Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The Shard in London and more than 200 smaller offices throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Mitie was founded by David Telling and Ian Stewart as MESL in 1987. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1988. It merged with Highgate & Job in 1989 and was renamed the Mitie Group. Its strategy of growth through acquisition has seen Mitie acquire several businesses over the past few years. In March 2006 it acquired Initial Security, a leading security business. In 2007 Mitie acquired Robert Prettie & Co. Ltd for £32.7m and incorporated the specialist plumbing, heating and mechanical services business into their Property Services division. In 2008 Mitie continued its strategy through the acquisition of Catering Partnership and DW Tilley. The purchase of DW Tilley allowed Mitie to extend their roofing services nationwide. 2009 saw the acquisition of Dalkia Facilities Management for £130m to bolster its Technical Facilities Management capability, and an expansion into social housing with the purchase of Environmental Property Services (EPS) for £38.5m. In 2010, Mitie acquired the integrated facilities management business of Dalkia in Ireland. Mitie made its first acquisition in the health and social care sector in October 2012, when it spent £111 million on homecare firm Enara. In April 2013 Mitie's chief executive, Ruby McGregor-Smith, was made non-executive director to the board of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In February 2014, Mitie introduced its new visual identity. Mitie cleaners at the Royal Opera House, the Houses of Parliament, the law firm Clifford Chance, First Great Western train services, and NHS hospitals have all held demonstrations against low pay between 2013 and 2015. In February 2014 Mitie announced an eight-year contract with the Home Office, making it the largest provider of immigration removal centres in the United Kingdom. The firm secured a cleaning contract with Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in June 2014 worth £90m over seven years. Sick pay cost £1.2m in its first eight months, compared with £280,000 for the NHS in the previous financial year. UNISON blamed the rise on staff stress, which it claimed had been