Hays plc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hays plc | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: HAS) |
| Founded | 17th century |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Key people | Bob Lawson, Chairman Alistair Cox, CEO |
| Industry | Recruitment |
| Revenue | £2,110 million (2007) |
| Operating income | £216 million (2006) |
| Website | www.haysplc.com / www.hays.com |
Hays plc (LSE: HAS) is a British company headquartered in the City of London. Since 2004 it has specialised solely in recruitment and human resources services, but before that date it was involved in various other sectors. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. After a period as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, it has been demoted to the FTSE 250 Index with effect from 16 September 2005.
[edit] History
Hays dates back to the 17th century. It originally owned wharves and warehouses on the south bank of the River Thames. One of these was called Hays Wharf, and was rebuilt as an enclosed dock after the Great Fire of Southwark in 1861. This still exists, and was converted by Twigg Brown Architects into an office, shopping and catering centre called Hay's Galleria in the 1980s.
Hays maintained its dockside business for three centuries. It became a listed company in 1958 and expanded into related activities in transport, storage and warehousing in the 1960s. At the same time its London dock operations shrank as the traditional Port of London declined, and the company's last wharf in the Pool of London closed in 1969.
The 1970s and 1980s saw continuing diversification. The property assets on the south bank of the Thames were sold off to developers in the early 1980s. Hays acquired a food distribution business in 1981, and moved into chemical distribution and office support services in the mid 1980s. Most importantly for its long term future, in 1986 it purchased a personnel business called Career Care Group.
The Kuwaiti Investment Office acquired an indirect 34% holding in 1975 followed by a 100% holding in 1980 before selling the business to the management in 1987 who then listed the company again in 1989. In December 1996 Hays became a member of the FTSE 100 Index. In the 1990s it expanded into Europe, acquiring businesses in France, Germany, Italy and Poland and elsewhere.
Following a strategic review, the company decided in 2003 to become a specialist recruitment and human resources services business by disposing of all its businesses other than Hays Personnel. It sold its payroll business to SCC, sold off its former commercial division and logistics operations, and in November 2004 demergered its mail business, DX Services plc.
[edit] Current operations
Hays now provides recruitment services across most white collar employment sectors including accountancy, IT, banking, insurance, construction, property, public services, financial services, legal, education and many others. It has over 5,700 recruitment consultants, operating in more than a dozen European countries and also in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Its 391 offices are located in 27 countries worldwide. It also offers associated services such as human resources outsourcing, psychometric assessment and salary surveys.
In the year ended 30 June 2004 Hays made pre-tax profits of £147.7 million and net profits of £66.3 million on turnover of £2,165.3 million. The turnover figure included £644.6 million from discontinued operations.
For the year ending 30 June 2005 Hays had a turnover of £1,683 million.
For the year ending 30 June 2006 Hays had a turnover of £1,827 million.
For the year ending 30 June 2007 Hays had a turnover of £2,110 million.
