Capita Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Type | Public (LSE: CPI) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Key people | Eric Walters (Chairman) Paul Pindar (Chief Executive) Simon Pilling (Executive Director) |
| Industry | Business Process Outsourcing |
| Products | BPO & service transformation Back office administration Customer service Finance & treasury Claims & policy administration HR, staff support & training ICT & software Corporate services Advisory services Property & infrastructure Offshore/near shore solutions |
| Revenue | £2,441.4 million (2008) |
| Operating income | £320.9 million (2008) |
| Net income | £165.8 million (2008) |
| Employees | 36,000 (2008) |
| Website | www.capita.co.uk |
Capita (LSE: CPI) is a British company with its headquarters in London which specialises in business process outsourcing, having clients in central and local government, and in the private sector. It has had a full listing on the London Stock Exchange since 1991 and has been a member of the FTSE 100 since 2004 when it replaced GKN[1].
Contents |
[edit] History
Capita was formed in 1984 as a division of CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy). It became an independent company with 33 staff as a result of a management buy-out in 1987, and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1991.
In March 2006 Executive Chairman Rod Aldridge OBE resigned in the aftermath of claims that contracts awarded to the Group were influenced by his loan of £1 million to the Labour Party. Aldridge resigned saying that he denied the claims, but to avoid any lingering doubts about it, he was leaving the company. Aldridge is a life-long Labour supporter, and had overseen the company's growth from a small company in 1997 (when Labour came to power) to a FTSE 100 member in 2006.[2]
In February 2007, a Capita office in Victoria, London was subject to a letter bomb attack. One person was injured.[3]
[edit] Operations
Capita works across eight markets, being local government, central government, education, transport, health, life and pensions, insurance, and other private sector organisations (including financial services). Examples include television licence fee a contract won from the Post Office for the BBC; management of call centres for many government initiatives such as the London congestion charge; and provision of IT services, including web hosting and helpdesk support, to many county and city councils, many LEAs, the Driving Standards Agency and the National Rail (NCCA).
Capita manage the Criminal Records Bureau for the Home Office. In 2002, when mandatory CRB-vetting of all workers with children was brought in, a large number of teachers were temporarily unable to work after Capita's systems had difficulty with the workload and were subsequently overwhelmed, meaning that the start of the academic year was delayed in places. Poor systems specifications and last-minute changes in government policy by the then Secretary of State for Education, Estelle Morris are believed to be major causes for these delays.[4]
Capita Financial Administrators (CFA), was recently fined £300,000 for having poor anti-fraud controls by the Financial Services Authority.[5]
With the impending change in the law that will allow commercial companies to offer legal services, Capita are now looking to get into this market with its formation of Optima Legal Services.[6]
Capita also provide outsourced HR and Recruitment services for the BBC, though heavily criticised for transferring 260 jobs from London to Belfast[7]. The contract came into effect on 1 April 2006.
Property, Engineering & infrastructure services are provided under the Capita Symonds brand.
[edit] Education services
- SIMS.net - Schools Information Management Software a Management information system used in 95% of primary and secondary schools across the country to record many aspects of student data.[8] In March 2009, Capita SIMS were said to be responsible for sending a truancy warning notice to the family of a Cheshire school student who had died two months before.[9]
- Individual Learning Account - A £290million scheme intended to give financial support to adult learners that was opened in 2000 and scrapped in 2001 following widespread and massive fraud.[10]
- Connexions Card - A £109million scheme that involved issuing 16 to 19 year olds with smart cards that recorded their lesson attendance and rewarded them with discounts on consumer goods. It ran from 2002 until it was terminated in 2006 owing to lack of uptake.[11]
[edit] Financial performance
The Company's results are as follows:
| Year | Sites | People | Turnover (£ million) | Pre-tax profit (£ million) |
| 1984 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1987 | 1 | 33 | ||
| 1991 | 11 | 320 | 25 | |
| 1992 | 15 | 687 | 33 | |
| 1996 | 60 | 3,500 | 112 | 12.3 |
| 1998 | 80 | 5,000 | 238 | 27.1 |
| 1999 | 100 | 7,000 | 327 | 36.3 |
| 2000 | 120 | 8,500 | 453 | 51.2 |
| 2001 | 140 | 13,000 | 691 | 72.1 |
| 2002 | 200 | 17,000 | 898 | 98.2 |
| 2003 | 210 | 19,000 | 1,081 | 121.2 |
| 2004 | 230 | 23,000 | 1,282 | 148.6 |
| 2005 | 250 | 24,000 | 1,436 | 177.2 |
| 2006 | 250 | 27,000 | 1,738 | 193.2 |
| 2007 | 300 | 29,000 | 2,073 | 228.7 |
| 2008 | 300 | 36,000 | 2,441 | 226.6 |
[edit] Media profile
Capita is a frequent target of the satirical magazine Private Eye due to its alleged record of incompetence and impropriety.[13][14][15]
[edit] References
- ^ "Capita set for return to FTSE 100". BBC News website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3788737.stm. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ "Capita boss quits over Blair loan". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4836024.stm. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ Woman hurt in letter bomb blast BBC News, February 2007
- ^ "History of checks U-turns". BBC News website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2237173.stm. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ Capita Financial fined for Fraud accessed 26/05/06)
- ^ Capita Annual Report 2006
- ^ "Unions threaten strikes over BBC's HR outsourcing deal". Personnel Today website. http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2006/02/21/34048/unions-threaten-strikes-over-bbcs-hr-outsourcing-deal.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ Supplier feels the hand of Becta Guardian, 4 October 2005
- ^ Dead girl given truancy warning BBC News website, 25 March 2009
- ^ Schools scandal hits Capita accessed 26/05/06
- ^ Evaluation of Connexions Card
- ^ Liberata axed from school grant contract IT Pro, 19 November 2008
- ^ Workers Liberty
- ^ Nanny knows best
- ^ Why it is called...
