Streamline was a small group of separately managed road services and building products businesses within Shell. They were regarded as non-core operations by Shell and, as such, had not been effectively managed to maximise profit.

Streamline was a UK and European road maintenance service business and a manufacturer of building products. Profitability split between road services and building products in a ratio of 70:30. The company had significant road painting operations in the UK and France and a growing road maintenance business. The company also had good a position in the UK roofing products market.

Streamline was run as a diversified group of individual businesses by Shell. The transaction offered the opportunity to bring the road services businesses together into a centrally managed structure with consequent synergy benefits. The merged business was also expected to benefit from the ongoing programme to outsource road maintenance in the UK and France. The profitability of the building products businesses was expected to improve following the severe recession in construction between 1990 and 1992.

Under Graphite's ownership, Streamline:

improved profitability in line with expectations
gained synergy benefits as the management of its diverse group of businesses was centralised
successfully grew the road services business as more government contracts were out-sourced
increased profitability in the building products business as the construction industry emerged from recession

In 1996 Streamline was floated on the London Stock Exchange, generating an IRR of 35 per cent. The company was acquired by Jarvis plc in 1998.