The Stationery Office Ltd
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryPublishing
PredecessorHis Majesty's Stationery Office
Founded1996
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
ParentWilliams Lea Tag
Websitewww.tso.co.uk

The Stationery Office (TSO) is a British publishing company created in 1996 when the publishing arm of His Majesty's Stationery Office was privatised.[1] It is the official publisher and the distributor for legislation, command and house papers, select committee reports, Hansard, and the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, the UK government's three official journals of record.[2] With more than 9,000 titles in print and digital formats published every year, it is one of the UK's largest publishers by volume.[3]

TSO provides services, consultancy, and infrastructure to deliver all aspects of the information lifecycle. TSO developed the website legislation.gov.uk with The National Archives, providing full access to the statute book as open data.[4]

The TSO OpenUp platform is a collection of integrated services available as software as a service (SaaS), with the aim of providing a scalable and resilient platform that allows organisations to store, query, and enrich their data.[citation needed]

History

The Stationery Office was sold for £54 million when it was privatised in 1996.[5] Two thirds of TSO was purchased by Electra Fleming,[6] an investment trust co-owned by Electra Investment and the investment bank Robert Fleming & Company.[7] Three executives of TSO purchased large stakes in the business: Rupert Pennant-Rea purchased a 4.5 per cent stake, Bob Thian a 6 per cent stake, and Richard Martin 3 per cent stake.[6]

In 1999, Electra Fleming sold TSO to its existing management team and Apax, a private equity firm,[1] for £82 million.[5] Rupert Pennant-Rea remained as chairman, and Fred Perkins stayed as chief executive.[5] TSO was sold in 2006 to business process outsourcing company Williams Lea, of which a majority stake had been acquired by logistics company Deutsche Post earlier that year.[8]

In 2014, TSO also began working with the local government sector, beginning with the redevelopment of the Croydon Council internal and external websites.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Harrington, Ben (25 April 2006). "Stationery Office sale may net £100m". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Case Studies | The Gazettes". TSO. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ "About TSO: Who Are We?". TSO. Archived from the original on 2 January 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  4. ^ "The National Archives (Legislation)". TSO. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Electra sells HMSO unit". The Independent. 15 July 1999. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b Harrison, Michael (9 April 1999). "Stationery Office chiefs set for pounds 13m windfall". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  7. ^ "International Briefs; 3i in Talks to Acquire Electra Investment Trust". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. 26 January 1999. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  8. ^ Francis, Jo (24 February 2017). "Williams Lea Tag CEO departs". PrintWeek. Retrieved 3 December 2018.

External links


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