Hays plc

Infobox Company
company_name = Hays plc
company_
company_type = Public (lse|HAS)
foundation = 1867
location = London, UK
key_people = Bob Lawson, Chairman
Alistair Cox, CEO
industry = Recruitment
products =
revenue = £2,110.2 million (2007)
operating_income = £216.1 million (2007)
net_income = £166.5 million (2007)
num_employees = circa 8,900 (2008)
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.haysplc.com www.haysplc.com]
slogan =
footnotes =

Hays plc (lse|HAS) is a British providing recruitment and human resources services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The Company was founded in 1867 [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_2007/ai_n19123721 International Directory of Company Histories] ] as an operator of wharves and warehouses on the south bank of the River Thames, a trade that dates back to the 17th Century. [http://www.haysplc.com/history.aspx Hays History] ] One of these, Hays Wharf, was rebuilt as an enclosed dock after the Great Fire of Southwark in 1861: it still exists and has more recently been converted into a shopping and restaurant area known as Hay's Galleria. [ [http://www.haysgalleria.co.uk/ Hays Galleria] ]

The Company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1958 and expanded into related activities in transport, storage and warehousing in the 1960s. The importance of the Port of London declined, and the Company's last wharf in the Pool of London closed in 1969.

The Kuwait Investment Office acquired an indirect 34% holding in the Company in 1975. This was increased to 100% in 1980.

The property assets on the south bank of the Thames were sold off to developers in the early 1980s. Instead Hays acquired Farmhouse Securities, a food distribution business, in 1981 and moved into chemical distribution and office support services. Most importantly for its long term future, in 1986, it purchased a personnel business called Career Care Group.

The Kuwait Investment Office sold the business to the management in 1987 who then listed the Company on the London Stock Exchange again in 1989.

The Company sold its chemical distribution business in 2001 to Albion Chemicals. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5255/is_/ai_n20252844 Hays sells sector] ]

Following a strategic review, the management decided in 2003 to become a specialist recruitment and human resources services business and dispose of all its other businesses. In July 2003 it sold its information management business, [ [http://www.freshfields.com/news/mediareleases/mediarelease.asp?id=339 Hays sells Information Management Systems to Iron Mountain Europe] ] in November 2003 it sold its logistics division [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hays-raises-acircpound200m-from-haulage-sale-737086.html Hays raises £200m from haulage business] ] and in November 2004 it demerged its mail business, DX Services plc. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/mar/05/postalservice Hays sell off fuels mail war] ]

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. [http://www.haysplc.com/businesses.aspx Hays: What we do] ] Its 391 offices are located in 27 countries worldwide. It also offers associated services such as human resources outsourcing, psychometric assessment and salary surveys within the Hays Resource Management division.

References

External links

* [http://www.haysplc.com www.haysplc.com]