Capita facts for kids
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Formerly
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| Public limited company | |
| Traded as | LSE: CPI |
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| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |  £2,421.6 million (2024) |
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Operating income
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 £(9.9) million (2024) |
| £80.4 million (2024) |
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Number of employees
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41,000 (2025) |
Capita plc is a large company based in London, England. It helps other businesses and government groups with many different tasks. Think of it as a company that handles the "behind-the-scenes" work for others.
Capita is one of the biggest companies like this in the United Kingdom. It works with central government, local councils, and private businesses. They also have a team that helps with property and building projects. About half of their work is for private companies and half for public services. While mostly in the UK, Capita also works in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The company started in 1984. It became independent in 1987. Since 1991, its shares have been traded on the London Stock Exchange. Many UK government groups have hired Capita. These include the Ministry of Defence and parts of the National Health Service.
Capita has often bought other companies to grow bigger. Sometimes, they also sell parts of their business. In 2018, the company faced some financial challenges. Its share value dropped, and it took steps to improve its finances. In 2019, Capita made history by adding regular employees to its board of directors. In early 2023, Capita shared that hackers had gotten into their computer systems. This led to some client information being stolen.
Capita's Journey: A Look at Its History
Capita began in 1984 as part of a non-profit group called CIPFA. In 1987, it became its own company. This happened through a "management buyout," where the company's leaders bought it. Rod Aldridge led this effort and became the first chairman. In 1991, Capita's shares were first sold on the London Stock Exchange.
A big change for Capita was the "private finance initiative" (PFI). This allowed private companies like Capita to build things like schools or hospitals. They would pay for the building costs. Then, they would rent the finished project to the government. Through PFI, Capita got many contracts. These included work for the National Health Service and the Ministry of Defence.
In 1999, Capita bought a company called Capstan. This company supplied teachers for emergencies. In 2001, Capita bought McLarens Toplis, a business that helped with insurance claims. By 2003, Capita announced it had made a record profit of £107 million.
In 2006, Rod Aldridge stepped down as CEO. This happened after claims that his personal loan to a political party had influenced government contracts. Mr. Aldridge denied these claims. He said he was leaving to avoid any doubts. He had helped Capita grow from a small company to a very large one. Paul Pindar took over as CEO.
In February 2007, a Capita office in London was attacked. One person was hurt.
In 2009, one of Capita's businesses moved some of its work from London to Leeds.
Growth Through Buying Other Companies
In the early 2010s, Capita bought several companies. In 2011, it bought Right Document Solutions. Later that year, it acquired Ventura, a company that handles customer calls. In 2013, Capita bought the Fire Service College from the government.
In 2014, Paul Pindar retired as CEO. Andy Parker became the new CEO.
In 2015, Capita bought Avocis, a German call centre business. It also bought Trustmarque Solutions. In 2016, it purchased Orange Bus, a digital agency. In 2017, it bought NYS Corporate, an events and travel agency. Around this time, Capita also won several important contracts with the British government.
Changes and Challenges in Recent Years
In October 2017, Jonathan Lewis became the new CEO. He replaced Andy Parker. After looking at the company's situation, Lewis announced big changes in January 2018. These included stopping payments to shareholders and raising £700 million. This was because the company had rising debts. This news caused Capita's share value to drop by 47%. The share price continued to fall. In April 2018, Capita asked to raise £701 million and reported a large loss for the previous year. In August 2018, Capita announced lower profits. Its shares fell again.
After Lewis became CEO, Capita started a plan to improve the company. In May 2019, Capita became the first large company in 30 years to add regular employees to its board. Lyndsay Browne and Joseph Murphy were chosen to represent the workers.
In September 2019, Capita announced it would change its brand. It said it would become a "purpose-led" employer. This meant it would pay all 40,000 employees a "real living wage" from April 2020. This would mean a pay raise for almost 6,000 employees. However, less than five years later, Capita announced it would stop paying the real living wage. It also froze pay for staff to cut costs.
In the early 2020s, Capita sold some of its non-essential businesses. This was to raise £700 million due to financial pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, Capita still made some important new purchases and investments.
How Capita Works: Different Services
Capita offers many different services to its clients.
Consulting Services
In July 2019, Capita started a new consulting part of its business. This new division has about 1,000 consultants. They compete with other big consulting firms.
Healthcare Recruitment
Capita started helping with healthcare recruitment in May 2011. It bought Team24, a company that finds staff for healthcare jobs. This expanded Capita's services in the recruitment industry.
Financial Administration
In March 2006, Capita Financial Administrators (CFA) was fined £300,000. This was because it had weak controls to prevent fraud. This part of Capita helps other companies with their financial paperwork.
Legal Services
Capita also planned to enter the legal services market. It invested money in a law firm called Optima Legal Services Limited. However, in 2010, it was reported that this arrangement broke some rules.
Constructionline
In 1998, Capita won a contract to run Constructionline. This was a new partnership between public and private groups. In 2012, Capita bought the UK part of a construction consulting firm called Northcroft. In 2015, Capita bought Constructionline completely for £35 million. In 2018, Capita announced it wanted to sell Constructionline. It was sold to an investment company for £160 million in June 2018.
NHS Services
Capita has worked with the National Health Service (NHS) in various ways.
In 2014, some NHS Trusts in Liverpool stopped using Capita for payroll and recruitment. They were worried about the quality of the service. Other NHS Trusts also ended their contracts with Capita. This was because Capita was not meeting targets for hiring staff.
In November 2014, it was found that "information governance issues" had happened. Details of staff from some trusts were sent to the wrong HR department.
In 2015, NHS England gave Capita a four-year contract. Capita was to manage administrative services for GPs, opticians, and dentists. This included payments and medical records. In July 2016, there were reports of a "large backlog" of patient letters. It was also reported that Capita had trouble moving paper records between practices.
An investigation in 2015 showed that some agencies owned by Capita were charging hospitals high fees. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt criticized agencies that sought "big profits" from the NHS.
Capita set up Primary Care Support England in September 2015. This replaced older regional services. The new service was described as very messy by some groups. A survey of GPs in August 2016 found many problems. These included missing patient records and delays in payments. Delays in paying GP trainees' salaries were also reported. This happened again in October 2017.
Problems with Capita's services may have put patients at risk. The National Audit Office said almost 90 women were wrongly told they were no longer in a health screening program. Patients could also be at risk due to issues with lists of NHS practitioners. About 1,000 dentists, doctors, and opticians could not work in 2016. This was due to delays in processing new applications. Other problems included lost medical records and delays in delivering medical supplies.
In March 2019, it was announced that the cervical screening program administration would be taken back by the NHS.
Education Services
Capita has also been involved in education services:
- SIMS.net: This is software used in many schools in England and Wales. It helps schools record student information. In 2009, Capita SIMS was said to have sent a truancy warning for a student who had died.
- Individual Learning Account: This was a scheme to help adult learners with money. It started in 2000 but was stopped in 2001 due to widespread fraud.
- Connexions Card: This scheme gave smart cards to 16- to 19-year-olds. It recorded their attendance and offered discounts. It ran from 2002 to 2006 but was stopped because not enough people used it.
- Capita Education Resourcing: This part of Capita helps schools, colleges, and nurseries find staff.
Irish Postcodes
In 2014, Capita won the contract to introduce postcodes in Ireland. The new system, called Eircode, was launched in July 2015. It is unique for each address.
Emergency services have worried that the new system might make it harder to get to incidents. The Irish Data Protection Authority also raised concerns. They worried that information about people might become too easy to access.
Ministry of Defence Services
Capita has several contracts with the Ministry of Defence.
In 2012, Capita won a 10-year contract to recruit for the British Army. This contract was worth £1.3 billion. However, Capita was criticized because it failed to meet the army's recruiting goals every year until 2020. The National Audit Office said a main problem was a new recruiting website. It was four years late and cost three times more than planned. In 2020, the contract was extended for two more years, ending in 2024.
In 2019, Capita won a 12-year contract to run the Defence Fire and Rescue Service. This service is at 53 locations in the UK and other countries. The deal was worth £525 million. Capita also took over firefighter training for the Royal Air Force. However, Capita was criticized again. It proposed cutting firefighter numbers at two nuclear facilities. This was seen as a way to save money.
In December 2020, a group of companies led by Capita won a contract. This group, called Fisher Training, will provide training for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. This contract is worth up to £2 billion.
