History 

In the years since the Millenium, Williams Lea’s growth has been nothing short of spectacular. A sustained period of intensive organic growth, boosted by a number of strategic acquisitions, culminated in Deutsche Post World Net having the confidence to become a principal investor in 2006. With this move, Williams Lea cemented its position as the global leader in Corporate Information Solutions and a force to be reckoned with in world-class Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). 

As we stand in 2008, the Williams Lea Group is a €1bn business, part of a €60bn Group and has even more ambitious plans for growth on the horizon. But the story doesn’t start there, our roots can be traced a lot further back.

Business evolution
Williams Lea was first established in 1820 as a printing business in London. For the next 140 years the business specialised in foreign language printing. Clifton House, our current head office premises at Worship Street, London, opened its doors in 1899 and remains central to our business today. Despite tempestuous world events during the early 20th Century, the business grew from strength to strength.

During the 1950s, Williams Lea began to grow its client base to include the banking sector, as Barclays became our largest client. In the 1960s, growth continued as the Group started upon the acquisition trail. Building on this foundation, Williams Lea developed a reputation as the leading supplier of print to financial institutions during the 1980s and in 1988 we secured our first, fully fledged outsourcing contract with Morgan Stanley.

Into the 90s, the growth and evolution of our business accelerated. In 1996 the financial printing elements of the business were sold to Bowne - a US giant in financial printing, freeing up our own business to focus on the BPO market.

Moving on to the 21st Century, Williams Lea’s growth accelerated, as the business secured a succession of ground-breaking contracts that raised the bar for our capabilities in thinking, solutions build and delivery, time and time again. The business continued a strong track record of acquisition, acquiring the whole of the Bowne business in 2004, thus confirming Williams Lea as a force to be reckoned with in the United States, and later in 2007, the business acquired TSO, a business long recognised as a leader in BPO for the Public Sector, with a proposition wholly aligned to our own.

At each stage in a long and impressive history of growth, Williams Lea has triumphed, even in the toughest of conditions, thanks to the quality of our people, the integrity of our processes and a firm commitment to the technology that underpins delivery in this fast-developing market space. Facing challenge after challenge with tenacity and determination, Williams Lea has built a world-leading proposition in Corporate Information Solutions that is unmatched by our competitors around the globe.