ISS A/S (International Service System) is a facility management services company founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1901. ISS's core services include: security, cleaning, technical, food and workplace. The ISS Group’s revenue amounted to DKK 69.823 billion in 2020 and ISS has nearly 400,000 employees and activities in countries across Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and the Pacific.[8]
History
The company was founded in 1901 in Copenhagen, Denmark as a small security company with 20 night watchmen named København-Frederiksberg Nattevagt (English: Copenhagen-Frederiksberg Night Watch). The company expanded into the cleaning business with the establishment of Det Danske Rengørings Selskab (The Danish Cleaning Company) in 1934 as an independent subsidiary of the security company. It then expanded into Sweden in 1946 when a Swedish subsidiary established. The company adopted its current name, International Service System, in 1968.
ISS expanded into Austria and Spain in 1971, at the same time that it acquired part of Servi Systems Oy. It began expanding overseas in 1973 and its global revenue surpassed 1 billion DKK in 1975. ISS went public in 1977 when its shares were listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The firm takes a major stake in the New York based Prudential Building Maintenance Corp in 1979. By 1989, the total number of employees under the Group reached 100,000.