Williams Lea Holdings
Williams Lea [1] claims to be the leading global provider of Corporate Information Solutions. It employs over 10,000 people globally and its profits exceed £750m for 2007.
Williams Lea advises organisations on communicating and exchanging printed and electronic information with internal and external audiences. It has clients in Europe, the United States and the Asia Pacific rim. The company has locations in London, Dublin, Paris, Bonn, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Beijing and Chennai.
History
In 1820, John Wertheimer opened a printing business in London, which eventually became Williams Lea. The company specialised in foreign language printing for over 100 yrs.
The company printed the first edition of Radio Times in the '20s. The company's foreign language expertise is used by foreign governments which have offices in London.
In the '70s, Williams Lea invested in computer technology, and also began printing for the financial industry. They became a print leader for financial institutions in the '80s.
Their first outsourcing contract was with Morgan Stanley in 1988. They have acquired the following companies: Springboard Design Consultancy; a litigation support company; a contract with AXA UK valued at £210m; a joint venture in Chennai, India to provide offshore capabilities; Alistair McIntosh, a print outsourcing/ logistics company in Yorkshire; Rodber Thorneycroft, a marketing communications company; Bowne Business Solutions, a US market-leader in business process outsourcing; Uniscribe in the US; and Creatis in Australia.
Notes
<Williams Lea Holdings Ltd, http://www.williamslea.com/www/en_EU/Infopool.nsf/html/PEngIndex, last accessed 04 March 2008: 21:05/>
