Pearson plc
Pearson plc is a multinational corporation, headquartered in the UK, focused on educational publishing and services.
Not to be confused with C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.Formerly
S. Pearson & Son
GB0006776081 
- Education
- Mass media
1844
Shell Mex House, London, England
- Omid Kordestani (chairman)
- Omar Abbosh (CEO)
Educational materials (books, tests), Television distribution
- Educational assessment
- school management
- higher education
£3,674 million (2023)[1]
£498 million (2023)[1]
£380 million (2023)[1]
£6,727 million (2023)[1]
£3,988 million (2023)[1]
17,612 (2023)[1]
- Pearson Education
- Edexcel
- Pearson Television
Originating in 1844 and named S Pearson and Son by Samuel Pearson in 1856, what began as a small local civil engineering business in Yorkshire grew between 1880 to 1927 into a massive diversified international conglomerate under the subsequent leadership of Samuel's grandson Weetman Pearson.[2] By the time of World War II, the company had major national and international subsidiaries in manufacturing, electricity, oil, coal, banking and financial services, publishing (periodicals and books), and aviation.
After the second world war and the British government's nationalisation of many industries, Pearson refocused on publishing and media. In 1984 the company changed its name from S. Pearson & Son plc to Pearson plc.[3][4] Under the leadership of CEO Marjorie Scardino, in 1998 the company formed Pearson Education, and by 2016 education was Pearson plc's exclusive focus. As of 2023 Pearson Education, known since 2011 as simply Pearson, is Pearson plc's main subsidiary.[5] Pearson owns one of the GCSE examining boards for the UK, Edexcel.[6]
Pearson plc has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts.
History[edit]
Civil engineering businesses 1844 to 1925[edit]
In 1844 Samuel Pearson became an associate partner in a small brickmaking and contracting civil engineering company in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.[7][8] In 1856 Pearson's eldest son George entered the business, which became known as S Pearson & Son, "sanitary tube and brickmakers and contractors for local public works in and around Bradford".[7] In 1880, control passed to Samuel's grandson Weetman Dickinson Pearson (later 1st Viscount Cowdray), an engineer, who in 1890 moved the business to London and turned it into one of the world's largest construction companies.[9]
Another of its prominent engineers was Ernest William Moir who, after working for Pearson on tunnels in New York City, became the contractor's agent on construction of the Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames in London between 1892 and 1897.[10][11][12]
Between 1880 and 1902 the company also built the Admiralty Harbour at Dover, the Halifax Dry Dock in Canada, the East River Railway Tunnels in New York City, the Mexican Grand Canal that drained Mexico City, the Tehuantepec Railway in Mexico, and railways and harbours around the world.[13][14][7]
In November 1915, the firm began construction of HM Factory, Gretna, the largest cordite factory in the UK during World War I.[15]
The construction business was shut down in the 1920s.[14][7] Its final projects included construction of the Silent Valley Reservoir in Northern Ireland (contract awarded in 1923),[16] and completion of the Sennar Dam, in Sudan, in 1925.[17]
Manufacturing businesses 1856 to 1993[edit]
In 1856 S Pearson & Son advertised itself as manufacturing sanitary tubes and bricks in Yorkshire.[7] Manufacturing expanded beyond sanitary tubes and bricks to include a variety of items globally, including nuts and bolts, specialist glass, pottery, porcelain and fine china, and related items.[7]
Pearson acquired Allied English Potteries (including Royal Crown Derby) in 1964[18] and Doulton & Co. in November 1971, whereupon it merged those two potteries companies.[19][20] Pearson purchased the Fairey Group in 1980, and its engineering was merged with Doulton's industrial ceramics engineering.[21]
Pearson sold Doulton Glass Industries Ltd. in 1982.[7][21] The Fairey Group became independent of Pearson in 1986 via a management buy-out.[21] As Pearson refocused on its core publishing and media industries, it divested Royal Doulton, which was its remaining fine china division and the last of Pearson's manufacturing assets, in 1993.[22][19]
Electricity businesses 1900 to 1960[edit]
The conglomerate entered the electrification market in 1900, when Weetman Pearson was requested to electrify Mexico's tramway system, and then the general electrical supply in the city of Vera Cruz and elsewhere.[7][23] This process was repeated in Chile.[7] These electrical interests were consolidated into Whitehall Electric Investments Ltd. in 1922.[7]
In 1929 the electricity businesses in Mexico and Chile were sold, but similar electricity utilities were developed in southwestern England until they were nationalised in 1948.[7]
All of Pearson's overseas electricity utility businesses, which had spread to Greece, were closed by 1960.[7]
Oil businesses 1901 to 1989[edit]
While building the Tehuantepec Railway in Mexico for president Porfirio Diaz, Weetman Pearson learned of oil deposits in south Texas and Mexico and in 1901 began buying prospective oil lands in those places.[24] After striking oil in Mexico in 1908,[25] he founded the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company in 1909 to handle all of S Pearson and Sons' oil interests.[25]
In 1919 the Royal Dutch Shell Group acquired a large share of, and management of, Mexican Eagle, and Pearson formed Whitehall Petroleum Corporation Ltd. to take over Pearson's oil interests and to prospect globally for oil.[7] It established a major oil company in the U.S., Amerada Corporation, in 1919.[7][26] Amerada was compulsorily acquired by the British government in 1941 due to World War II; a small interest was reacquired by Pearson in 1945.[7]
In the 1950s Pearson expanded its North American oil and gas interests, and in the 1970s also expanded them globally.[7] By 1989, Pearson divested its oil and gas exploration activities and sold Whitehall Petroleum.[7]
Banking and financial services 1919 to 1999[edit]
In 1919, Pearson founded Whitehall Trust Ltd. as a finance and issuing house.[7] In 1919 Pearson also acquired a 45% stake in the London branch of merchant bankers Lazard Brothers,[27] an interest which was increased to 80% in 1932 during the depression years.[27]
In 1976 Pearson acquired a stake in Embankment Trust Ltd.[7]
By 1990 Pearson's stake in Lazard Brothers was reduced to 50% following Lazard's internationalization to Paris and New York,[27] and Pearson acquired 10% stakes in the two overseas branches.[7]
In 1999, due to the company's refocus on education, publishing, and media, Pearson sold its Lazard holdings for £410 million.[7][27]
Coal businesses 1921 to 1947[edit]
Following Wheetman Pearson's 1907 creation of Whitehall Securities as its holding company for all of Pearson's non-contracting industries,[7] beginning in 1921 Pearson partnered with Dorman Long[28] to form a coal-mining conglomerate in 1922,[7][28][29] called Pearson & Dorman Long Ltd.[30] The company purchased and operated many collieries in the UK through at least 1947.[29][30]
Publishing businesses 1921 to 1997[edit]
In 1921, Pearson purchased a number of local daily and weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom, which it combined to form the Westminster Press group.[9]
Following the British government's acquisition and nationalisation of several of Pearson's aviation, fuel, and energy divisions in the early 1940s due to World War II,[7][29] Pearson entered the education market.[31]
In 1957, it bought the Financial Times[9] and acquired a 50% stake in The Economist. It purchased the publisher Longman in 1968.[9]
Pearson was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1969.[9]
It bought the paperback publisher Penguin in 1970,[9] and the children's imprint Ladybird Books in 1972.[32] It bought a rival, the educational publisher Pitman Ltd, in 1985.[33]
In 1996 Pearson sold Westminster Press to Newsquest,[34] acquired the education division of HarperCollins from News Corporation,[35] and acquired book publishers Scott Foresman & Co..[36]
Aviation businesses 1929 to 1959[edit]
In 1929, Pearson's Whitehall Securities entered the aviation field, purchasing an interest in Airwork Services.[37]
By 1935 Whitehall Securities had major interests in a number of British airlines and aviation companies, including Spartan Air Lines, Saunders-Roe,
United Airways, and Hillman's Airways.[38] In September 1935, Hillman's Airways, Spartan Air Lines, and United Airways merged to form British Airways Ltd.[38] In 1936, British Airways absorbed British Continental Airways and Crilly Airways.[38] In 1940, British Airways was nationalised due to World War II.[38]
In 1937 the company acquired Northern & Scottish Airways and Highland Airways, and merged them into a new company, Scottish Airways.[39] This airline was nationalised by the British government in 1947 and merged into British European Airways.[39]
Pearson's aviation interests ended by 1959, when Saunders-Roe was sold to Westland Aircraft.[7]
Entertainment media businesses 1981 to 2002[edit]
in 1981 Pearson's publishing subsidiary Pearson Longman established Goldcrest Films and Television in 1981, led by the founder of Goldcrest Films, John Eberts, and chaired by James Lee, chief executive of Pearson Longman.[40] At its inception, the new concern owned 40% of Goldcrest Films.[40]
In 1986, Pearson invested in the British Satellite Broadcasting consortium, which a few years later merged with Sky Television to form a new company, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).[41]
During the 1990s, the company acquired a number of TV production and broadcasting assets, including former ITV franchisee Thames Television,[42][43] Australian production company Grundy Television,[44][45][46] U.S. television company All American Communications Inc.,[47] Italian drama production company Mastrofilm,[48] European animation financer and distributor EVA Entertainment,[49] and UK production company Talkback Productions.[50]
In 1994, Pearson acquired software publisher The Software Toolworks for US$462 million,[51] and rebranded it Mindscape.[52] In 1998, Pearson sold Mindscape to The Learning Company for US$150 million, taking a $346 million loss on the sale.[53]
In 2000, Pearson merged its television holdings with CLT-UFA to form the RTL Group.[54] In 2002 it exited the industry entirely by selling its 22% stake in RTL to Bertelsmann.[55][56]
Pearson plc is a holding company, and conducts its business primarily through subsidiaries and other affiliates.[5] As of December 2022, its main subsidiaries are:[5]
According to the company's website, its business divisions consist of:[117]
Criticism[edit]
Concerns exist around the amount of influence Pearson, being a commercial company, has on public education.[118] Other concerns are around tax avoidance, high value contracts, and an instance of laying off teachers to offset the high costs of testing.[119] In 2017, more than six out of ten Pearson shareholders voted against the chief executive's pay package of £1.5 million after the company made a record loss.[120] Pearson US has been criticised for using offshore tax avoidance schemes involving a host of companies at a service address in Luxembourg.[121]
Pearson owns Edexcel, a British education and examination board.[122] Edexcel has produced qualifications which link to Pearson texts, although Edexcel also continues to endorse textbooks published by other companies.[68] Edexcel has also faced criticism over repeated leaks of exam material in consecutive years; police investigations into some of the incidents were referred to prosecutors.[123]
In June 2010, Pearson plc received notification that the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) founded by Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi as a sovereign fund had acquired 24.4 million shares within the company via Euroclear. On further investigation, Pearson said the LIA may have acquired an additional 2.1 million shares, resulting in a total interest of 26.5 million shares. At the time, this represented a major holding of 3.27% within the company and the investment was worth around £280 million.[124]