Capita

Capita plc

Formerly	Known Limit Limited (1986–1987) Capita Limited (March–April 1987) Capita Holdings Limited (1987–1988) The Capita Group PLC (1988–2012)[1]
Company type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: CPI
Industry	Business process outsourcing Professional services
Founded	1984
Headquarters	London, England
Key people	David Lowden (Chairman) Adolfo Hernandez (Chief Executive)
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 outsourcing
Revenue	£2,814.6 million (2023)[2]
Operating income	£(52.0) million (2023)[2]
Net income	£(180.6) million (2023)[2]
Number of employees	50,000 (2023)[3]
Website	capita.com

Capita plc is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London. It is the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the United Kingdom, with an overall market share of 29% in 2016, and has clients in central government, local government and the private sector.^[4] It also has a property and infrastructure consultancy division which is the fourth largest multidisciplinary consultancy in the UK.^[5] Roughly half of its turnover comes from the private sector and half from the public sector.^[4] Whilst UK-focused, Capita also has operations across Europe, Africa and Asia.

Established in 1984 and gaining its independence in 1987 management buyout, Capita's early business activities were largely orchestrated by Rod Aldridge, the company's first executive chairman. Since 1991, it has been listed on the London Stock Exchange. Various British government bodies have contracted services out to Capita, including the Ministry of Defence, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for Work and Pensions and numerous NHS Trusts. Aldridge stepped down as the company's CEO in 2006 amid claims that a personal loan made to the Labour Party had influenced government contracts that were awarded to Capita. In February 2007, a Capita office in Victoria, London was subject to a letter bomb attack that injured one person. In September 2019, Capita announced that it was re-branding as a "purpose-led" living wage employer; however, it subsequently abandoned this position after reports emerged that thousands of its employees were being paid below the minimum wage.^[6]

Across much of its existence, Capita has frequently engaged in acquisitions of other companies to fuel its growth, as well as the occasional divestment dependent upon circumstance; some of this acquisitions, such as of the 2015 purchase of a former government research operation responsible for food safety, has been subject to criticism.^[7] During 2018, following a profit warning, dividend suspension, a £700 million rights issue, and other measures amid rising debts and a pensions deficit, the company's share value dropped by 47%. Several divestments of non-core divisions took place during the late 2010s and early 2020s. In May 2019, the company became the first FTSE 250 company in 30 years to appoint rank-and-file workers to its board. During early 2023, Capita acknowledged that hackers had breached its systems and stolen personal information of almost a hundred business clients.