£55m Acquisition of EPS Limited

Hays PLC
24 January 2000




Hays acquires leading provider of added value supply chain services
to the mobile telecommunications sector


Hays plc announces today the acquisition of EPS Limited ('EPS'), a UK leader
in the provision of added value supply chain services to the mobile
telecommunications sector, for a cash consideration of up to £55 million.

EPS specialises in value-added supply chain management for a range of blue-
chip customers principally in the mobile telephone market.  Its customers
include One2One, Orange, ONdigital, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.  It provides
a wide range of services including the management of repair centres and call
centres as well as diagnostic testing, bar-coding, configuration and
assembly.  The acquisition significantly strengthens Hays' position in the
electronics supply chain market.

For the year to 26 March 1999, EPS had an operating profit of £3.6 million on
turnover of £28.0 million.  At 26 March 1999, it had debt-free net assets of
£6.3 million.

Ronnie Frost, Chairman, commented:

'EPS is an excellent acquisition that brings a proven, quality management
team and strengthens the Group's service offering in the high-growth mobile
communications market.  Hays Business Process Support already provides
billing and call centre services to this sector both in the UK and in France.
This acquisition enables us to supply a wide range of integrated services to
existing and potential new customers in this exciting growth sector across
Europe.'



For further information, please contact:

Ronnie Frost             Chairman, Hays plc            01483 302 203

Andrew Grant             Brunswick                     0207 404 5959
Corinne Daniels





Note to editors

Hays plc

Hays plc is a leading business to business group providing a range of added
value specialist and quality services to industrial, commercial and
professional customers throughout Europe.  Activities include supply chain
management, logistics, mail services, business process outsourcing and
staffing services.  Listed in 1989 and now a FTSE 100 company, Hays employs
over 24,000 people.

For more information, visit the Company's website at www.hays-plc.com

EPS

EPS employs around 850 full-time staff with a further 350 temporary staff
being employed at any one time.  It operates from eight locations - Banbury
(Oxfordshire), where its headquarters are based, Basildon (Essex),
Sittingbourne (Kent), Sandy (Bedfordshire), Rochdale (Lancashire), Daventry
(Northants), and two sites in Dudley (West Midlands); Saltwells Road and
Waterfront Business Park.

The mobile telecommunications market is poised for even greater expansion
following the advent of new technology.  It is projected that mobile phones
will become personal communication centres linking the caller to the internet
no matter where they are in the world.

Hays currently provides extensive billing and sales invoice services to major
mobile phone companies in the UK and operates call centres for the two
leading French mobile communications businesses.

The acquisition of EPS further enhances Hays' position in this exciting
growth sector across Europe.