Williams Lea

Williams Lea Holdings Plc

Type	private
Industry	Printing, print design, and bulk mailing
Founded	1820
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Key people	Dan Ellerton, CEO [1]
Revenue	$772.10 million USD (76.20% FY 2005)
Number of employees	11,500
Parent	Deutsche Post
Website	www.williamslea.com

Williams Lea is a global company that offers business process outsourcing (BPO) to large companies. Founded in 1820 as a company providing printing services to the financial industry, Williams Lea went through a number of changes to its business model and now provides services including mail processing, bulk mailing, printing, and page layout.

It was a private company until German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post, parent company of DHL, acquired a majority stake in 2006. As of Q1 2009, the company employed 11,500 people with an annual turnover of around £1 billion.

History

Williams Lea was founded in 1820 by John Wertheimer, who opened a printing business in London.^[2]

Business

Williams Lea has undergone rapid expansion in recent years due to the rise in corporate outsourcing of support functions. Growth has largely been organic, but it has made several acquisitions:

• In October 2004, it acquired U.S.-based Bowne Business Solutions, a long-term joint venture partner, from Bowne & Co. for $190.8 million.^[3]
• In August 2005, it acquired U.S.-based Uniscribe for $36.1 million^[4] and Australia-based Creatis for $7.7 million.^[5]
• In November 2006, it acquired UK-based The Stationery Office for £130 million.^[6]
• In 2007, Deutsche Post rebranded its German service lines document management, transactional print, mailroom services, and direct marketing/fulfillment as Williams Lea Deutschland. These service lines were re-integrated into Deutsche Post in 2010. Currently Williams Lea in Germany offers marketing solutions and presentation services.^[7]
• In November 2007, Deutsche Post acquired legal process outsourcing (LPO) company Centric LPO for an undisclosed sum.^[8]

References