Hays plc

File:Nigel Cumberland - Hays purchase St George's event - May 2006 - Hong Kong.jpg and James Harris. Event held in Hong Kong's FCC in June 2006]]

The company was founded in 1867 as an operator of wharves and warehouses on the south bank of the River Thames.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_2007/ai_n19123721 Hays plc] International Directory of Company Histories The name can be traced to Alexander Hay, who acquired a brewhouse there in 1651. It was redeveloped as a 'wharf', in fact an enclosed dock, in 1856 and renamed Hay's Wharf. It was rebuilt after the 1861 Tooley Street fire and still stands; it was converted in the 1980s into a shopping and restaurant area known as Hay's Galleria.{{Cite web|url=http://www.haysgalleria.co.uk/|title=Hays Galleria|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024084351/http://www.haysgalleria.co.uk/|archive-date=24 October 2005}}

The Kuwait Investment Authority acquired an indirect 34% holding in the company in 1975, increased to 100% in 1980, chiefly to acquire the property assets on the south bank of the Thames, which were sold to St Martins Property Group in the early 1980s.

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To develop the management team for the services group, the Kuwaitis backed Hays' acquisition of Farmhouse Securities, a food distribution business owned by Ronnie Frost, and Hays then moved into chemical distribution, commercial distribution and office support services with Frost and Peter Roberts as directors.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/breaking-up-the-house-ronnie-built-599476.html Breaking up the house Ronnie built]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Independent, 5 March 2003 In 1986, it purchased a personnel business called Career Care Group, which had been founded by Dennis Waxman.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3999881.stm Common sense will take you far] BBC News, 28 November 2004 Hays was also growing its business storage services which included the brands "Hays Wharf" and "Rentacrate". In 1987, a long-planned management buyout was completed,{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Andrew|title=Hays offer looks tightly priced|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kxk1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q6YLAAAAIBAJ&pg=3785,2234072|access-date=19 October 2011|newspaper=Glasgow Herald|date=7 October 1989}} and the company launched an initial public offering in 1989. Ronnie Frost managed the combined services group from 1987 until he retired in 2001.

In March 2003, Hays announced that, following a strategic review, it intended to reposition itself purely as a specialist recruitment business and that the company would dispose of all non-core business, including its commercial and logistics operations. Following Hays' change of focus to a recruitment company, Denis Waxman became CEO in July 2004. In November 2004 Hays de-merged its DX delivery network which represented the final step in the transformation of Hays into a recruitment business.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2887067/Hays-unveils-250m-payout.html Hays unveils £250m payout] Daily Telegraph, 4 June 2004 In November 2007 Waxman retired and was succeeded by Alistair Cox.[http://www.recruiter.co.uk/news/new-hays-ceo/333857.article New Hays CEO] Recruiter, 5 June 2007

In February 2024, Hays plc acquired a majority stake in Vercida Consulting, a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultancy firm co-founded by Dan Robertson. Following the acquisition, the firm was rebranded as FAIRER Consulting. This strategic move was designed to enhance Hays' advisory services in DEI, allowing the company to offer specialised training programmes and consultancy to clients worldwide.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-23 |title=Hays buys diversity & inclusion specialist Vercida Consulting |url=https://www.consultancy.uk/news/34273/hays-buys-diversity-inclusion-specialist-vercida-consulting |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=www.consultancy.uk |language=en}}

Hays is a specialist recruitment group with operations in the UK and Ireland, Continental Europe (in Germany pronounced Hei(s), as health=Hei(l)), the Americas and Asia Pacific regions.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/supportservices/8434133/Hays-recruitment-grows-everywhere-but-UK-and-Ireland.html Hays recruitment grows everywhere but UK and Ireland] Daily Telegraph, 7 April 2011 It has a fairly equal balance of work in temporary and permanent recruitment, which contributes to financial stability through business cycles.{{cite news|last=Clelland |first=Grant |title=FD Profile - Paul Venables: Hays puts its faith in global jobs market |url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2007-10-01/fd-profile-paul-venables-hays-puts-its-faith-in-global-jobs-market |access-date=19 October 2011 |newspaper=Financial News |date=1 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210140845/http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2007-10-01/fd-profile-paul-venables-hays-puts-its-faith-in-global-jobs-market |archive-date=10 February 2011 |url-status=dead }} Hays operates in 33 countries.{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hays-enters-malaysia-2012-07-09|title=Hays Enters Malaysia|publisher=Market Watch|date=9 July 2012|access-date=13 July 2012}}

In 2009 the Office of Fair Trading imposed a £30.4m fine against Hays for its involvement in price-fixing. The firm, along with five other recruitment firms, formed a cartel called the Construction Recruitment Forum which agreed to boycott Parc, a new company that had entered the market in 2003 to act as an intermediary between construction firms and recruitment firms. The six firms received fines totalling £39.3m, Hays receiving the biggest fine.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/recruitment-firms-fined-pound39m-for-pricefixing-1795348.html Recruitment firms fined £39m for price-fixing] The Independent, 30 September 2009 Hays had its fine cut by the Competition Appeal Tribunal from £30.4m to £5.9m following an appeal against the level of a fine imposed by the Office of Fair Trading in September 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.recruiter.co.uk/news/2012/09/competition-appeal-tribunal-cuts-hays-fine |title=Competition appeal cuts Hays fine|date=13 September 2002|publisher=The Recruiter|access-date=18 March 2019}}

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• {{official website|http://www.hays.com}}

{{FTSE 250 Index constituents}}

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Category:Companies based in the London Borough of Camden

Category:Consulting firms established in 1867

Category:Employment agencies of the United Kingdom

Category:English brands

Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange

Category:Human resource management consulting firms

Category:Companies in the FTSE 250 Index