Acquisitions in France and Netherlands

Hays PLC
7 February 2000
                                                           
                                                                              
                                                              (£1 = Pta 276) 
                                                                              
                                                                      
                                                                              
Acquisitions strengthen Personnel in France and Netherlands                   

Mail & Express operations move into Spain                                    

Hays plc has acquired three growing specialist recruitment agencies, Sedi and
MD  Concept  in France and Roozen & van Hoof in the Netherlands for  a  total
initial cash consideration of £21.8m, net of existing cash balances acquired.
Further  cash  payments  of  up  to a maximum of  £6.0m  may  become  payable
depending on the level of future profits.

In  addition  Hays  has  acquired DUN and Driver Pack  -  two  time  critical
overnight  delivery  businesses based in Spain,  for  a  total  initial  cash
consideration  of £7.7m.  Further cash payments of up to a maximum  of  £4.3m
may  become payable depending on the level of profits of DUN and Driver  Pack
in the two years ending 31 December 2001.

Personnel

Sedi  provides IT staff for software development, maintenance and consultancy
projects in France. Established in 1979 and based in Paris, it employs 200 IT
consultants  who undertake projects for major French and international  banks
and  insurance  companies,  as  well as large  manufacturing  and  technology
businesses. In the year to 31 December 1998, Sedi had an operating profit  of
FF  7.4m (£0.7m), revenue of FF 88.0m (£8.6m) and net assets, excluding cash,
of FF 4.0m (£0.4m).

MD  Concept  is  also based in Paris and is involved in the provision  of  IT
staff.  It  has a blue-chip customer base focused on the financial  services,
manufacturing  and  new technologies. In the year to  31  December  1998,  MD
Concept  had  an  operating profit of FF 9.0m (£0.9m), revenue  of  FF  71.3m
(£6.9m) and net assets, excluding cash, of FF 3.2m (£0.3m).

Roozen  & van Hoof is involved in the recruitment of professional and  middle
management  staff  to  large corporate customers. Through  a  network  of  10
offices  in  the  Netherlands, it offers search and selection,  file  search,
consultancy  and psychological testing services. For the year to 31  December
1998,  it  had an operating profit of NLG 1.0m (£0.3m), revenue of  NLG  7.6m
(£2.2m) and net assets, excluding cash, of NLG 0.6m (£0.2m).

Mail & Express

DUN  and  Driver  Pack  are  specialist,  overnight,  time-critical  delivery
businesses  servicing the optical, travel, medical, dental,  IT  and  finance
sectors  across  Spain.   Based in Barcelona and  Madrid  respectively,  both
businesses have a first class reputation and strong customer base.

They  complement Hays existing operations and support the company's  strategy
of becoming a leading European specialist mail and express business operating
in niche markets.

In  the  year to 31 December 1998, DUN had an operating profit of  Pta  62.5m
(£0.2m) and net assets, excluding cash, of Pta 526.0m (£1.9m).  For the  same
period,  Driver  Pack had an operating profit of Pta 75.0m  (£0.3m)  and  net
assets,  excluding cash, of Pta 43.2m (£0.2m).  Unaudited management accounts
for  the  twelve  months to 31 December 1999 show that DUN had  an  operating
profit  of Pta 80.0m (£0.29m) and Driver Pack had an operating profit of  Pta
87.0m (£0.31m).

Commenting on these acquisitions, Ronnie Frost, Chairman of Hays plc, said:

'Sedi  and  MD Concept strengthen Hays' position in the French IT contracting
sector,  and  complement  Sitinfo  which  we  acquired  in  late  1998.  Both
businesses  have  strong technical skills, which will enhance  the  range  of
services we offer in the French IT market.

Roozen  &  van Hoof is very well established in the Dutch recruitment  market
and  provides good geographic coverage which gives us an excellent base  from
which to expand the business into new sectors.

DUN  and Driver Pack represent not only new opportunities in markets familiar
to  Hays Mail & Express Services, but also, they are a perfect strategic  fit
which  will  support our overall objective of becoming the leading specialist
business of its kind throughout Europe.'

                                       
For further information, please contact:

Ronnie Frost, Chairman             Hays plc              01483 302 203
Andrew Grant / Corinne Daniels     Brunswick             020 7404 5959


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

Hays Personnel

Hays Personnel is the largest specialist staff agency in the UK with a strong
presence  in the Accounting, Banking, Insurance, Construction and IT sectors.
It  has  already  established a strong presence in specialist recruitment  in
Continental  Europe through its agencies: Hays Alpha (Banking  and  Insurance
staff) and Hays Sitinfo (IT staff) in Paris, and Hays International in Prague
and  Dublin.   In addition the recent UK acquisition of Hutchinson  Smith  in
November 99 consolidated our position in specialist IT markets.


Hays Mail & Express

Under  the umbrella brand of Hays DX, the company offers a range of mail  and
express-related services.  Hays DX is a leader in its chosen sectors  in  the
UK,  France,  Belgium and Ireland, handling the early next  day  delivery  of
around 2.5 million items each night.

DUN employs 120 staff and around 100 sub-contracted drivers.  Driver Pack has
80   staff  and  around  50  sub-contracted  drivers.   DUN  has  7  branches
nationwide, and Driver Pack has 5 branches.