Pearson plc facts for kids
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Pearson headquarters in London
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Formerly
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S. Pearson & Son |
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| Traded as | |
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| Founded | 1844 |
| Founder | Samuel Pearson |
| Headquarters | Shell Mex House, London, England |
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Key people
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| Products | Educational materials (books, tests), Television distribution |
| Services |
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| Revenue |  GB£3,674 million (2023) |
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Operating income
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 GB£498 million (2023) |
| GB£380 million (2023) |
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| Total assets | GB£6,727 million (2023) |
| Total equity | GB£3,988 million (2023) |
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Number of employees
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17,612 (2023) |
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Pearson plc is a big company from the UK that helps people learn. It creates educational books, tests, and other learning materials. Pearson also offers services for schools and colleges.
The company started way back in 1844. It was first called S Pearson and Son. At first, it was a small business that built things like roads and bridges. Over time, it grew into a huge company. It owned many different businesses around the world. These included factories, power companies, oil companies, and even banks.
After World War II, Pearson decided to focus mainly on publishing and media. In 1984, its name changed to Pearson plc. In 1998, the company created Pearson Education. By 2016, Pearson was focused only on education. Today, Pearson is known for its educational materials. It also owns Edexcel, which is one of the main groups that creates GCSE exams in the UK.
Pearson's shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. It is also part of the FTSE 100 Index, which lists the 100 biggest companies on that exchange.
Contents
Pearson's Journey: From Building to Books
Early Days: Building Bridges and Tunnels (1844-1920s)
Pearson started in 1844 in Huddersfield, England. Samuel Pearson joined a small company that made bricks and did construction work. In 1856, his son George joined, and the company became S Pearson & Son. They built things like pipes and worked on local public projects.
In 1880, Samuel's grandson, Weetman Dickinson Pearson, took over. He was an engineer and moved the business to London in 1890. Under his leadership, it became one of the largest construction companies in the world.
Pearson built many important projects. These included the Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames in London. They also built the Admiralty Harbour at Dover and the East River Tunnels in New York City. The company worked on railways and harbors all over the world, including in Mexico and Canada. During World War I, they even built a huge factory to make explosives. The construction part of the business stopped in the 1920s.
From Factories to Finance: Other Businesses (1850s-1990s)
Over the years, Pearson owned many different types of businesses.
- Manufacturing: They made things like bricks, nuts, bolts, and special glass. They also owned famous pottery companies like Royal Doulton. Pearson sold these manufacturing businesses by 1993 to focus on other areas.
- Electricity: In the early 1900s, Pearson helped bring electricity to cities in Mexico and Chile. They also ran power companies in England until the government took them over in 1948. All their overseas electricity businesses closed by 1960.
- Oil: Weetman Pearson found oil in Mexico and Texas in the early 1900s. He started the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company in 1909. Later, Pearson also owned a big oil company in the U.S. called Amerada Corporation. By 1989, Pearson sold all its oil and gas businesses.
- Banking: In 1919, Pearson started a finance company called Whitehall Trust. They also bought a large part of a famous bank called Lazard Brothers. Pearson sold its shares in Lazard in 1999 to focus on education.
- Coal: From 1921 to 1947, Pearson was involved in coal mining in the UK.
- Aviation: Pearson also invested in airlines and aviation companies starting in 1929. Some of these airlines later became part of British Airways. Pearson's aviation interests ended by 1959.
Focusing on Publishing and Media (1920s-2000s)
Pearson started buying newspapers in the UK in 1921. After World War II, the company began to focus more on publishing.
- In 1957, Pearson bought the Financial Times newspaper. They also bought half of The Economist magazine.
- They bought book publishers like Longman in 1968 and Penguin Books in 1970. They even bought Ladybird Books, which makes children's books, in 1972.
- Pearson was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1969.
- In the 1990s, Pearson bought the education parts of other big publishers like HarperCollins.
Entertainment and Media (1980s-2002)
For a while, Pearson also had businesses in TV and movies.
- They helped start Goldcrest Films, which made movies.
- They invested in satellite TV companies, including British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), which later became part of British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
- Pearson bought many TV production companies in the 1990s.
- In 2000, Pearson combined its TV businesses with another company to form the RTL Group. By 2002, Pearson sold its share in RTL and left the entertainment business completely.
Becoming an Education Leader (1998-Today)
Marjorie Scardino, who was the CEO from 1997 to 2013, pushed Pearson to focus more and more on education.
- In 1998, Pearson bought the education parts of Simon & Schuster. They combined these with other education businesses to create Pearson Education.
- Pearson bought companies that made tests and school management systems. This included National Computer Systems (NCS) in 2000.
- They also bought Edexcel in 2003, which is a major provider of qualifications in the UK.
- In 2008, Pearson bought Harcourt Assessment, another big testing company.
- In 2011, Pearson Education changed its name to simply Pearson.
- Pearson also started Pearson College in London, which offers university degrees.
- In 2012, Pearson merged its Penguin Group book publishing business with Bertelsmann's Random House. This created Penguin Random House, the world's largest book publisher.
- In 2015, Pearson sold its remaining media businesses, including the Financial Times and its share in The Economist. This meant Pearson was now focused only on education.
- In 2016, Pearson changed its logo to the interrobang (‽). This symbol combines a question mark and an exclamation point. It is meant to show the "excitement and fun of learning."
- More recently, Pearson has continued to grow its education services. In 2022, they bought Mondly, an online language learning platform.
How Pearson is Organized
Pearson plc is a holding company. This means it owns many other companies that do the actual work. As of 2022, its main companies include:
- Pearson Education Inc. (in the United States)
- Pearson Education Ltd. (in the United Kingdom)
- NCS Pearson, Inc. (in the United States)
Pearson organizes its work into different areas:
- Assessment & Qualifications (like tests and exams)
- Virtual Learning (online learning)
- English Language Learning
- Workforce Skills (training for jobs)
- Higher Education (college and university materials)
See also
In Spanish: Pearson PLC para niños
- Bertelsmann
- Elsevier
- Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
- Lagardère Publishing
- McGraw Hill Education
- News Corp
- Scholastic Corporation
- Thomson Reuters
- Wiley (publisher)
Images for kids
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Blackwall Tunnel North Entrance.jpg
The north entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel in London, which Pearson helped build.
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The Pearson logo, which includes an interrobang (‽).
