Interim Management Statement

10 April 2008

Interim management statement

                          Quarter ended 31 March 2008                          

Commenting on trading for the quarter ended 31 March 2008, Alistair Cox, Chief
Executive of Hays, said:

"We have had another excellent quarter of double digit growth with 17% organic
growth in Group net fees and strong performances in both our temporary and
permanent placement businesses.

Our UK business has continued to achieve good growth. Our International
business, which now represents 42% of the Group's net fees, delivered another
market beating performance, growing organically by 39% in the quarter. In
total, thirteen countries have grown by over 40% so far this year. We are
continuing to invest to capture the substantial opportunities available in
these markets."

Group

Growth in net fees for the quarter ended 31 March 2008
(versus the same period last year)

                                                 Growth     
                                                                      
                                             actual   LFL*        
                                                     
By region                                                 
                                                          
        United Kingdom & Ireland                7%      5%
                                                          
        Asia Pacific                           53%     40%
                                                          
        Continental Europe & Rest of World     47%     38%
                                                          
        Total                                  21%     17%
                                                          
By segment                                                
                                                          
        Permanent                              27%     22%
                                                          
        Temporary                              16%     13%
                                                          
Total                                          21%     17%
                                                          


* LFL is like-for-like growth, which represents organic growth of continuing
activities at constant currency. No adjustment is made for the two less trading
days in the quarter ended 31 March 2008.

In the quarter ended 31 March 2008, Hays plc, the leading global specialist
recruitment group, grew net fees by 17% on a like-for-like basis over the same
period last year. It is estimated that Easter falling earlier this year reduced
our growth by approximately 2% in the quarter (Easter was in quarter 4 last
year). During the quarter, we added 5 International offices to the network,
including our first entry into Denmark. The Group increased the number of
consultants by 3% to 5,894, driven by investment in the International business.

As in recent quarters, the permanent placement market has continued to grow at
a faster rate than the temporary placement market. Accordingly, our net fees
increased by 22% from permanent placements and by 13% from temporary placements
on a like-for-like basis over the same period last year. As referred to in the
Interim Results, the lower rate of sequential growth in the permanent placement
business, compared to quarter 2, reflects a modest slowdown in growth in the UK
& Ireland market and the tougher comparatives in the second half. The growth
rate achieved in our temporary placement business has been broadly consistent
with quarter 2.

United Kingdom & Ireland

In the United Kingdom & Ireland, we had good like-for-like net fee growth of
5%. The Accountancy & Finance business continued the progress it made in the
first half. Growth in Construction & Property slowed in the permanent placement
business, particularly in the residential sector, and the Information
Technology business continued to grow at a modest rate. Among the Other
Specialist Recruitment Activities, Education, Retail and Purchasing performed
strongly, whilst demand in City related activities weakened during the quarter.

Asia Pacific

In Asia Pacific, our businesses continued their outstanding track record,
achieving like-for-like growth in net fees of 40%. In Australia & New Zealand,
our market leading businesses recorded exceptional performances across all of
their specialist activities and regions. We continued to roll out our newer
specialisms across the network and we opened new offices in Brisbane, Ipswich
and Auckland. In Asia, our businesses continued their strong momentum across
the region.

Continental Europe & Rest of World (`RoW')

In Continental Europe & RoW, like-for-like net fees increased by 38%. This
excellent growth stems from our significant investment in the region, the
impact of deregulation in key markets, and an increasing awareness and
willingness by both candidates and clients to use specialist recruitment
consultants. All countries contributed to this performance, with Germany,
France, Canada, Italy and United Arab Emirates performing particularly well.
During the quarter, we started activities in Denmark (Copenhagen) and opened a
new office in Italy (Rome).

Share buy-back

We have continued with the share buy-back programme. During the quarter, we
purchased 11.7 million shares at a cost of £12.4 million (total buy-back in
nine months ended 31 March 2008: 47.7 million shares at a cost of £64.1
million). As previously stated, the company expects to buy-back around £100
million of shares during this financial year.

Cash flow and balance sheet

The cash flow performance has been in line with expectations with net debt
levels remaining broadly constant across the quarter. The balance sheet remains
strong.

Outlook

In Asia Pacific and Continental Europe, growth in demand for our services
continues to be strong. As indicated in the Interim Report, growth in the
United Kingdom & Ireland has slowed compared to the first half, but continues
to be good. Whilst mindful of the current economic uncertainty, the Board
remains confident in its outlook for the year.

                                   - ends -                                    

Enquiries

Hays plc                                                                       
Paul Venables Finance Director            + 44 (0) 20 73832266                 
Martin Abell  Investor Relations          + 44 (0) 20 73832266                 
                                                                               
Brunswick                                                                      
Gill Ackers                               + 44 (0) 20 7404 5959                
Catherine Colloms                                                                        

Conference call

Paul Venables and Martin Abell of Hays plc will conduct a conference call for
analysts and investors at 9:00am United Kingdom time on Thursday 10 April 2008.
The dial in details are as follows:

Dial-in number                                      [phone]     
                                                                             
The call will be recorded and available for playback for seven days as       
follows:                                                                     
                                                                             
Replay dial-in number                               [phone]     
                                                                             
Access code                                         41939663#                

Reporting calendar

Investor day                                       17 April 2008 
                                                                                   
Trading statement for quarter ending 30 June 2008  10 July 2008              
                                                                             
Full year results for year ending 30 June 2008     2 September 2008          

Note to editors

Hays plc is the leading global specialist recruitment group. It is market
leader in the UK and Australia, and one of the market leaders in Continental
Europe. The Group employs over 8,900 staff operating from 390 offices in 27
countries across 17 specialisms.

For the year ended 30 June 2007:

  - the Group had revenues of £2.1 billion, net fees of £633.6 million and
    operating profit of £216.1 million;
   
  - the Group placed 68,000 candidates into permanent jobs during the year and
    paid 46,000 temporary workers weekly; and
   
  - the temporary placement business represented 51% of net fees and the
    permanent placement business represented 49% of net fees.
   
Important notice

Certain statements in this announcement are forward looking statements. By
their nature, forward looking statements involve a number of risks,
uncertainties or assumptions that could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. Forward
looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as
representation that such trends or activities will continue in the
future. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking
statements.

All information shown for the quarter ended 31 March 2008 is unaudited.