our strategy is to continue to 
increase our total market share in each country as well as to continue 
our international expansion in asia and in due course in the 
united states
following the recent acquisitions of gsp and beamone we are now 
the second largest global provider of sterilisation services to medical 
device manufacturers our strategy is to continue to expand our 
presence in asia where multinational medical device companies are 
focusing their investments and healthcare providers are focusing on 
reducing infection risks we are targeting a quarter of our income to 
come from the asian region at the same time we will be extending 
our presence in the americas with the expansion of our sterilisation 
services for both medical device manufacturers and for healthcare 
providers in the short term we are focusing on medical device 
opportunities in central america with a medium term objective to 
develop our hospital sterilisation services in the united states in the 
medium term we expect to see a quarter of our income coming from 
the americas region
we are leading providers of healthcare linen services in the 
netherlands and in the uk our intention is to operate these 
businesses efficiently but not to expand them outside of these two 
countries similarly our small laboratory businesses which operate 
in the uk and in the netherlands will continue to be developed 
within these countries
we also manufacture infection control and other consumable 
products for the international healthcare market this business has 
encountered a number of challenges over the last three years and 
continues to face considerable headwinds the business is partway 
through a restructuring programme to lower its cost base to support 
a predominantly internationally based growth strategy 
2 high value added services
our strategy is to focus solely on niche services that have high 
barriers to entry significant value added content and a global potential 
presently just under three quarters of our income is derived from 
sterilisation services to the medical device and hospital markets 
the outsourcing of these services is driven by an increasing regulatory 
burden that makes outsourcing to highly specialised providers such 
as synergy economically effective 
the barriers to entry within the sterilisation businesses are 
considerable for example the service we provide to the global 
medical device manufacturers requires synergy to have experience 
competence and a network to provide missioncritical services 
synergy is recognised as one of the world’s leading providers of 
medical device sterilisation services with an extremely positive 
reputation for the quality of its services in addition we are the world’s 
largest operator of radiation sterilisation facilities relatively protected 
by licensing requirements which are becoming ever more stringent 
there are similarly high barriers to entry for the sterilisation of reusable 
medical devices for hospitals the service is again missioncritical with 
much of the challenge based on managing the complex logistics of 
supplying thousands of different types of surgical instruments synergy 
has addressed and met the challenge with our proprietary software 
systems that manage the logistics and ensure that the inherent risks 
in the service are controlled synergy has an unparalleled record of 
service delivery reflecting its strong position in the uk and its 
expanding services in europe and china
global medical device sterilisation revenue global hospital sterilisation revenue
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 7 chief executive’s review
we have very strong and defendable positions with our linen services 
in the netherlands and the uk where we are number one and two 
respectively as the markets have been consolidated down to two 
players in each case there are significant barriers to entry with scale 
and experience as well as with customers being contracted on five to 
seven year terms
looking further ahead we are researching other niche areas where 
synergy’s core competencies could be used to create similarly 
attractive operating models we are attracted to services that integrate 
more closely with clinical service provision and where there are 
benefits from scale and expertise 
3 differentiation and cost leadership
two of synergy’s longstanding strategic principles have been to 
operate a cost leadership programme as well as to competitively 
differentiate certain aspects of our services we continue to 
benchmark our performance against competitors including inhouse 
services and with our investments in technology and innovation 
we continue to lead our markets in the costeffective delivery of 
outsourced services
in parallel we continue to invest in our teams to expand and deepen 
a talent pool that will enable synergy to differentiate itself from its 
competitors through its people our partnerships with warwick 
business school and the chartered management institute are 
important investments that enable us to create sustainable leadership 
as well as a culture that differentiates synergy based on the quality of 
its people we have a global senior leadership community that plays an 
active role in the implementation of our strategy in addition we have 
an expanding graduate programme that is recruiting a new talent pool 
from which to develop our future leaders 
outlook
last year we decided to make a transition to a regionally managed 
business enabling us to have greater strategic oversight of each 
region to improve efficiencies by extracting cost synergies and to 
build a management structure that would facilitate the creation of 
a fourth region in the americas all of these objectives were fulfilled 
during the year with margins sustainably restored to an appropriate 
level improved oversight of both organic and acquisitive growth 
opportunities and just after the year end the establishment of the 
americas region with the acquisition of beamone 
synergy’s focus is on the provision of niche outsourcing services 
that create significant value for our customers our services are 
missioncritical to our customers and for this reason the demand 
for outsourcing is growing looking ahead we expect that rising 
regulatory and technical standards will continue to underpin 
demand together with the cost efficiency of synergy’s services
our strategy to expand synergy’s reach with the objective of becoming 
a global business is also working well we are continuing to see 
stronger growth in asia compared to our traditional markets and 
we expect this trend to continue our recent expansion into the 
americas also provides a second source of significant growth for 
synergy for example we have agreed an exclusive supply agreement 
in costa rica for sterilisation services to an important medical device 
business park enabling us to double our electron beam capacity as 
well as add eto services over the next year growth in the americas 
in combination with asia will see the group’s overall revenue growth 
edge up towards double digit rates over the next 12 to 18 months 
higher revenue growth rates supported by sustainable margins and 
strong cash generation leave the business well positioned to continue 
to deliver its earnings objectives
dr richard m steeves 
chief executive
£920m 2010 £850m
forward order book
synergy health plc 
annual report  financial statements 2011 8