Performance improvement company the Grass Roots Group has announced that Maritz Europa Ltd will cease to trade under the Maritz brand and will henceforth be known as the events and communications division of Grass Roots, incorporating venue-sourcing specialist HBI, rebranded Grass Roots HBI, delegate management specialist DMS, rebranded Grass Roots DMS and live production and experiential events specialist MMM, rebranded Grass Roots.

This practical collective of skills, talent and deep experience, will be led by Nick Bender, a member of the Grass Roots Group main board. Bender has been given the lead role in ensuring the Grass Roots events offer not only continues to work well in local markets but, also presents an attractive global proposition. He comments, "We are not changing any locations or indeed jobs because our clients need continuity of delivery. The brand change is a landmark in a journey, which I am excited and proud to lead."

David Evans, Founder & Chairman of Grass Roots, notes, "As we continue to grow our family of businesses, having one brand is a practical and obvious symbol of the unity of standards and business purpose. With 16 countries where we have Grass Roots business, clients want to see these standards and our financial strength applied. My wish and our strategy is that we will do so in five specialist disciplines - communication, education, measurement, reward and events."

Bender adds: "The past two and a half years have been such an exciting time to lead the business. We have acquired three terrific companies, all of which immediately added value to our clients and to our overall portfolio of services. Having moved the events division of Grass Roots UK into Marlow, we've created a centre of excellence in events management. We turned around our finances within 18 months with the backing and support of our parent company and have just posted record pre-tax profits of £1.2m, so I feel we have proved ourselves as a standalone company and are ready to move forward as the events and communications arm of Grass Roots."

Maritz Travel Company will continue to work with the Grass Roots Group as a preferred partner outside North America. Maritz Research continues to be owned by Maritz Inc. based in Germany and the UK.