spring group plc     annual report  accounts 2007
positioned for growth
wwwspringcom
spring group plc 
annual report  accounts 2007
spring group plc     annual report  accounts 2007
spring group plc
spring group plc
executive and registered o ffice  
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street 
l ondon ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom  
t   44 0 20 7356 0701 
f   44 0 20 7356 0711 
e  corpspringcom 
spring technology  
staffing services ltd 
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street  
l ondon ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom 
t   44 0 20 7300 9039 
f   44 0 20 7300 9021 
e  technologyspringcom 
best people recruitment ltd 
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street 
l ondon ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom 
t   44 0 20 7300 9000 
f  44 0 20 7300 9021  
e  bestspringcom 
  
glo tel inc 
suite 2800 
30 south wacker drive 
chicago 
il 60606 
united states of america 
t  1 312 715 0699 
f  1 312 715 0756 
e  chicagoglotelinccom 
hyphencom ltd
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
l ondon ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t   44 0 20 7300 9039
e  infohyphencom
spring personnel ltd
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
l ondon ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t   44 0 1782 221500
f   44 0 1782 221600
e  personnelspringcom
glo tel international  
limited
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
l ondon ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t  44 0 207 300 9000
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e  londonglotelcom
glo tel pty limited
l evel 1 80 mount street
p o box 1158
north sydney
new south wales 2060
australia 
t 61 0 2 8905 0500
f  61 0 2 8905 0901
e  sydneyglotelcom dir ec tors and advi so r s
directors
amir eilon
chairman
andrew pinder cbe
senior independent nonexecutive director
peter w searle
chief executive officer
peter a darraugh
group finance director
jonathan wright
independent nonexecutive director
steven b fink
nonexecutive director
adam cohn
nonexecutive director
registered office
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
london ec4y 8ax
tel 020 7300 9000 fax 020 7300 9090
 
registered number
590054
solicitors
norton rose llp
3 more london riverside
london se1 2aq
tel 020 7283 6000 fax 020 7283 6500
stockbrokers 
collins stewart plc 
9th floor 
88 wood street 
london ec2v 7qr
tel 020 7523 8000 fax 020 7523 8131
financial advisors
hawkpoint partners limited
41 lothbury
london ec2r 7ae
tel 020 7665 4500 fax 020 7655 4600
 
princip al bankers
royal bank of scotland plc
9th floor
280 bishopsgate
london ec2m 4rb
tel 020 7672 0890 fax 020 7672 0934
barclays bank plc
west midlands corporate centre
po box 3333
15 colmore row
birmingham b3 2wn
tel 0121 480 5649 fax 0121 480 5513
registrars
equiniti limited
aspect house
spencer road
lancing
west sussex bn99 6da
tel 0871 384 2207
auditors
ernst  young llp
compass house
80 newmarket road
cambridge cb5 8dz
tel 01223 557000 fax 01223 557001
 
spring group plc is an international full service 
recruitment provider comprised of three core 
business divisions professional staffing general 
staffing and managed solutions 
operating under a multibrand strategy with a global network 
of offices spanning uk europe usa and asia pacific spring 
group targets a broad range of industry sectors and has clients 
ranging from market leading multinationals to small and 
medium enterprises
c on tents
highlights  01
business profile  02
chairman’s statement  04
chief executive officer’s review  06
group finance director’s review  10
spring group plc directors  12
corporate governance  14
report of the board on  
directors’ remuneration  19
directors’ report  24
report of the independent  
auditor to the members of  
spring group plc group  28
consolidated income statement  30
consolidated balance sheet  31
consolidated cash flow statement 32
consolidated statement of  
changes in equity  33
notes to the accounts  34
report of the independent  
auditor to the members of  
spring group plc company  67
spring group plc company  
balance sheet  69
notes to the accounts company  70
notice of meeting  82
five year record  84
directors and advisors  85 we are realising our strategic plan ahead of schedule
financial highlights
revenues of £4328 million  2006 £4073 million
net fee income gross proﬁ t up 227  to £561 million 2006 £458 million
gross margin percentage up 180 basis  points to 130 from 112
proﬁ t before taxation up 312 to  £71 million 2006 £54 million
basic earnings per share up 221 to  376 pence 2006 308 pence
final dividend of 02 pence 2006  02 pence 
cash inﬂ ow from operating activities  of £199 million 2006 cash inﬂ ow of 
£140 million
group net cash total cash less bank  loans of £350 million after acquisition 
cash outﬂ ow of £308 million 2006 
£469 million
total assets £1583 million  2006 £1395 million
strategic  operational highlights 
2007 goals realised – strategic plan ahead  of schedule
new management team appointed to run  core businesses
all divisions record increase in both revenues  and proﬁ ts
business successfully restructured into  3 divisions
signiﬁ cant growth in sales capability with  over 250 net new sales staff
geographic expansion with ofﬁ ces  established in usa mainland europe and 
asia paciﬁ c
additional openings planned for europe  and asia paciﬁ c in 2008
glotel plc successfully integrated and  trading ahead of expectations
spring continues strong growth in proﬁ t and net fee income  glotel successfully integrated spring group plc ‘spring’ the technology stafﬁ ng and workforce management  company announces its audited results for the year ended 31 december 2007
highlights
“during 2007 we achieved a robust ﬁ nancial 
performance whilst putting in place both the 
strategy and management team required to deliver 
a sustainable improvement in performance”
  peter searle chief executive ofﬁ cer
1
turnover net assets profit
3484
4745
4547
4073
4328
676
760
700
747
831
46
59
19
15
55
03 
04
05
06
07
03 
04
05
06
07
03 
04
05
06
07
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 “our new us and asia paciﬁ c businesses 
combined with mainland europe now account 
for over 20 of our net fee income”
general staffing
due to organic growth and acquisition
spring’s general stafﬁ ng 
businesses specialise in 
permanent temporary and 
contract recruitment with a 
focus upon the commercial 
and industrial sectors services 
are provided at a local level 
from a network of ofﬁ ces 
across the uk
spring personnel
as one of the uk’s leading 
commercial recruitment 
companies with branches 
nationwide spring personnel 
specialises in ofﬁ ce accountancy 
and industrial recruitment with 
over 20 years’ experience their 
expertise lies in the provision of 
ﬂ exible stafﬁ ng programmes
elizabeth hunt
with over 30 years’ experience 
in the recruitment industry and a 
national capability elizabeth hunt 
provides temporary contract and 
permanent services focusing on 
the executive pa secretarial and 
support functions
spring direct
spring direct is a specialist 
recruitment business delivering 
expertise within speciﬁ c business 
sectors through a range of 
stafﬁ ng programmes and tailor
made solutions
buchanan scott
buchanan scott is a provider of 
bespoke permanent executive 
recruitment solutions to the 
uk market the team of senior 
recruiters place sales marketing 
and management executives 
throughout industries such as 
media business and professional 
services
tact
tact specialises in the recruitment 
of temporary and permanent staff 
in the industrial and technical 
sectors with one branch located 
in exeter
business profile
548
personnel
direct
2 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
established for over 30 years 
spring’s managed solutions 
offer clients services within three 
areas recruitment outsourcing 
ro hr consulting and it 
managed services
hyphen
hyphen is an industry leading 
recruitment solutions provider 
within the uk delivering bespoke 
services to clients from consulting 
through managed services to full 
recruitment outsourcing ro 
with more than 10 years’ 
experience clients range from 
global banking and ﬁ nancial 
institutions to it services and 
utilities organisations     
spring it solutions
spring it solutions is a leading it 
managed services and consulting 
provider with over 25 years’ 
experience spring it solutions 
understands their clients’ unique 
requirements and deliver innovative 
scaleable and cost efﬁ cient solutions
spring’s professional stafﬁ ng 
businesses specialise in 
permanent and contract it and 
telecommunications recruitment 
services are provided at a local 
level from a global network of 
ofﬁ ces spanning america europe 
and asia paciﬁ c
spring technology
spring technology is a leading 
technology stafﬁ ng service provider 
specialising in the recruitment 
of permanent and contract it 
professionals at all levels from 
1st line support to it directors
with a network of ofﬁ ces spanning 
the uk and europe they recruit 
for a broad range of employers 
across all industry sectors by 
providing costeffective innovative 
recruitment solutions utilising the 
leadingedge technology
best
founded in 1996 best has quickly 
established itself as a quality driven 
it recruitment organisation providing 
customer focussed solutions in the it 
market within the uk and europe
best offers projectbased 
permanent and temporary 
recruitment solutions aligned to 
vertical markets
glotel
glotel is a supplier of resource 
and project solutions to the 
telecommunications sector 
operating in more than 50 
countries glotel has an extensive 
global network of ofﬁ ces and 
provides multinational clients with 
local expertise on a global scale
professional staffing
managed solutions
 we’ve increased the number of our sales staff
business profile continued 4
i am pleased to report that 2007 
saw a further improvement in 
the performance of the group 
during the course of the year 
the group has restructured its 
core operations strengthened 
its management team with 
experienced senior staff to 
run each of the key operating 
divisions delivered further 
improvements to efﬁ ciency 
of its support operations and 
accelerated the growth strategy 
both organically by increasing 
the number of sales consultants 
and by acquisition through the 
purchase of the glotel business
the culture of the company has 
changed we have focussed our 
people on delivering excellent 
service to our candidates and 
clients we have endeavoured 
to recruit the best people by 
providing an environment of 
high reward recognition and 
motivation we believe we will 
retain and develop these staff to 
put us in a position where we can 
outshine the competition this 
policy has created a workplace 
that whilst challenging and 
competitive is also a fun and 
rewarding place to work we 
believe our company provides 
opportunities for our staff to fulﬁ l 
their ambitions by providing a 
structured career in which they 
can grow and develop their 
talents
our management team are 
highly motivated and ambitious 
to further grow our organisation 
both organically and through 
selective acquisitions the last 
twelve months have laid down 
an extremely strong platform to 
enable these goals to be realised
our results for 2007 reﬂ ect the 
successful execution of our plans 
and the consequent continued 
improvement in the ﬁ nancial 
health of the group revenues 
increased 63 to £4328 million 
but the more relevant measure of 
volume in our business net fee 
income improved by 227 to 
£561 million pretax proﬁ ts were 
£71 million an improvement of 
312 compared to the prior 
year with basic earnings per share 
of 376p up 221 on 2006 
the group’s balance sheet 
remains healthy with total assets 
of £1583 million compared with 
£1395 million at 31 december 
2006 closing net cash at the year 
end was £350 million compared 
with £469 million last year 
reﬂ ecting the £308 million cash 
outﬂ ow for the glotel business 
and continued strong cash 
generation from the underlying 
business
and expanded geographically
chairman’s statement
“we have endeavoured to 
recruit the best people by 
providing an environment 
of high reward recognition 
and motivation”
“our management team is highly motivated and 
ambitious to further grow our organisation both 
organically and through selective acquisitions”
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 we announced the successful 
completion of the acquisition 
of glotel plc in july and the 
integration of the glotel business 
was completed during the second 
half of the year since acquisition 
the glotel business has been 
trading ahead of our expectations 
and the board expects this 
acquisition to be earnings 
enhancing in 2008 
 
whilst market commentators have 
mixed views on the prospects 
for the recruitment sector in 
2008 our business is so far this 
year trading inline with our 
expectations we will continue 
to review opportunities to grow 
our company by looking at new 
markets and possible acquisitions 
but we remain determined to 
invest wisely in and continue to 
build the business for the beneﬁ t 
of our shareholders the group 
is well placed to make further 
progress in 2008
spring staff
the continued progress shown by 
the group in 2007 is a function 
of the efforts from all of the staff 
throughout the group i would 
like to extend the appreciation 
of the board and shareholders to 
the staff at spring and to thank 
them for their dedication to the 
group and to all of our clients and 
candidates 
annual general meeting
 
our agm will be held on 
8 may 2008 and i look forward to 
welcoming shareholders there
amir eilon
chairman
27 february 2008
“since acquisition the glotel business has been trading 
ahead of our expectations and the board expects this 
acquisition to be earnings enhancing in 2008”
spring is now a worldwide group
chairman’s statement continued
“we will continue to 
review opportunities to 
grow our company by 
looking at new markets 
and possible acquisitions”
5 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 6
introduction
2007 saw the continuing 
successful implementation of 
the strategy that has returned 
the group to sustainable growth 
and proﬁ tability we have seen 
increases in revenue net fee 
income and proﬁ tability driven by 
greater productivity higher margin 
business and signiﬁ cantly greater 
efﬁ ciencies and automation in 
running our back ofﬁ ce
in july we successfully completed 
the acquisition of glotel plc 
this accelerated our strategy 
and has signiﬁ cantly enhanced 
our geographic spread with 
businesses in europe eleven 
locations in north america 
and two in australia during 
the second half of 2007 we 
completed the integration of the 
businesses with the integration 
of the uk back ofﬁ ce functions 
completed ahead of schedule in 
early october 
since the acquisition of glotel 
all parts of the acquired 
business have made a positive 
contribution to our results in the 
year and we anticipate further 
progress in 2008 together with 
a full year’s beneﬁ t from the 
integration synergies arising 
from the combination of the two 
businesses
strategic update
inline with our strategy the 
group is now split into 3 clear 
business divisions managed 
solutions professional stafﬁ ng 
and general stafﬁ ng which also 
incorporates our engineering 
stafﬁ ng business these business 
units now all have strong 
leadership teams in place on a 
global basis 
our plans to increase our 
permanent business have 
proved relatively successful with 
net fee income growing by 
£2 million to £123 million 2006 
£103 million representing 
approximately 22 of the group’s 
total net fee income however we 
are still predominantly a contract
temporarybased organisation 
and this less volatile revenue 
stream puts us in good stead to 
withstand market turbulence 
throughout the economic cycle 
geographically our business has 
also expanded rapidly and this 
overseas expansion into new 
markets though requiring initial 
investment in 2007 is now 
generating a positive return for 
the group our new us and asia 
paciﬁ c businesses which with 
mainland europe now account 
for over 20 of our net fee 
income on a run rate basis we 
have 4 ofﬁ ces in mainland europe 
germany belgium and two in 
italy with further overseas ofﬁ ce 
openings planned in singapore 
hong kong and delhi during 
2008 we will of course continue 
chief executive officer’s review 
 with ofﬁ ces in europe usa and asia paciﬁ c
                   revenue                   operating proﬁ t
£million 2007 2006 2007 2006
professional stafﬁ ng 2274 2265 60 56
managed solutions 1531 1402 33 27
general stafﬁ ng 546 496 06 01
intercompany revenue 23 90 – –
central costs – – 40 36
total 4328 4073 59 46
group results
“2007 saw the continuing successful 
implementation of the strategy that has 
returned the group to sustainable growth 
and proﬁ tability”
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 7
to consider new ofﬁ ce openings 
in existing territories where 
appropriate to continue to drive 
growth and gain market share
during the course of 2007 we 
also grew our sales capacity 
increasing the revenue generating 
headcount by more than 250 
net staff this was accomplished 
through the acquisition of glotel 
and organically through our 
central recruiting and training 
functions this central team will 
enable us to continue to invest 
in and expand our sales capacity 
further through 2008 
operating review
the results for 2007 show a 
strong improvement in each of 
the primary ﬁ nancial performance 
measures compared with 2006 
the group reversed the volume 
decline experienced in earlier 
years and recorded sequential 
quarter on quarter growth in 
revenue net fee income and 
proﬁ t throughout 2007 in the 
fourth quarter of 2007 revenues 
increased by 34 to £1269 
million net fee income increased 
by 45 to £171 million and 
proﬁ t before tax improved by 
49 to £27 million over the 
comparative fourth quarter of 
2006
professional staffing
this division comprises the it 
contracting and permanent 
recruitment services businesses 
within the group as well as the 
glotel business acquired in the 
second half of 2007
the division reported a small 
increase in revenue from £2265 
million in 2006 to £2274 million 
in 2007 with the corresponding 
operating proﬁ t improving from 
£56 million in 2006 to £60 
million in 2007 the revenue 
movement is the net effect of 
the glotel acquisition the switch 
to lower revenue higher margin 
accounts and investment in new 
brands offset by the reduction 
in volumes as a consequence of 
the group’s decision to exit a 
small number of high volume but 
unproﬁ table accounts
as with our other divisions we 
have built a strong management 
team a key focus has been the 
drive to increase sales headcount 
with this division absorbing the 
majority of new sales hires as well 
as the business acquired from the 
glotel acquisition in 2007 we 
established new sales teams in 
both the contract and permanent 
recruitment divisions with each 
team specialising in a range 
of technical disciplines which 
should facilitate a greater focus 
on improving further our gross 
margins 
during the year we have seen a 
signiﬁ cant increase in percentage 
chief executive officer’s review continued
“as the quality and 
terms of this business 
has improved so 
has operating proﬁ t 
improving by 222”
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
our divisions have recorded increases in revenues and proﬁ t 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
margin and net fee income due 
to improvements in the quality of 
business being secured as new 
sales staff recruited through 2007 
become fully productive coupled 
with increases in productivity in 
our existing businesses we expect 
to see this trend continue in 2008
managed solutions
our managed solutions division 
which consists of our hyphen 
rpo and spring it solutions 
businesses has proven to be 
robust through 2007 as a 
result of focusing on maximising 
revenues from those clients with 
whom we have some of our 
strongest relationships we grew 
revenues by 92 from £1402 
million in 2006 to £1531 million 
in 2007 as the quality and terms 
of this business has improved so 
has operating proﬁ t improving by 
222 from £27 million in 2006 
to £33 million in 2007
investment has been made 
throughout 2007 in new 
corporate sales staff and 
account directors with the 
aim of improving service levels 
and winning new clients our 
resourcing capabilities have 
also become more effective and 
efﬁ cient with the creation of the 
central resourcing pool
the longterm customer contracts 
and the predominance of contract 
staff should result in robust 
performance from this division 
throughout the economic cycle 
and we anticipate that growth 
levels should continue
 
general staffing
during 2007 we grew revenues 
in this business by 100 
from £496 million in 2006 to 
£546 million in 2007 and turned 
a £01 million loss in 2006 into 
a £06 million proﬁ t in 2007 
whilst making investments in new 
ofﬁ ces people and brands
this division has seen the opening 
of several new ofﬁ ces in 2007 to 
give greater market coverage in 
both the spring personnel and 
elizabeth hunt brands aligned 
to this has been a corresponding 
increase in headcount spring 
direct has moved into the 
engineering market with 
marked success and we will be 
investing further in this business 
throughout 2008
i am conﬁ dent that as ofﬁ ces 
and staff become fully productive 
that we will see further increases 
in revenue net fee income and 
proﬁ t from this business in 2008
improved business 
efficiency
during the year we established 
centralised corporate sales and 
chief executive officer’s review continued
“in the fourth quarter of 2007 revenues 
increased by 34”
 with net fee income up by 22 and 9
bid teams together with central 
resourcing units these support 
the growth of our businesses and 
will allow us to maximise on sales 
opportunities and give customers 
both a high level of support as 
well as provide a central basis for 
efﬁ cient candidate supply
in order to implement best 
practice and to get maximum 
economies of scale we have 
now completed the creation 
of our centralised finance 
administration and it functions 
as well as the obvious symbiotic 
beneﬁ ts this offers we have the 
capacity to absorb further volume 
in these functions with minimal 
increase in our operating costs 
we have also centralised our hr 
and marketing functions which 
allows us to quickly support 
new brands in a coordinated 
corporate manner and also to 
integrate any acquired companies 
efﬁ ciently
through the course of 2007 
we have used these efﬁ ciency 
savings in the support functions 
to help fund the investment in 
our front ofﬁ ce sales capacity by 
a combination of both organic 
growth and acquisition we will 
exit 2007 with a net increase of 
in excess of 250 additional sales 
staff worldwide compared to 
december 2006
outlook 2008
during 2007 we achieved a 
robust ﬁ nancial performance 
whilst putting in place both the 
strategy and management team 
required to deliver a sustainable 
improvement in performance
with the group increasingly 
diversiﬁ ed by both geography 
and market segment and a strong 
business in temporarycontract 
stafﬁ ng we believe that spring 
is well placed with its healthy 
balance sheet and solid trading 
to enjoy further growth both 
organically and by acquisition
2008 has started as 2007 ﬁ nished 
with continuing improvement in 
key performance indicators for 
all of our businesses with many 
of our new staff still to reach 
full productivity and with our 
ambitious growth plans we are 
conﬁ dent that we can continue 
to deliver sustainable proﬁ table 
growth
peter searle
chief executive ofﬁ cer
27 february 2008
“in order to implement best practice and to get maximum 
economies of scale we have now completed the creation of 
our centralised finance administration and it functions”
chief executive officer’s review continued
“we will exit 2007 with a net 
increase in excess of 250 
additional sales staff worldwide”
proﬁ t before tax up by 312
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 10
income statement
revenue
in 2007 the group generated 
revenues from continuing 
operations of £4328 million 
2006 £4073 million of which 
£481 million were generated 
from the acquisition of glotel 
gross proﬁ t net fee income
the gross margin of the business 
continued to improve to 130 
2006 112 with net fee 
income from operations up by 
£103 million to £561 million 
2006 £458 million the net fee 
income of glotel for the 5 months 
since acquisition amounted to 
£83 million with a gross margin 
of 173 for the period the 
underlying gross margin for the 
business has improved from 
112 in 2006 to 124 in 2007
operating proﬁ t
overall the group generated an 
operating proﬁ t of £59 million 
from continuing operations a 
£13 million improvement against 
the prior year 2006 £46 million 
the 2007 result includes £05 
million of nonrecurring costs 
associated with the integration of 
glotel and hence excluding these 
costs the operating proﬁ t would 
have increased by £18 million to 
£64 million
the acquisition of glotel has 
contributed £12 million to 
operating proﬁ t for the 5 months 
since acquisition however 
the overall contribution to the 
group proﬁ t before tax is less 
marked when interest that would 
have been earned on the cash 
deposits utilised to acquire glotel 
is considered the lost interest 
would amount to approximately 
£06 million
net interest
the group continues to focus 
on the management and 
improvement of working capital 
over the course of the last 
three years the group has made 
efforts to improve its intra
month net cash position with 
the consequence of moving from 
incurring interest expense of £06 
million in 2004 to generating net 
interest income of £12 million in 
2007 2006 £08 million such 
has been the group’s success 
in improving working capital 
management that sufﬁ cient free 
cash was generated to enable the 
group to fund the acquisition of 
glotel without recourse to debt 
ﬁ nance on 24 july 2007 there 
was a £308 million cash outﬂ ow 
associated with the acquisition 
of glotel and as a consequence 
interest income in the second half 
of 2007 was reduced interest 
income will also be down during 
2008 whilst this cash outﬂ ow 
associated with the acquisition is 
replenished 
nonrecurring items
as mentioned above the 
group’s operating proﬁ t includes 
£05 million of non recurring costs 
associated with the integration 
of the support functions of 
glotel into spring there are 
no exceptional charges or 
discontinued businesses in the 
income statement in 2007 
taxation
the taxation charge for the year is 
£11 million and the effective rate 
group finance director’s review
“the acquisition of glotel 
has contributed £12 million 
to operating proﬁ t”
with our healthy balance sheet and solid trading
“overall the group generated an operating 
proﬁ t of £59 million a £13 million 
improvement against the prior year”
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 11 1 11 11 1 1 1 11 11 11 11 1 11 11 1 1 11 11 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 1 11 1 11 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 11 11 11 1 11 11 11 11 1 1 11 1 11 1 1 11 1 11 11 1 11 11 11 11 11 1 1 1 11 1 11 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 11 1 11 1 11 11 1 1 1 1
is 158 2006 £06 million 
effective rate 104 reﬂ ecting 
the continuing availability of uk 
trading losses going forward the 
effective rate will continue to rise 
as uk trading losses are utilised 
and an increasing proportion of 
the group’s proﬁ ts will arise in 
overseas territories with higher 
marginal rates of tax
earnings per share and 
dividend
basic and diluted earnings per 
share were 376p and 374p per 
share respectively 2006 basic 
and diluted 308p the weighted 
average number of shares in issue 
in the year was 162250076 
2006 160890853
a ﬁ nal dividend of 02p 2006 
02p has been proposed which 
together with the interim dividend 
of 01p 2006 01p makes the 
total dividend for the year 03p 
2006 03p the ﬁ nal dividend 
which is subject to shareholder 
approval will be paid on 30 may 
2008 to those shareholders on the 
register at 9 may 2008
balance sheet
the group had net assets of 
£831 million at 31 december 
2007 2006 £747 million of 
which £397 million 2006 
£512 million is represented 
by cash the acquisition of 
glotel has had a signiﬁ cant 
impact on our net assets and 
cash balances during the year 
despite the net cash outﬂ ow 
of £308 million associated 
with the acquisition of glotel 
our year on year cash balance 
only decreased by £115m 
highlighting the continuing 
positive cash generation in the 
business the increase in net 
assets relates principally to the 
glotel acquisition and the proﬁ t 
generated in the year capital 
expenditure totalled £18 
million 2006 £22 million 
the main driver for our capital 
expenditure relates to investments 
in it systems and in particular 
the renewal of front and back
ofﬁ ce systems with other capital 
expenditure relating to the 
continued refurbishment of the 
ofﬁ ce portfolio
during the course of 2007 
further revisions to the group’s 
front ofﬁ ce and ﬁ nancial systems 
were completed these changes 
coupled with the reorganisation 
of the group’s support functions 
into one single location in 
birmingham provide the uk 
business with a scaleable business 
support model
cash flow
during the year the group 
generated a cash ﬂ ow from 
operating activities of £199 
million 2006 £140 million 
after the £308 million cash 
outﬂ ow associated with the 
acquisition of glotel net cash 
balances were £350 million 
at 31 december 2007 
2006 £469 million
peter darraugh
group finance director
27 february 2008
“the group had total assets of £1583 million of 
which £837 million is represented by receivables 
and £397 million is represented by cash”
group finance director’s review continued
spring is well placed to enjoy further growth
net assets
  04 05 06 07
760 m
700 m
747 m
831 m 12
amir eilon 
chairman
amir eilon 59 was appointed to 
the board on 13 january 2005 and 
then appointed as nonexecutive 
chairman on 1 october 2005 
he has over 35 years’ international 
capital markets experience in 
corporate treasury investment 
banking and private equity following 
corporate treasury roles at british 
steel and esso petroleum his city 
experience began at continental 
illinois and samuel montagu he was 
subsequently head of global capital 
markets at barclays de zoete wedd 
and managing director of private 
equity at credit suisse first boston 
he has his own corporate ﬁ nance 
advisory practice eilon  associates 
and is also a nonexecutive director 
of globus plc a dry cargo shipping 
company and silverjet a business
class only airline both publicly listed 
on aim and a director of mk airlines 
a private international cargo airline 
company based in the uk
adam cohn 
nonexecutive director
adam cohn 36 was appointed to 
the board as a nonexecutive director 
in march 2006 he represents the 
group’s largest shareholder et 
training llc mr cohn is a principal 
at knowledge universe limited 
llc where he is responsible for 
investments ﬁ nancings and business 
development for knowledge 
universe and its portfolio companies 
mr cohn has been at knowledge 
universe or related entities since 
march of 2000 previously mr cohn 
was with whitney  co a private 
equity ﬁ rm prior to whitney  co 
mr cohn was an investment banker 
in the financial sponsors group at 
bankers trust company and deutsche 
bank mr cohn has a bs in business 
from skidmore college and a mba 
from columbia university
steven b fink 
nonexecutive director
steven fink 57 is chief executive 
ofﬁ cer of lawrence investments 
llc a privately owned company 
with controlling and noncontrolling 
interests in approximately thirty 
technology and biotechnology 
companies prior to joining lawrence 
investments he was a founding 
partner and continues to serve 
as managing director and vice 
chairman of knowledge universe inc 
he serves as chairman of the 
board of leapfrog enterprises 
inc a nyse listed educational toy 
company and vice chairman of 
heron international a londonbased 
european real estate company he 
also serves on numerous boards of 
directors including nobel learning 
communities pillar data ncube and 
netsuite he holds a bs from the 
university of california at los angeles 
and a jd and an llm from new 
york university he was appointed as 
nonexecutive chairman on 20 june 
2002 having previously held this 
role from june 1997 until may 2000 
and served until 30 september 2005 
steven remains on the board as 
nonexecutive director and chairs the 
audit committee 
andrew pinder cbe 
senior independent 
nonexecutive director
andrew pinder 60 was appointed 
to the board on 22 march 2005 he 
served as the government’s eenvoy 
at the cabinet ofﬁ ce from 2000 until 
2004 reporting directly to the prime 
minister with overall responsibility for 
the uk’s online strategy as eenvoy 
he promoted access to the internet 
helped bring the vast majority of 
government services on line and 
was the uk’s central sponsor for 
information assurance
his early career was spent in 
information technology within 
the public sector culminating as 
undersecretary and director of 
it at the inland revenue he was 
subsequently director of systems and 
business operations at prudential 
assurance from 1990 to 1994 and 
at citibank from 1995 to 1999 ﬁ rst 
as head of european operations and 
technology and then head of global 
operations for citibank’s global 
transactional services business 
mr pinder is a fellow of the royal 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
spring group plc directors – at 27 february 2008 13
society of arts chairman of 
becta a uk government agency 
responsible for the use of technology 
in the uk education system and a 
nonexecutive director of united 
utilities plc he is also an advisor on 
strategic technology ecommerce 
and egovernment issues to a 
number of organisations including 
several other governments
jonathan wright
independent nonexecutive 
director 
jonathan wright 51 was 
appointed to the board as an 
independent nonexecutive 
director in may 2006 mr wright 
has over 20 years’ staffing industry 
experience he cofounded 
the tsi group a vcbacked 
recruitment startup in 1986 
subsequently mr wright spent 
over 10 years at alexander mann 
group where as group managing 
director he was instrumental 
in achieving significant organic 
growth in revenues and operating 
profits and in building the 
group internationally through 
acquisitions more recently mr 
wright established hexagon 
human capital an investment 
firm operating in the recruitment 
sector which was listed on aim in 
february 2007 and as a previous 
nonexecutive director at fdm 
group guided the business through 
its successful ipo
peter searle 
chief executive ofﬁ cer
peter searle 45 was appointed 
as chief executive ofﬁ cer to 
spring group in october 2006 
he has extensive experience of 
both speciality and mainstream 
recruitment in a number of european 
countries asia paciﬁ c and north 
america
after successfully completing a 
degree in business and marketing 
he joined yellow pages initially in 
a marketing capacity later moving 
into ﬁ eld sales and ﬁ nally sales 
management before moving into the 
recruitment industry subsequently 
he has spent 19 years working in 
recruitment 12 years of which were 
with computer people
after the purchase of the delphi 
group of which peter was managing 
director by adecco in 1999 he 
took on responsibility for all the 
european and asia paciﬁ c ofﬁ ces of 
the professional services companies 
of the adecco group under the 
speciality brand name of ajilon 
this remit covered a total of 16 
countries with a combined turnover 
of almost £1 billion in 2005 when 
the adecco group restructured to 
a zone organisation he became 
the chief executive of adecco uk 
in a role that covered a variety of 
sectors including general recruitment 
it engineering ﬁ nance and rpo 
recruitment process outsourcing 
and included brands such as ofﬁ ce 
angels jonathan wren adecco 
and roevin engineering his 
responsibilities covered 320 ofﬁ ces 
3700 employees and 57000 temps 
and subcontractors with a turnover 
of £12 billion 
peter darraugh 
group finance director
peter darraugh 43 was appointed 
to the board as group finance 
director on 5 september 2006 
peter has been with spring since 
april 2001 and successfully fulﬁ lled 
the role of finance director of 
the group for four years before 
his appointment to the board 
prior to joining spring he was 
finance director at northgate 
information solutions plc with 
responsibility for the uk business 
its largest operation and for several 
other subsidiaries in the uk and 
internationally after completing 
a degree in management science 
at the university of wales and 
iowa state university peter joined 
mcdonnell douglas information 
systems where he worked for 
12 years working as a systems 
analyst and going on to hold a 
number of senior management 
positions in it commercial and 
ﬁ nancial roles including commercial 
director and finance director he is a 
chartered management accountant
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
spring group plc directors – at 27 february 2008 continued 14
statement by the directors on compliance with the new combined code of best practice
the board supports the provisions within the new combined code the “code” published in july 2003 and updated in 
june 2006 and remains committed towards achieving compliance
there were no changes in the year in respect of the board’s membership amir eilon who was independent upon 
appointment as director in 2005 continues as chairman of the board andrew pinder continues as senior independent 
nonexecutive director the other independent nonexecutive director being jonathan wright as per the requirements 
of the group’s subscription agreement the group’s largest shareholder et training llc is represented at board level by 
two directors steven fink and adam cohn the two executive directors peter searle chief executive ofﬁ cer and peter 
darraugh group finance director complete the board 
the membership of the board committees has also remained stable and unchanged the nomination committee 
comprises of three members amir eilon chair andrew pinder and jonathan wright the audit committee comprises 
of three members steven fink chair andrew pinder and jonathan wright the remuneration committee comprises of 
three members andrew pinder chair amir eilon and jonathan wright
the board has continued to hold regular monthly board meetings at the end of each monthly board meeting the 
chairman holds a subsequent meeting with the nonexecutive directors without the executive directors present thus 
ensuring compliance under provision a13 during 2007 the chairman has continued to drive greater focus on internal 
control shareholder communication and director performance appraisal there is now a formal annual appraisal of the 
board and its committees and as such the group is now in full compliance with provision a61 of the code
the board
the key objective of the board is to represent shareholders’ interests on maintaining and growing a successful business 
and optimising longterm returns to achieve this the board comprises individuals who can bring relevant skills and 
knowledge to the beneﬁ t of the group
the company considers both steven fink and adam cohn to be nonindependent under the provisions of the code 
both represent a signiﬁ cant shareholder et training llc and steven fink has been on the board for over nine years 
since ﬁ rst election the company considers both andrew pinder and jonathan wright to be independent under the 
provisions of the code the board has noted that andrew pinder is a participant in the 2006 allemployee savingsrelated 
share option scheme and has a small interest in the ordinary shares of the company details given on page 23 however 
they do not consider this impedes his independence the group has taken steps to ensure that it will not allow non
executive directors to participate in allemployee savingsrelated share option schemes in the future without ﬁ rst taking 
independent legal advice in respect to the impact that this has under the code currently in force there were no related 
grants of share options in 2007
due to steven fink’s continued chairmanship of the audit committee the company did not comply with provision c31 
of the code throughout the year under review however the company continues to believe that mr fink’s considerable 
knowledge and experience in audit matters and also his representative position for the major shareholder of the 
company fully justiﬁ es his continued participation in the audit committee
a statement of the directors’ responsibilities in respect of the accounts is set out on page 28 overleaf is a brief 
description of the role of the board and its committees followed by a statement regarding the group’s system of internal 
control and a statement on going concern 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
corporate governance – at 31 december 2007 15
the workings of the board and its committees 
the board 
at 31 december 2007 the board comprised the chairman four nonexecutive directors and two executive directors the 
board has two nonexecutive directors representing the group’s largest shareholder et training llc steven fink and 
adam cohn two independent nonexecutive directors andrew pinder and jonathan wright amir eilon as chairman 
and two executive directors peter searle as chief executive ofﬁ cer and peter darraugh as group finance director the 
board is responsible to shareholders for the proper management of the group it meets regularly reviewing trading 
performance setting and monitoring strategy and examining major capital expenditure and acquisition opportunities 
there is a formal schedule of matters reserved for decision by the board which includes determining the strategy and 
control of the group approval of ﬁ nancial reporting controls oversight of the group’s internal controls approval of 
capital and revenue expenditure of a signiﬁ cant size acquisitions disposals and share dealings board membership and 
appointments corporate governance matters and approval of group policies and risk management strategies
the board operates subject to and in accordance with an executive instructions document containing provisions set 
down in accordance with good corporate governance the executive instructions are available upon request and cover the 
following
 schedule of matters reserved to the board and delegated ﬁ nancial authority limits
 summary of the group structure including summaries of the role of the board its committees the chairman the 
ceo and the nonexecutive directors
 t erms of reference for the nomination committee audit committee remuneration committee and executive committee
 delegation of routine business to the group finance director
 role and purpose of subsidiary board and management committees
all new directors of the company are provided with an induction conducted by the chairman of the board amir eilon 
assisted by the executive directors such induction includes information on the group’s history and current structure the 
industry in which the group operates and invariably includes introductions and meetings with members of the group’s 
senior management team 
the chairman ensures that all directors are properly briefed on issues considered at board meetings and to enable 
them properly to discharge their duties all directors receive accurate and clear information in a timely manner this 
includes detailed brieﬁ ngs on all matters where the board is required to make a decision or give its approval together 
with regular reports on such matters as the trading performance and outlook further to suggestions and comments 
made by nonexecutive directors and chairman the executive directors changed the format of board presentations to 
ensure that the documentation submitted at meetings provided greater visibility of the performance of the group looking 
forward as opposed to a retrospective view of the previous month’s results speciﬁ c business presentations from senior 
management and others are given where appropriate thereby ensuring the directors continually update their knowledge 
of and familiarity with the group there is a clear division of responsibilities between the roles of the chairman 
who is responsible for the effective operation of the board and the chief executive ofﬁ cer who is responsible for the 
management of the group’s daytoday activities no individual has unfettered powers of decision and no one individual 
or small group of individuals dominates the board’s decisionmaking processes
each director is subject to an annual review and appraisal and the chairman conducts a formal performance 
measurement of the board as a whole and its committees the ﬁ rst such performance appraisal which was conducted 
on a selfassessment basis took place in october 2007 and was approved in december 2007 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
corporate governance – at 31 december 2007 continued 16
board and committees meetings and attendance
in addition to the agm which all executive directors attended the board met eleven times during 2007 
the board requires all members to devote sufﬁ cient time to the work of the board to discharge the ofﬁ ce of director and to 
use their best endeavours to attend meetings directors’ attendance at board and committee meetings is set out below 
directors’ attendance
board 
meetings
audit committee 
meetings
remuneration committee 
meetings
nomination 
committee meetings
attended possible attended possible attended possible attended possible
a eilon 11 11 – – 5 5 – –
s b fink 11 11 2 2 – – – –
a pinder 11 9 2 2 5 5 – –
j wright 11 11 2 2 5 5 – –
a cohn 11 10 – – – – – –
p a darraugh 11 11 – – – – – –
p w searle 11 11 – – – – – –
the following committees deal with speciﬁ c aspects of the group’s affairs 
audit committee 
as at 31 december 2007 the audit committee comprised three nonexecutive directors andrew pinder jonathan 
wright and steven fink as chairman the board considers that steven fink has the recent and relevant ﬁ nancial 
experience as required by provision c31 of the code the audit committee meets not less than twice annually 
the committee provides a forum for reporting by the group’s auditors by invitation the meetings are also attended by 
other directors 
the audit committee is responsible for reviewing a wide range of ﬁ nancial matters including the halfyear and annual 
accounts before their submission to the board and for monitoring the controls that are in force to ensure the integrity of 
the ﬁ nancial information reported to the shareholders 
its remit includes a review of the effectiveness of the group’s system of internal ﬁ nancial control based on information 
received from both internal and external sources including the quarterly internal control and risk assessment report in 
addition the audit committee receives assurance annually from the heads of all operating units as to the adequacy of 
controls in their respective operations through internal control questionnaires the audit committee has reviewed the 
effectiveness of the system of internal ﬁ nancial control as it operated during the period and reported its conclusions to the 
board the committee is also responsible for actioning the recommendations of the board arising from its review of the 
internal control and risk assessment report 
the committee remit also includes a review of the scope results cost effectiveness independence and objectivity of the 
external auditors in respect of both audit and nonaudit services during the year the committee completed an evaluation 
of the external auditors and concluded that they were sufﬁ ciently independent objective and effective in undertaking the 
audit process spring group plc adopts a policy specifying the criteria for the independence of and services to be provided 
by the external auditor the policy provides a description of the services to be provided by the external auditor and it 
deﬁ nes criteria for approval when nonaudit fees will exceed predeﬁ ned amounts the committee also advises the board 
on the appointment of external auditors and on their remuneration 
in addition the committee reviews arrangements for answering staff concerns over improprieties should these arise 
ensuring that procedures are in place for appropriate investigation and follow up
remuneration committee
as at 31 december 2007 the remuneration committee comprised the chairman of the board and two nonexecutive 
directors amir eilon jonathan wright and andrew pinder as chairman the committee is responsible for recommending 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
corporate governance – at 31 december 2007 continued 17
the contract terms remuneration and other beneﬁ ts for executive and nonexecutive directors and performancerelated 
bonus schemes for executive directors and other members of the senior management team 
the report of the board on directors’ remuneration which includes details of the directors’ remuneration and directors’ 
interests in options together with information on service contracts is set out on pages 19 to 23
it should be noted that remuneration for nonexecutive directors does not include share options nonexecutive directors 
are now not allowed to participate in the company’s allemployee savingsrelated sharesave option scheme without the 
group ﬁ rst taking independent legal advice as to the impact this has in respect of compliance with the code currently in 
force andrew pinder is a participant in the 2006 sharesave scheme before the decision to prevent potential participation 
by nonexecutive directors was made to this extent the company is not in full compliance with provision b13 of the 
code however steps have been taken to mitigate against this in future
nomination committee 
as at 31 december 2007 the nomination committee comprised three nonexecutive directors andrew pinder jonathan 
wright and amir eilon as chairman the committee is responsible for recommending to the full board candidates for 
appointment to both executive and nonexecutive board director positions this process includes reviewing the board 
composition skills knowledge and experience and nominating candidates on the basis of merit and objective criteria 
it also ensures that the procedures for the appointment of new directors are formal rigorous and transparent and that 
there is an orderly succession for appointments to the board external professional advice is taken regarding each new 
board appointment 
executive committee
the purpose of the executive committee is to consider and decide upon any matter in respect of acquisitionsdisposals 
unbudgeted capital expenditure property transactions litigation with potential settlement costs and ﬁ nancial facilities 
requiring the grant of security which involves sums in excess of the authority limits set down for the executive directors 
but less than the sums required for full board consideration and approval the executive committee members which 
must include at least one executive director and one nonexecutive director are as nominated by the full board from time 
to time to deal with speciﬁ c matters
relations with shareholders 
communications with shareholders are given high priority the chairman’ s statement chief executive ofﬁ cer’ s and group 
finance director’ s reviews on pages 4 to 11 include a review of the business and future developments there is regular dialogue 
with institutional investors including presentations after the company’ s preliminary announcement of the year end results 
and at the half year the chairman arranges for the directors to receive regular reports on shareholders’ views to ensure the 
board develops an understanding of the matters of concern to the major shareholders the senior independent nonexecutive 
director is available to answer any shareholder concerns that are unable to be resolved through regular channels
the board uses the annual general meeting to communicate with private and institutional investors and welcomes their 
participation details of resolutions to be proposed at the annual general meeting on 8 may 2008 can be found in the 
notice of meeting on pages 82 and 83 
internal control 
following the publication of the recommendations of the turnbull committee on 27 september 1999 as updated in 
2005 the board adopted processes for identifying evaluating and managing the signiﬁ cant risks faced by the group 
these processes include the review by the board on a semiannual basis of an internal control and risk assessment report 
to allow it to report on internal management and the executive directors are responsible for ensuring the completeness 
and accuracy of this report on a continuous basis 
the board has overall responsibility for the group’s system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness whilst 
the role of management is to implement board policies on risk and control the system of internal controls is designed to 
manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve the business objectives in pursuing these objectives internal 
controls can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss this process 
which includes a whistleblowing policy is in accordance with the turnbull guidance and has been in place for the 
ﬁ nancial period and up to the date the accounts were approved 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
corporate governance – at 31 december 2007 continued 18
the key procedures that the directors have established with a view to providing effective internal ﬁ nancial control are 
as follows 
management structure 
the board has overall responsibility for the group and there is a formal schedule of matters speciﬁ cally reserved for its 
decision thus ensuring that it maintains control over appropriate strategic ﬁ nancial operational risk management and 
compliance issues the size of the group and its management style ensure the involvement in and knowledge of the 
activities of each operating division by at least one member of the board 
the senior independent nonexecutive director is andrew pinder the board has access to the services of gavin tagg the 
group legal counsel and company secretary and independent professional advice if required
quarterly authorisation review
on a quarterly basis a committee comprising the group finance director the company secretary the assistant company 
secretary the group financial controller and group internal audit manager meet to discuss and agree the current 
authorisations within the group at this meeting there is a formal sign off process in respect of all employees in respect 
of authority to sign off expenses and purchase orders to ﬁ xed limits authority to sign contracts on behalf of the group’s 
trading companies group signatories for company bank accounts and all employees who are considered to be subject to 
the model code by virtue of their position and access to information in the group 
budgetary process 
each year the board approves the annual budget the components of which form the ﬁ nancial objectives for individual 
operating divisions key risk areas are identiﬁ ed performance against these objectives is monitored and relevant action 
taken throughout the year through the regular reporting to the board of variances from the budget updated forecasts for 
the year and information on the key risk areas 
group procedures manual 
responsibility levels are communicated throughout the group as part of the group procedures manual which sets out 
delegation of authority and authorisation levels and other control procedures together with accounting and reporting 
procedures the manual is updated regularly
following the acquisition of glotel in 2007 the group procedures manual has been rolled out to all areas of the glotel 
business with an emphasis upon enshrining the principles of prudent control procedures throughout the global business 
this process was commenced shortly after acquisition and the board will continue to establish this process in consultation 
with the management teams in the usa and asia paciﬁ c 
internal audit 
the group internal audit function reports to the group finance director and monitors the effectiveness of key internal 
controls and compliance with the group procedures manual the board utilises the internal audit function to assist the 
board in the preparation of a risk and internal control memorandum embedded within existing control systems and 
updated on a regular basis to monitor and formally report to the board the group’s compliance with the code
after making enquiries the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue 
in operational existence for the foreseeable future for this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in 
preparing the accounts 
signed on behalf of the board 
amir eilon
chairman
27 february 2008 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
corporate governance – at 31 december 2007 continued 19
information not subject to audit 
remuneration committee and advisers 
as at 31 december 2007 the remuneration committee comprised the chairman of the board and two nonexecutive 
directors amir eilon jonathan wright and andrew pinder as chairman the remuneration committee appointed by 
the board recommends within agreed terms of reference an overall remuneration package for the executive directors 
nonexecutive directors senior executives and the company chairman the remuneration committee has retained new 
bridge street consultants llp nbsc who are independent executive remuneration consultants as its principal advisers 
and takes advice from them from time to time in relation to executive remuneration matters and in particular in relation 
to the longterm incentive plan 
remuneration policy 
the company’s policy on directors’ remuneration is that the overall remuneration package should be sufﬁ ciently 
competitive to attract retain and motivate high quality executives capable of achieving the group’s objectives and thereby 
enhancing shareholder value 
the package consists of basic salary beneﬁ ts performance related bonuses share options longterm incentive plan and 
pension contributions with a signiﬁ cant proportion based on performance and dependent upon the achievement of 
demanding targets 
a summary of each element of the remuneration package is set out below 
basic salary and benefits 
basic salary and fees are determined after taking account of each director’s responsibilities and seniority and of 
market salary levels for similar jobs in comparable companies based on independent surveys the committee also takes 
independent specialist advice in relation to salaries bonuses and longerterm incentives basic salaries are reviewed 
annually taking account of both group and individual performance any future salary increases will reﬂ ect changes in the 
market average increases for group executives and general pay and conditions within the group 
beneﬁ ts normally car pension and life disability and health insurance are set at a level comparable with those granted 
to executives at a similar level in peer companies 
the fees for nonexecutive directors are determined by the board reﬂ ect time commitment and responsibilities for each 
role including committee responsibilities and are reviewed periodically only one of the two nonexecutive nominees of 
et training llc receives fees in respect of his services
part of amir eilon’s fee is speciﬁ cally allocated for the purchase of shares in the company under the terms of his letter 
of appointment under the terms of this agreement a ﬁ xed monthly sum is allocated for the purchase of new ordinary 
shares of 10p each in the company on the ﬁ nal working day of each month at the prevailing midmarket price this 
arrangement is permitted in accordance with section 17 of the model code of the fsa listing rules
bonuses 
directors’ bonuses are discretionary and based on group and individual performance they are structured to enable the 
executives to increase their basic earnings on the achievement of predetermined performance related targets set for the 
development of the group the maximum potential bonus payable for the executive directors in any one year is 200 of 
basic salary the committee believes that exceptional performance deserves appropriate reward
share options 
the company has a number of approved and unapproved executive share option schemes the details of which are 
provided in note 11 to the accounts grants are now only made under the longterm incentive plan and the allemployee 
savingsrelated share option scheme
directors are eligible to join the savingsrelated share option scheme on the same terms as other employees options 
under the savings related share option scheme are granted at a discount of 20 to the market price of shares at the date 
of invitation 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the board on directors’ remuneration  20
longterm incentives
awards under the longterm incentive plan the “ltip” which was approved by the shareholders at the 2006 agm 
were made in march may june and october 2007 individuals may receive an award of conditional nilcost shares with 
a face value of up to 200 of salary in any ﬁ nancial year vesting after three years from grant subject to achievement of 
performance conditions and continued employment “awards” in addition the ltip has the ﬂ exibility to allow awards 
above the normal maximum in oneoff exceptional circumstances such as a senior recruitment up to 300 of basic salary
the committee determined performance conditions prior to each award with performance measured over a single period 
of at least threeyears with no provision to retest
for the 2007 awards there were two separate performance conditions each applying to a proportion of an award 
1 the performance condition attached to 50 of the award was based on total shareholder return “tsr” 
performance measured against a bespoke group of comparator companies as detailed below 30 of this part of 
the award will vest for median performance increasing on a straight line basis to 100 vesting for upper quartile 
performance ie between 15 for median and 50 for upper quartile performance of the total award
2 the performance condition attached to the other 50 of the award was based on a range of cumulative pretax eps 
targets to be achieved over the three ﬁ nancial years from grant 30 of this part of the award will vest for cumulative 
pretax eps in 2007 2008 and 2009 of 148 pence increasing on a straight line basis to 100 vesting for cumulative 
pretax eps of 276 pence in 2007 2008 and 2009 ie between 15 for cumulative threeyear pretax eps of 148 
pence and 50 for cumulative threeyear pretax eps of 276 pence of the total award pretax eps targets will be 
reviewed at the time of the initial grant for appropriateness but will be no less demanding
the tsr comparator group for the 2007 awards consists of the following corporate services group plc glotel plc harvey 
nash group plc hays plc imprint plc michael page international plc nestor healthcare group plc northern recruitment 
group plc opd group plc parity group plc penna consulting plc quantica plc robert walters plc sthree plc and 
whitehead mann group plc
the committee considered that the eps and tsr were the most appropriate measures of performance for the 2007 
awards for the following reasons
 the tsr performance condition will provide a balance to the ﬁ nancial performance condition by rewarding relative 
stock marketpeer group performance and ensure that a share pricebased discipline in the package in the absence of 
options is retained
 the eps targets will provide a familiar and clear line of sight for senior executives to improve what is a key measure for 
the company’s future longterm success targets will also be straightforward to communicate and evaluate
 the combined use of tsr and eps produces a balance of performance conditions by rewarding relative peer group 
performance and absolute earnings
shareholding guideline
following the introduction of the ltip  shareholding guidelines for executive directors and senior executives have been 
adopted linked to the outturn of the plan at the time that awards vest under the ltip or any other executive plan 
established in the future individuals will be expected to retain no fewer than 50 of shares until such time as a 
shareholding equivalent to 100 of basic salary has been achieved
pensions
the company makes contributions to personal pension arrangements
terms of appointment and service contracts 
the details overleaf reﬂ ect the company’s general policy in respect of terms of appointment and service contracts for 
the directors 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the board on directors’ remuneration continued 21
nonexecutive directors 
steven fink and adam cohn being et training llc nominees have no service contracts and are not entitled to a deﬁ ned 
notice period
amir eilon andrew pinder and jonathan wright are engaged under letters of appointment amir eilon’s are dated 
13 january 2005 and 28 september 2005 andrew pinder’s is dated 17 march 2005 and jonathan wright’s is dated 
8 may 2006 which require retirement by rotation in accordance with the company’s articles of association in the event 
of reelection the appointment continues until the next annual general meeting at which retirement and reelection 
is required these appointments can be terminated early by either the company or the nonexecutive subject to a 
severance payment equivalent to three months fees being made by the company
executive directors 
peter searle has a service contract that provides for not less than 6 calendar months notice of termination from the 
company and not less than 6 calendar months from the executive peter searle was appointed on 2 october 2006 which 
represents the annual renewal date
on termination of this agreement except for reasons meriting summary dismissal the company may at its sole and 
absolute discretion pay the fixed salary and beneﬁ ts in lieu of any required notice period subject to deduction of 
income tax and national insurance contributions and any monies owed by the executive to the company by way of 
reimbursement and any monies due from the executive in respect of additional beneﬁ ts received under the company’s 
employee beneﬁ ts scheme
peter darraugh has a service contract that allows for not less than 6 calendar months notice from the company and the 
executive peter darraugh was appointed on 5 september 2006 which represents the annual renewal date
on termination of this agreement except for reasons meriting summary dismissal the company may at its sole and 
absolute discretion pay the fixed salary and beneﬁ ts in lieu of any required notice period subject to deduction of 
income tax and national insurance contributions and any monies owed by the executive to the company by way of 
reimbursement and any monies due from the executive in respect of additional beneﬁ ts received under the company’s 
employee beneﬁ ts scheme 
performance graph 
the graph below shows the percentage change in the tsr with dividends reinvested for each of the last ﬁ ve ﬁ nancial 
years of a holding of the company’s shares against the corresponding change in a hypothetical holding of shares in the 
ftse support services sector this sector was chosen as it represents a broad equity market index in which the company is 
a constituent member 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the board on directors’ remuneration continued
 
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
spring group plc ftse all share support services index 22
the remuneration of the individual directors was as follows
 
basic 
salary 
and fees
31 december
 2007
£000
bonus 
31 december 
2007
£000
total 
excluding
 pension 
31 december
 2007
£000
pensions 
31 december
 2007
£000
total 
31 december
 2007
£000
total 
excluding
 pension 
31 december
 2006
£000
pensions
31 december
 2006
£000
total 
31 december
 2006
£000
a eilon 150 – 150 – 150 150 – 150
s b fink 50 – 50 – 50 50 – 50
r t barﬁ eld 
2
––––– 575 60 635
b a clark 
1
––––– 15 – 15
p a magowan 
1
––––– 13 – 13
a pinder 50 – 50 – 50 50 – 50
j wright 
1
50 – 50 – 50 31 – 31
p a darraugh 
1
180 273 453 18 471 100 7 107
p w searle 
1
259 418 677 29 706 310 7 317
 73969114304714771294741368
notes
1
 b a clark and p a magowan resigned on 30 march 2006 whilst j wright p a darraugh and p w searle were appointed as directors 
on 19 may 2006 5 september 2006 and 1 october 2006 respectively
2
 r t barﬁ eld resigned on 29 september 2006 r t barﬁ eld received additional beneﬁ ts of £3k during 2006
 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the board on directors’ remuneration continued 23
interests in options 
the company has share option schemes under which directors and other employees are able to subscribe for ordinary 
shares in the company 
the interests of the directors were as follows 
31
 december
 2006
granted 
in year
exercised
in year
lapsed
in year
31 
december
 2007
gains on 
exercise
subscription
price
exercisable
from
latest
expiry 
date
colleague share option scheme
r t barﬁ eld 824241 – – – 824241 – 8250p 080204 070211
2001 executive share option scheme
p a darraugh 100000 – – – 100000 – 9350p 100906 090913
p a darraugh 150000 – – 150000 – – 4600p 011105 311012
r t barﬁ eld 213936 – – – 213936 – 6850p 291004 281011
r t barﬁ eld 250000 – – – 250000 – 4600p 011105 280908
2001 savings related share option scheme
p a darraugh 23974 – – – 23974 – 3900p 011009 310310
a pinder 23974 – – – 23974 – 3900p 011009 310310
p w searle – 15867 – – 15867 – 6050p 011210 310511
2006 longterm incentive plan ltip 
p w searle 1010309 – – – 1010309 – nil cost 031009 021010
p a darraugh 440000 – – – 440000 – nil cost 100509 090510
p a darraugh 115000 – – – 115000 – nil cost 280209 181010
restricted share award 
3
p w searle 1000000 – – – 1000000 – nil cost 031009 021010
2007 longterm incentive plan ltip 
2
p w searle – 784000 – – 784000 – nil cost 260310 250311
p a darraugh – 512000 – – 512000 – nil cost 260310 250311
         
notes
1
  the market price of the shares at 31 december 2007 was 4875p the highest and lowest prices during the period were 8775p and 
4425p respectively
2
  the share price at grant for the awards to p w searle and p a darraugh under the 2007 ltip was 65p see page 20 for qualifying 
performance conditions
3
  peter searle will be awarded up to 1 million shares on the third anniversary of his appointment half of this award is subject to his 
continued employment until 1 october 2009 the remaining 500000 shares will be subject to the ltip tests and conditions as 
outlined on page 20 in respect of any part of the award of shares he will not be entitled to receive or be eligible for any such shares 
if either a he is not employed by the company or a notice to terminate employment from either party at the date that grant would 
otherwise ordinarily be made is in place or b he has not maintained at all times a personal investment of a minimum of 1 million 
shares in the company for the entire duration of his employment
signed on behalf of the board 
andrew pinder 
27 february 2008 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the board on directors’ remuneration continued 24
principal activities and business review 
the group’s principal activities are the provision of recruitment stafﬁ ng and related services a review of the group’s 
activities during the year and its prospects for the forthcoming year is contained in the chairman’s statement chief 
executive ofﬁ cer’s and group finance director’s reviews on pages 10 to 11 a segmental analysis of the results is set out 
in note 3 to the accounts 
results and dividends 
the proﬁ t attributable to ordinary shareholders amounted to £5945000 31 december 2006 £4819000 an interim 
dividend of 01p per share 31 december 2006 01p was paid on 25 october 2007 the directors recommend a ﬁ nal 
dividend of 02p per share 31 december 2006 02p
acquisitions
on 24 july 2007 the group acquired 100 of the share capital of glotel plc for a total consideration of £28720000 
further details are disclosed in note 4 to the ﬁ nancial statements
directors 
the directors in ofﬁ ce at 27 february 2008 are set out on page 12 
directors’ interests 
directors’ interests as deﬁ ned by the companies act 1985 in the ordinary shares of the company all of which are 
beneﬁ cial were as set out below 
  31 december
 2007
number
31 december
 2006
number
p w searle 1050000 1000000
p a darraugh 12188 12188
a eilon 357134 213438
a pinder 52000 52000
details of directors’ interests in options are disclosed on page 23 a eilon has been issued with an additional 9954 shares 
since the year end under the terms of his letter of appointment
directors’ liability 
the company has granted an indemnity to one or more of its directors against liability in respect of proceedings brought 
by third parties subject to the conditions set out in the companies act 1985 such qualifying third party indemnity 
provision remains in force as at the date of approving the directors’ report 
notifiable interests in shares 
at 7 february 2008 the company had been notiﬁ ed in accordance with sections 198 to 208 of the companies act 1985 
of the following material holdings in the company’s issued share capital 
 number percentage 
of issued 
share capital
et training llc 59757868 364
fidelity international limited 22836823 139
schroder investment management 19126156 117
majedie asset management 9929835 61
morgan stanley securities 8232315 50
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
directors’ report – as at 31 december 2007 25
employee involvement 
the group recognises that its competitive advantage depends upon the quality and motivation of the people it employs 
its employment policies including the commitment to equal opportunity are designed to attract retain and motivate high 
calibre employees regardless of sex age race religion sexual orientation or disability 
the group considers that effective employee communications are particularly important and it is committed to promoting 
the involvement of all its employees in the group’s business aims and performance during the year the group continued 
to operate its employee forum “spring round table” which has employee representatives from all parts of the group 
the spring round table met twice during the year and discussed group performance with the aim of achieving a 
common awareness on the part of all employees of the ﬁ nancial and economic factors affecting the performance of the 
group new developments and many other issues of importance to all employees through both the spring round table 
and other forums spring has actively consulted employees on a regular basis so that the views of employees can be 
taken into account in making decisions which are likely to affect their interests spring has encouraged the involvement of 
employees in the group’s performance through regular participatory allemployee savingsrelated share option schemes 
the most recent being offered in october 2007
the group gives full consideration to applications for employment from disabled persons where the requirements of the 
job can be adequately fulﬁ lled by a handicapped or disabled person 
where existing employees become disabled it is the group’s policy wherever practicable to provide continuing 
employment under normal terms and conditions and to provide training and career development and promotion to 
disabled employees wherever appropriate 
environmental policy 
by nature of its business as a stafﬁ ng service company spring believes that its business activities have a minimal impact on 
the environment nonetheless spring recognises its responsibility to achieve good environmental practice and to continue 
to strive for improvement in its environmental impact in the execution of this policy spring will ensure that wherever 
possible it will actively pursue measures to promote energy conservation and minimise waste within its business and 
that any waste consumable materials are recycled or disposed of in a manner most suitable to reduce any impact on the 
natural environment spring complies with and shall continue to endeavour to exceed all laws and regulations relating 
to the environment spring actively encourages all staff to participate in the implementation of this policy and encourages 
all suppliers of consumable products and materials to be environmentally friendly where practicable furthermore in 
order to ensure our environmental policies are inline with best practice the group will be working toward iso 14001 
accreditation in 2008 
treasury
the group’s policies in respect of treasury management are as follows 
financing 
working capital ﬁ nance for daytoday requirements is provided through operating cash generation supported by short
term overdraft and loan facilities totalling £400 million at 31 december 2007 with high quality uk banks funding for 
the group’s smaller overseas operations is provided by equity paid for from uk cash resources the overseas operations 
use a combination of local currency cash converted from equity consideration and sterling intercompany balances for 
working capital purposes for the group’s larger overseas operations the working capital is funded through existing cash 
balances from trading and where necessary bank overdraft facilities 
the board monitors the group’s ﬁ nancing through its regular review of trading performance and authorises all 
signiﬁ cant transactions 
acquisitions where relevant are ﬁ nanced using a mixture of equity available cash resources and ﬂ oating rate loan notes
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
directors’ report – as at 31 december 2007 continued 26
interest rates 
the group’s policy is to minimise interest charges this is largely achieved by effective working capital management to 
ensure the debt levels are minimal and through the pooling arrangements and balance offsets within the uk
additional information for shareholders
the following provides the additional information required for shareholders as a result of the implementation of the 
takeovers directive into uk law at 31 december 2007 the company’s issued share capital comprised 164176342 
ordinary shares of 10 pence each the company is not aware of any agreements between shareholders that may result in 
restrictions on the transfer of securities and for voting rights 
on a show of hands at a general meeting of the company every holder of ordinary shares present in person and entitled 
to vote shall have one vote on a poll every member present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote shall have 
one vote for every ordinary share held the notice of the general meeting on page 82 speciﬁ es deadlines for exercising 
voting rights either by proxy notice present in person or by proxy in relation to resolutions to be passed at the annual 
general meeting all proxy votes are counted and the numbers for against or withheld in relation to each resolution are 
announced at the annual general meeting and published on the company’s website after the meeting
foreign currency and hedging 
the group has working capital and funding balances denominated in foreign currency 
a proportion of trading activity is denominated in nonlocal currency predominantly us dollars or euros the group 
looks to match the currency of the costs to that of the contracted revenue nonlocal currency assets are matched 
with equivalent currency liabilities with similar maturities where contracts involve signiﬁ cant net revenue or costs in 
nonlocal currency the group looks to mitigate the foreign exchange risk arising through the use of forward currency 
arrangements
further details of ﬁ nancial instruments are disclosed in notes 19 and 25 to the accounts 
borrowing powers 
under article 1b of the company’s articles of association the borrowings of the group are restricted to two times 
its aggregate capital and reserves at 31 december 2007 the group’s aggregate capital and reserves amounted to 
£83064000 2006 £74705000 
creditors payment policy 
the group agrees terms and conditions for its business transactions with suppliers payment is then made to these terms 
subject to the terms and conditions being met by the supplier at 31 december 2007 unpaid creditors of the group 
amounted to 16 days of purchases 2006 13 days disclosure of the unpaid creditors of the company are given in 
note 11 of the company accounts
political and charitable donations 
during the year the group made charitable donations of £2600 31 december 2006 £3386 and no political donations 
31 december 2006 £nil 
auditors 
a resolution to reappoint ernst  young llp as the group’s auditor will be put to the forthcoming annual general meeting 
directors’ statement as to disclosure of information to auditors
in the case of each of the persons who are directors of the company at the date this report was approved 
 so far as each of the directors is aware there is no relevant audit information as deﬁ ned in the companies act 1985 
of which the company’s auditors are unaware and 
 each of the directors has taken all of the steps that he ought to have taken as a director to make himself aware of any 
relevant audit information as deﬁ ned and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
directors’ report – as at 31 december 2007 continued 27
statement of directors’ responsibilities in relation to the group financial statements
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the group ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with 
applicable united kingdom law and those international financial reporting standards as adopted by the european union 
the directors are required to prepare ﬁ nancial statements for each ﬁ nancial year which present fairly the ﬁ nancial 
position of the group and the ﬁ nancial performance and cash ﬂ ows of the group for that period in preparing those 
ﬁ nancial statements the directors are required to 
 select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
 present information including accounting policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and 
understandable information 
 provide additional disclosures when compliance with the speciﬁ c requirements in ifrss is insufﬁ cient to enable users 
to understand the impact of particular transactions other events and conditions on the entity’s ﬁ nancial position and 
ﬁ nancial performance and
 state that the group has complied with ifrss subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the 
ﬁ nancial statements 
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time 
the ﬁ nancial position of the group and enable them to ensure that the ﬁ nancial statements comply with the companies 
act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation they are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the group and 
hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
statement of directors’ responsibilities in relation to the company financial statements
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with applicable 
law and regulations company law requires the directors to prepare ﬁ nancial statements for each ﬁ nancial year under 
that law the directors have elected to prepare the ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with united kingdom generally 
accepted accounting practice united kingdom accounting standards and applicable law the ﬁ nancial statements are 
required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the proﬁ t or loss of the company 
for that period in preparing those ﬁ nancial statements the directors are required to
 select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
 make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and
 state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and 
explained in the ﬁ nancial statements
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any 
time the ﬁ nancial position of the company and to enable them to ensure that the ﬁ nancial statements comply with 
the companies act 1985 they are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking 
reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
by order of the board 
gavin tagg 
company secretary 
27 february 2008 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
directors’ report – as at 31 december 2007 continued 28
we have audited the group ﬁ nancial statements of spring group plc for the year ended 31 december 2007 which 
comprise the consolidated income statement the consolidated balance sheet the consolidated cash flow statement 
and the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the related notes 1 to 25 these group ﬁ nancial statements 
have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein
we have reported separately on the parent company ﬁ nancial statements of spring group plc for the year ended 
31 december 2007 and on the information in the report of the board on directors’ remuneration that is described as 
having been audited 
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies 
act 1985 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do 
not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body for our 
audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the group ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with 
applicable united kingdom law and international financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the european union 
are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements 
and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view and whether the 
group ﬁ nancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the 
ias regulation we also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent 
with the ﬁ nancial statements the information given in the directors’ report includes that speciﬁ c information presented 
in the chairman’s statement chief executive ofﬁ cer’s and group finance director’s reviews that is cross referred from the 
business review section of the directors’ report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not received all the information and explanations we require for 
our audit or if information speciﬁ ed by law regarding director’s remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the corporate governance statement reﬂ ects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions 
of the 2006 combined code speciﬁ ed for our review by the listing rules of the financial services authority and we 
report if it does not we are not required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and 
controls or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control 
procedures
we read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited group 
ﬁ nancial statements the other information comprises only the chairman’s statement the chief executive ofﬁ cer’s 
review the group finance director’s review the unaudited part of the report of the board on directors’ remuneration 
and the corporate governance statement we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any 
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the group ﬁ nancial statements our responsibilities do not extend 
to any other information
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the independent auditor – to the members of spring group plc 29
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing 
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in 
the group ﬁ nancial statements it also includes an assessment of the signiﬁ cant estimates and judgments made by the 
directors in the preparation of the group ﬁ nancial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to 
the group’s circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary 
in order to provide us with sufﬁ cient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the group ﬁ nancial statements are 
free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also 
evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the group ﬁ nancial statements
opinion
in our opinion
 the group ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union 
of the state of the group’s affairs as at 31 december 2007 and of its proﬁ t for the year then ended 
 the group ﬁ nancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and 
article 4 of the ias regulation and
 the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group ﬁ nancial statements
ernst  young llp
registered auditor
cambridge
27 february 2008 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
report of the independent auditor – to the members of spring group plc continued 30
note year ended 
31 december
 2007 
£000 
year ended 
31 december
 2006 
£000 
revenue 3 432826 407301
cost of sales 376687 361545
gross proﬁ t 56139 45756
selling and distribution expenses 24971 19633
administrative costs 25258 21502
operating proﬁ t 5910 4621
finance income 6 1396 943
finance charges 6 248 186
proﬁ t before taxation 7058 5378
taxation 7 1113 559
proﬁ t for the year 5945 4819
earnings per share 
basic earnings per share from continuing operations 8 376p 308p
diluted earnings per share from continuing operations 8 374p 308p
 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
consolidated income statement – for the year ended 31 december 2007 31
note 31 december
 2007 
£000
31 december
 2006 
£000
non current assets
property plant and equipment 12 2579 2077
goodwill and intangible assets 13 26306 13565
deferred tax asset 7 6009 5205
34894 20847
current assets
trade and other receivables 15 83685 67491
financial assets 16 4 4
cash and short term deposits 17 39726 51195
123415 118690
total assets 3 158309 139537
current liabilities
trade and other payables 18 66612 57434
financial liabilities 19 5350 5062
income tax payable 946 28
provisions 20    318 700
73226 63224
non current liabilities
financial liabilities 19 4 657
provisions 20 492 655
deferred tax liability 7 1523 296
2019 1608
total liabilities 3 75245 64832
equity
called up share capital 21 16418 16122
share premium 21 16335 14574
other reserves 21 4804 4325
retained earnings 45507 39684
total equity attributable to equity holders of spring group plc 83064 74705
total equity and liabilities 158309 139537
   
signed on behalf of the board
amir eilon peter darraugh
chairman group finance director
27 february 2008 27 february 2008 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
consolidated balance sheet – as at 31 december 2007  32
note year ended 
31 december
 2007
£000
year ended 
31 december
 2006
£000
operating activities
proﬁ t before taxation 7058 5378
finance income 1396 943
finance expense 248 186
lossproﬁ t on sale of ﬁ xed assets 4 4
ifrs 2 share option charge 360 245
depreciation amortisation and impairment 2098 1427
decrease in trade and other receivables 13872 13035
decrease in trade and other liabilities 2453 4375
decrease in provisions 580 1065
net cash ﬂ ow from trading activities 19211 13884
outﬂ ow relating to reorganisation and redundancy costs – 200
interest received 1433 1003
interest paid 194 89
tax paid 573 570
net cash inﬂ ow from operating activities 19877 14028
investing activities
acquisition of a subsidiary including net overdraft acquired 4 30784 –
purchases of property plant and equipment 664 785
purchases of intangible assets 1117 1600
proceeds from sale of property plant and equipment 2 28
cash outﬂ ow from investing activities 32563 2357
financing activities
proceeds from issue of shares 2057 181
new borrowings 4695 4315
repayment of borrowings 4940 7281
repayment of capital element of ﬁ nance leases 
and hire purchase contracts 31 18
financing interest received 7 29
financing interest paid 68 93
equity dividends paid to shareholders 482 469
cash inﬂ owoutﬂ ow from ﬁ nancing activities 1238 3336
exchange lossesgains on cash and cash equivalents 21 7
net decreaseincrease in cash and cash equivalents 11469 8342
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 51195 42853
cash and cash equivalents at end of year 17 39726 51195
   
 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
consolidated cash flow statement – for the year ended 31 december 2007 33
other reserves
issued 
capital
 £000
share 
premium
 
£000
own 
shares 
held in
 esop 
trust 
£000
net 
unrealised 
gains 
reserve 
£000
foreign
 currency 
reserve 
£000
merger 
reserve 
£000
total 
other 
reserve 
£000
retained
 earnings 
£000
total
 
£000
1 january 2006 16068 14447 5370 8 1 9765 4386 35089 69990
currency translation 
difference – – – – 19 – 19 19
net loss on cash ﬂ ow 
hedge – – – 80 – – 80 – 80
net expense  income 
recognised directly in 
equity – – – 80 19 – 61 – 80
proﬁ t for the year – – – – – – – 4819 4819
total recognised 
expense  income for 
the year – – – 80 19 – 61 4819 4758
equity shares issued 54        127 – – – – – – 181
share based payments – – – – – – – 245 245
dividends paid – – – – – – – 469 469
31 december 2006 16122 14574 5370 88 18 9765 4325 39684 74705
1 january 2007 16122 14574 5370 88 18 9765 4325 39684 74705
currency translation 
difference – – – – 391 – 391 – 391
net proﬁ t on cash ﬂ ow 
hedge – – – 88 – – 88 – 88
net income recognised 
directly in equity – – – 88 391 – 479 – 479
proﬁ t for the year – – – – – – – 5945 5945
total recognised 
income for the year – – – 88 391 – 479 5945 6424
equity shares issued 296 1761 – – – – – – 2057
share based payments ––––––– 360 360
dividends paid – – – –––– 482 482
31 december 2007 16418 16335 5370 – 409 9765 4804 45507 83064
the nature and purpose of each reserve is set out in note 21
 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
consolidated statement of changes in equity – for the year ended 31 december 2007 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 34
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007
1 corporate information
the principal activities of the group are described in the directors’ report on page 24 the group’s ﬁ nancial 
statements of spring group plc for the year ended 31 december 2007 were authorised for issue by the board of 
directors on 27 february 2008 and the balance sheet was signed on the board’s behalf by amir eilon and peter 
darraugh spring group plc is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in england  wales the 
company’s ordinary shares are traded on the london stock exchange
2 accounting policies
basis of preparation
the group’s ﬁ nancial statements have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards 
as adopted by the european union as they apply to the ﬁ nancial statements of the group for the year ended 
31 december 2007 and applied in accordance with the companies act 1985 the accounting policies which follow 
set out those policies which apply in preparing the ﬁ nancial statements for the year ended 31 december 2007
the group ﬁ nancial statements are presented in sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds 
£000 except when otherwise indicated
the group ﬁ nancial statements have been prepared on a historic cost basis except for derivative ﬁ nancial 
instruments that have been measured at fair value
the principal accounting policies are set out below
principles of consolidation 
the consolidated accounts incorporate the accounts of the company and of each of its subsidiaries in which the 
company directly or indirectly holds the majority of voting rights or otherwise controls the ﬁ nancial statements 
of the domestic and foreign subsidiaries included in the consolidation have been prepared in accordance with 
uniform accounting policies pursuant to ias 27 ‘consolidated and separate ﬁ nancial statements’ during the 
consolidation receivables and liabilities between consolidated companies are fully eliminated as are intragroup 
income and expenses income and expenses of the company relate primarily to the provision of shared services such 
as it finance legal hr and marketing on behalf of subsidiary companies also certain group companies provide 
contractors or temporary staff to other members of the group either for internal use or for generating sales revenue 
signiﬁ cant accounting judgments estimates and assumptions
the preparation of the group’s ﬁ nancial statements requires management to make judgments estimates and 
assumptions that affect the reported amounts of revenues expenses assets and liabilities and the disclosure of 
contingent liabilities at the reporting date however uncertainty about these assumptions and estimates could result in 
outcomes that could require a material adjustment to the carrying amount of the asset or liability affected in the future
in the process of applying the group’ s accounting policies management has made the following judgment apart from 
those involving estimations which has the most signiﬁ cant effect on the amounts recognised in the ﬁ nancial statements
property provisions
the group has a number of leasehold properties with varying lease periods where a leasehold property becomes 
vacant management make judgements estimates and assumptions regarding the expected vacant period and 
potential for sublet and where appropriate include a provision for the vacant period management review the 
property provisions periodically with respect to the likely future cost of leasehold premises
share options
the group operates a number of share incentive schemes as detailed in note 11 in order to calculate the annual 
charge in accordance with ifrs 2 management are required to make a number of assumptions particularly regarding 
the expected employee attrition rate and the likelihood of performance conditions being met the accounting policy 
in relation to share options is set out below
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 35
2 accounting policies continued
deferred tax
in applying the group’s accounting policy in relation to deferred tax as set out below management are required to 
make assumptions regarding the group’s ability to utilise historical trading losses a deferred tax asset is recognised 
to the extent that management expect the group’s future proﬁ ts to utilise historical trading losses
impairment of goodwill and other intangibles
determining whether goodwill and other intangibles are impaired requires an estimation of the value in use of the 
cash generating units to which the goodwill and other intangible have been allocated the value in use calculation 
requires the group to estimate the future cash ﬂ ows expected to arise from the cashgenerating unit and a suitable 
discount rate in order to calculate present value
acquisitions and disposals
the results of subsidiaries acquired are included in the consolidated income statement from the effective date of 
acquisition and accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting the results of disposed subsidiaries are 
included in the consolidated income statement up to the date of disposal 
intangible assets 
intangible assets are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses these 
intangible assets consist of purchased brands customer and candidate lists goodwill arising on acquisition and 
purchased or internally generated software that is capable of being transferred licensed rented or exchanged 
where these assets have been acquired through a business combination this cost will be the fair value allocated in 
the acquisition accounting where these have been acquired other than through a business combination the initial 
cost is the aggregate amount paid and the fair value of any other consideration given to acquire the asset intangible 
assets are amortised over their useful economic lives on a straightline basis as disclosed in note 13 the estimated 
useful life of the assets is reviewed on an annual basis and if necessary changes in useful lives are accounted for 
prospectively the amortisation expense on intangible assets with ﬁ nite lives is recognised in the income statement in 
the administrative expenses category consistent with the function of the asset
these intangible assets are assessed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the 
carrying value may not be recoverable
goodwill arising on the acquisition of subsidiary undertakings and businesses representing any excess of the fair value 
of the consideration given over the net fair value of identiﬁ able assets liabilities and contingent liabilities recognised 
in accordance with ifrs 3 ‘business combinations’ is recognised as an intangible asset goodwill is not amortised in 
accordance with ifrs 3 however it is reviewed for impairment annually and in other periods if changes in circumstances 
indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable in accordance with ias 36 ‘impairment of assets’ 
goodwill arising on acquisitions in the year ended 30 april 1998 and earlier periods was written off to reserves in 
accordance with the accounting standard then in force as required by ifrs 1 the goodwill previously written off to 
reserves has not been reinstated on the balance sheet on disposal or closure of a previously acquired business the 
attributable amount of goodwill previously written off to reserves shall not be included in determining the proﬁ t or 
loss on disposal 
property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment are stated at cost depreciation is provided on these assets other than freehold land 
on a straight line basis at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its 
expected useful life as follows 
freehold property – 50 years  leasehold improvements – over the lease term
furniture and it equipment – 3 to 5 years motor vehicles – 4 years
the carrying values of property plant and equipment are reviewed for impairment if events or changes in 
circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 36
2 accounting policies continued
income taxes
current tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to the taxation 
authorities based on tax rates and laws that are enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date
deferred income tax is recognised on all temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities 
and their carrying amounts in the ﬁ nancial statements with the following exceptions
1 where the temporary difference arises from the initial recognition of goodwill or of an asset or liability in a 
transaction that is not a business combination that at the time of the transaction affects neither accounting nor 
taxable proﬁ t or loss
2 in respect of taxable temporary differences associated with investments in subsidiaries where the timing of the 
reversal of the temporary differences can be controlled and it is probable that the temporary differences will not 
reverse in the foreseeable future and
3 deferred income tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that taxable proﬁ t will be available 
against which the deductible temporary differences carried forward tax credits or tax losses can be utilised
deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected 
to apply when the related asset is realised or liability is settled based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively 
enacted at the balance sheet date
income tax is charged or credited directly to equity if it relates to items that are credited or charged to equity 
otherwise income tax is recognised in the income statement  
leased assets 
group as a lessee
finance leases which transfer to the group substantially all the risks and beneﬁ ts incidental to ownership of the 
leased item are capitalised at the inception of the lease at the fair value of the leased property or if lower at the 
present value of the minimum lease payments lease payments are apportioned between the ﬁ nance charges and 
reduction of the lease liability so as to achieve a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability 
finance charges are taken directly to the income statement
capitalised leased assets are depreciated over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the asset or the lease term
leases where the lessor retains substantially all the risks and beneﬁ ts of ownership of the asset are classiﬁ ed as 
operating leases operating lease payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straightline 
basis over the lease term  
group as a lessor
leases where the group retains substantially all the risks and beneﬁ ts of ownership of the asset are classiﬁ ed as 
operating leases initial direct costs incurred in negotiating an operating lease are added to the carrying amount of 
the leased asset and recognised over the lease term on the same basis as rental income 
provisions
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation legal or constructive as a result of a past event 
it is probable that an outﬂ ow of resources embodying economic beneﬁ ts will be required to settle the obligation and 
a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation where the group expects some or all of a provision 
to be reimbursed for example under an insurance contract the reimbursement is recognised as a separate asset but 
only when the reimbursement is virtually certain the expense relating to any provision is presented in the income 
statement net of any reimbursement if the effect of the time value of money is material provisions are determined 
by discounting the expected future cash ﬂ ows at a pretax rate that reﬂ ects current market assessments of the time 
value of money and where appropriate the risks speciﬁ c to the liability where discounting is used the increase in 
the provision due to the passage of time is recognised as an interest cost
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 37
2 accounting policies continued
revenue recognition
revenue represents proceeds from services performed less discounts and sales tax revenue from temporary and 
contract assignments is recognised when services are performed based on hours worked by the temporary or 
contract candidates placed by the group revenue from permanent placements is recognised
1 inline with contractual terms for contingent assignments this will be either the date on which the applicant 
accepts an offer in writing or when they commence the employment
2 inline with completion of speciﬁ c milestones for retained assignments or
3 inline with performance for revenue arising from the provision of other services 
if the individual fails to continue in employment for a period of time speciﬁ ed in the placement agreement generally 
an 8 to 10 week period the group may not be entitled to collect the entire placement fee revenue from permanent 
placements is shown in the income statement net of estimated refunds estimated refunds are based on historic 
experience of placed candidates not remaining in employment for a minimum required period  
revenue relating to the provision of project solutions to clients whereby the contracted revenue is ﬁ xed at the outset of 
the contract is recognised in the accounting period in which services are rendered by reference to the stage of completion 
of the speciﬁ c transaction contracts are continually reviewed for proﬁ tability and if it is probable that contract costs 
will exceed contract revenue on any speciﬁ c contract the expected loss is recognised as an expense immediately
employee beneﬁ ts 
the group operates a deﬁ ned contribution pension scheme for certain spring group employees the assets of the 
scheme are held separately from those of the group in funds administered by independent trustees contributions to 
the scheme are charged to the income statement as incurred all other shortterm employee beneﬁ ts are charged to 
the income statement in the period in which the employee renders the service
foreign currencies 
items included in the ﬁ nancial statements of each of the group’s entities are measured using the currency of the 
primary economic environment in which the entity operates the ‘functional currency’ the consolidated ﬁ nancial 
statements are presented in sterling which is the company’s functional currency
transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rates ruling on the transaction dates monetary assets and 
liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date 
all differences arising are taken to the income statement 
pursuant to ias 21 ‘the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates’ the results of overseas subsidiary undertakings 
are treated as “foreign operations” assets and liabilities outstanding at the period end are translated at the rate 
of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date whilst expenses and income are translated at the average rate of 
exchange for the year the resulting currency translation differences are taken directly to a separate component of 
equity on disposal of a foreign entity the deferred cumulative amount recognised in equity relating to that particular 
foreign operation is transferred to the income statement cumulative currency translation differences for all foreign 
operations are deemed to be zero as at 1 january 2004
employee share option schemes 
employees including directors of the group receive remuneration in the form of sharebased payment transactions 
whereby employees render services in exchange for shares or rights over shares ‘equitysettled transactions’
equitysettled transactions
the group has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 share based payments in accordance with transitional provisions ifrs 2 
has been applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested at 1 january 2005
the cost of equitysettled transactions with employees is measured by reference to the fair value at the date at which 
they are granted the fair value of all equitysettled transactions is determined using the blackscholes model with 
the exception of the ltip  which is determined using the montecarlo simulation model in valuing equitysettled 
transactions no account is taken of any performance conditions other than conditions linked to the price of the 
shares of spring group plc ‘market conditions’
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 38
2 accounting policies continued
employee share option schemes continued
equitysettled transactions continued
the cost of equitysettled transactions is recognised together with a corresponding increase in equity over the period 
in which the performance conditions are fulﬁ lled ending on the date on which the relevant employees become fully 
entitled to the award ‘vesting date’ the cumulative expense recognised for equitysettled transactions at each 
reporting date until the vesting date reﬂ ects the extent to which the vesting period has expired and the number of 
equity instruments that in the opinion of the directors of the group and based on the best available estimate at that 
date will ultimately vest the income statement charge or credit for a period represents the movement in cumulative 
expense recognised as at the beginning and end of that period
no expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately vest except for awards where vesting is conditional upon 
a market condition which are treated as vesting irrespective of whether or not the market condition is satisﬁ ed 
provided that all other vesting conditions are satisﬁ ed
where the terms of an equitysettled award are modiﬁ ed as a minimum an expense is recognised as if the terms had 
not been modiﬁ ed in addition an expense is recognised for any increase in the value of the transaction as a result of 
the modiﬁ cation as measured at the date of modiﬁ cation
where an equitysettled award is cancelled it is treated as if it had vested on the date of cancellation and any 
expense not yet recognised for the award is recognised immediately however if a new award is substituted for 
the cancelled award and designated as a replacement award on the date that it is granted the cancelled and new 
awards are treated as if they were a modiﬁ cation of the original award as described in the previous paragraph
the dilutive effect of outstanding options is reﬂ ected as additional share dilution in the computation of earnings per share
the group has an employee share incentive plan and an employee share trust for the granting of nontransferable 
options to executives and senior employees shares in the company held by the employee share trust are treated as 
own shares and presented in the balance sheet as a deduction from equity
finance income and charges
interest income and expense are recognised on an accrual basis using the effective interest method
cash 
cash in the balance sheet comprise cash at bank and overnight deposits
for the purpose of the consolidated cash flow statement cash and cash equivalents consist of cash as deﬁ ned 
above net of outstanding bank overdrafts
financial assets and liabilities
financial assets and ﬁ nancial liabilities carried on the balance sheet include cash and trade and other receivables and 
liabilities and loans the accounting policies on recognition and measurement for these items are disclosed in the 
relevant accounting policies found in these notes financial instruments are classiﬁ ed as assets liabilities or equity 
in accordance with the substance of the contractual arrangement interest dividends gains and losses relating to 
ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as assets or liabilities are reported as expense or income unless they qualify for hedge 
accounting financial instruments are offset when the group has a legally enforceable right to offset and intends to 
settle either on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liabilities simultaneously all loans and borrowings are 
initially recognised at fair value less directly attributable transaction costs after initial recognition interest bearing 
loans and borrowings are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method
the group assesses at each balance sheet date whether a ﬁ nancial asset or group of ﬁ nancial assets is impaired if 
there is objective evidence that an impairment loss on assets carried at amortised cost has been incurred the amount 
of the loss is measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated 
future cash ﬂ ows excluding future expected credit losses that have not been incurred discounted at the ﬁ nancial 
asset’s original effective interest rate ie the effective interest rate computed at initial recognition the carrying 
amount of the asset is reduced through use of an allowance account the amount of the loss shall be recognised in 
proﬁ t or loss
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 39
2 accounting policies continued 
if in a subsequent period the amount of the impairment loss decreases and the decrease can be related objectively 
to an event occurring after the impairment was recognised the previously recognised impairment loss is reversed 
to the extent that the carrying value of the asset does not exceed its amortised cost at the reversal date any 
subsequent reversal of an impairment loss is recognised in proﬁ t or loss
in relation to trade receivables a provision for impairment is made when there is objective evidence such as the 
probability of insolvency or signiﬁ cant ﬁ nancial difﬁ culties of the debtor that the group will not be able to collect all 
of the amounts due under the original terms of the invoice the carrying amount of the receivable is reduced through 
use of an allowance account impaired debts are derecognised when they are assessed as uncollectible
derivative ﬁ nancial instruments
the group uses derivative ﬁ nancial instruments such as foreign currency contracts to hedge its risks associated with 
foreign currency ﬂ uctuations such derivative ﬁ nancial instruments are stated at fair value 
the fair value of forward exchange contracts is calculated by reference to current forward exchange rates for 
contracts with similar maturity proﬁ les 
for the purpose of hedge accounting hedges are classiﬁ ed as cash ﬂ ow hedges where they hedge exposure to 
variability in cash ﬂ ows that is either attributable to a particular risk associated with a recognised asset or liability or a 
highly probable forecast transaction
in relation to cash ﬂ ow hedges forward foreign currency contracts which meet the conditions for special hedge 
accounting the portion of the gain or loss on the hedging instrument that is determined to be an effective hedge is 
recognised directly in equity and the ineffective portion is recognised in net proﬁ t or loss
when the hedged highly probable forecast transaction results in the recognition of a non ﬁ nancial asset or a liability 
then at the time the non ﬁ nancial asset or liability is recognised the associated gains or losses that had previously 
been recognised in equity are included in the initial measurement of the acquisition cost or other carrying amount 
of the non ﬁ nancial asset or liability for all other cash ﬂ ow hedges the gains or losses that are recognised in equity 
are transferred to the income statement in the same year in which the hedged highly probable forecast transaction 
affects the net proﬁ t or loss for example when the future sale actually occurs
for derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting any gains or losses arising from changes in fair value are 
taken directly to net proﬁ t or loss for the year
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or no 
longer qualiﬁ es for hedge accounting at that point in time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument 
recognised in equity is kept in equity until the forecasted transaction occurs if a hedged transaction is no longer 
expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss recognised in equity is transferred to net proﬁ t or loss for the year
new standards and interpretations 
applied
the group has adopted the following new and amended ifrs and ifric interpretations during the year adoption of 
these revised standards and interpretations did not have any effect on the ﬁ nancial performance or position of the 
group they did however give rise to additional disclosures including in some cases revisions to accounting policies
international accounting standards ias  ifrss effective date
ifrs 7 financial instruments 1 january 2007
ias 1 presentation of financial statements 1 january 2007
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 40
2 accounting policies continued
new standards and interpretations continued
applied continued
the principal effects of these changes were as follows
ifrs 7 financial instruments disclosures
this standard requires disclosures that enable users of the ﬁ nancial statements to evaluate the signiﬁ cance of the 
group’s ﬁ nancial instruments and the nature and extent of risks arising from those ﬁ nancial instruments the new 
disclosures are included throughout the ﬁ nancial statements while there has been no effect on the ﬁ nancial position 
or results comparative information has been revised where needed these new disclosures are shown in note 15
ias 1 presentation of financial statements
this amendment requires the group to make new disclosures to enable users of the ﬁ nancial statements to evaluate 
the group’s objectives policies and processes for managing capital these new disclosures are shown in note 25
not applied
at the date of authorisation of these ﬁ nancial statements the following standards and interpretations which have 
not been applied in these ﬁ nancial statements were in issue but not yet effective
international accounting standards ias  ifrss effective date
ifrs 2 amendment to ifrs 2 – vesting conditions and cancellations 1 january 2009
ifrs 3 business combinations revised january 2008 1 july 2009
ifrs 8 operating segments 1 january 2009
ias 1 presentation of financial statements revised september 2007 1 january 2009
ias 23 borrowing costs revised march 2007 1 january 2009
ias 27 consolidated and separate financial statements revised january 2008 1 july 2009
international financial reporting interpretations committee ifric
ifric 12 service concession arrangements 1 january 2008
ifric 13 customer loyalty programmes 1 july 2008
ifric 14 ias 19 –  the limit on a deﬁ ned beneﬁ t asset minimum funding
 requirements and their interaction
the principal effects of these changes are as follows
ifrs 2 amendment to ifrs 2 – vesting conditions and cancellations
the amendment to ifrs 2 restricts the deﬁ nition of vesting conditions to include only service conditions requiring 
a speciﬁ ed period of service to be completed and performance conditions requiring the other party to achieve 
a personal goal or contribute to achieving a corporate target all other features are not vesting conditions and 
whereas a failure to achieve such a condition was previously regarded as a forfeiture giving rise to a reversal of 
amounts previously charged to proﬁ t it must be reﬂ ected in the grant date fair value of the award and treated as 
a cancellation which results in either an acceleration of the expected charge or a continuation over the remaining 
vesting period depending on whether the condition is under the control of the entity or counterparty the 
amendment is mandatory for periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009 and the group is currently assessing its 
impact on the ﬁ nancial statements although it is not expected to be material
ifrs 8 – operating segments
this standard requires disclosure of information about the group’s operating segments and replaces the requirement 
to determine primary business and secondary geographical reporting segments of the group 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 41
2 accounting policies continued 
new standards and interpretations continued
ifric 11 ifrs 2 – group and treasury share transactions
this interpretation requires arrangements whereby an employee is granted rights to an entity’s equity instruments 
to be accounted for as an equitysettled scheme even if the entity buys the instruments from another party or the 
shareholders provide the equity instruments needed
the directors do not anticipate that the adoption of these standards and interpretations in future periods will have a 
material impact on the ﬁ nancial statements of the group
 
3  segmental information
a business segments
the group considers there to be two business segments – professional stafﬁ ng and general stafﬁ ng professional 
stafﬁ ng is split into two divisions  professional stafﬁ ng and managed solutions on the basis that management 
also monitor additional suboperations additional information has been provided for the professional stafﬁ ng sector 
in respect of revenue and proﬁ t the principal segment reporting is based on industry sectors and secondarily on 
geography by destination of supply an analysis by industry sector and by geography is the best reﬂ ection of the 
group’s management structure and reporting lines the accounting policies of the operating segments are the same 
as those described in the summary of signiﬁ cant accounting policies the group evaluates performance based on 
sector contributions which is deﬁ ned as the amount of proﬁ t or loss after allocation of certain corporate expenses 
before ﬁ nance income and charges any amortisation and impairment of intangible assets and income tax expense
professional stafﬁ ng includes the provision of it and telecoms specialists to large national and international 
organisations as well as to smaller regional organisations it also includes permanent placements and provision of 
teams to undertake it and telecoms testing services general stafﬁ ng largely consists of clerical industrial and light 
manual activities  
revenue operating proﬁ t
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
professional stafﬁ ng 227372 226528 6005 5568
managed solutions 153059 140209 3279 2717
total professional stafﬁ ng 380431 366737 9284 8285
general stafﬁ ng 54554 49576 606 110
intercompany revenue 
1
2159 9012 – –
central costs – – 3980 3554
432826 407301 5910 4621
net ﬁ nance income 1148 757
proﬁ t before taxation 7058 5378
taxation 1113 559
proﬁ t for the year from continuing operations 5945 4819
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 42
3 segmental information continued
a business segments continued
depreciation and 
impairment of tangible 
and intangible 
ﬁ xed assets capital expenditure
tangible intangible
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
total professional stafﬁ ng 900 581 120 18 22 41
general stafﬁ ng 414 382 285 105 8 21
unallocated corporate 
expenses 784 464 297 446 1086 1538
2098 1427 702 569 1116 1600
total assets total liabilities
investments in 
tangible and intangible 
ﬁ xed assets
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
total professional stafﬁ ng 124852 89640 67239 54138 23183 10559
general stafﬁ ng 25155 28271 4392 4667 851 879
unallocated corporate 
assetsliabilities 8302 21626 3614 6027 4851 4204
158309 139537 75245 64832 28885 15642
1
 intercompany revenue is predominantly priced at cost plus a small administrative fee during the year ended 
31 december 2007 the professional stafﬁ ng segment received income of £25000 from the general stafﬁ ng 
segment 2006 £17000 and £281000 2006 £nil from spring group plc the general stafﬁ ng segment 
received income of £1740000 2006 £2541000 from the professional stafﬁ ng segment and £35000 
2006 £nil from spring group plc in addition there was £78000 2006 £6454000 of intercompany revenue 
between professional stafﬁ ng and managed solutions  consequently external revenue is £380047000 
2006 £360266000 for the professional stafﬁ ng segment and £52779000 2006 £47035000 for the 
general stafﬁ ng segment 
b geographical segments
revenue total assets
capital 
expenditure
investments in 
tangible and 
intangible ﬁ xed 
assets
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
2007
£000
2006
£000
united kingdom 393018 396192 128348 137062 1736 2169 16051 15642
rest of europe 13349 7990 2782 2475 3 – 5 –
north america 19290 – 26341 – 64 – 12749 –
rest of world 7169 3119 838 – 16 – 80 –
432826 407301 158309 139537 1819 2169 28885 15642
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 43
4 business combinations 
acquisition of glotel plc
on 24 july 2007 the group acquired 100 of the voting shares of glotel plc a uk listed company specialising in 
recruitment in the telecoms sector 
the fair value of the identiﬁ able assets and liabilities of glotel plc as at the date of acquisition and the corresponding 
carrying amounts immediately before the acquisition were
fair value
 recognised on
acquisition
£000
previous 
carrying 
value
£000
property plant and equipment note 12 868 868
intangible ﬁ xed assets note 13 2905 222
deferred tax asset 1394 1394
trade and other receivables 18913 18913
prepayments 10706 10706
cash and cash equivalents 2183 2183
36969 34286
bank overdraft 4261 4261
trade payables 451 451
accruals and other payables 11757 11757
deferred tax liability 1128 –
17597 16469
net assets 19372 17817
goodwill arising on acquisition note 13 9348 –
total consideration 28720 –
the total cost of the combination was £28720000 which was satisﬁ ed as follows
cost £000
cash 27415
costs associated with the acquisition 1305
total 28720
cash outﬂ ow on acquisition
net overdraft acquired with the subsidiary 2064
cash paid 28720
net cash outﬂ ow 30784
from the date of acquisition glotel plc has contributed £1072000 to the net proﬁ t of the group if the combination 
had taken place at the beginning of the year the proﬁ t after tax for the group would have been reduced to 
£5109000 and revenue from continuing operations would have been £495322000
the goodwill of £9348000 comprises the fair value of the assembled workforce and expected synergies arising from 
the acquisition
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 44
5 operating profit
 
 
2007
£000
2006
£000
operating proﬁ t is stated after chargingcrediting  
depreciation – of owned property plant  equipment 1089 834
depreciation – of property plant  equipment under ﬁ nance leases – 11
amortisation – of owned software intangible assets 834 449
amortisation – of acquisition related intangible assets 175 39
lossproﬁ t on disposal of ﬁ xed assets 4 4
impairment of receivables 191 178
operating lease rentals – land and buildings 2953 2577
operating lease rentals – land and buildings sublease payments 390 660
operating lease rentals – other assets 442 495
net foreign exchange differences 206 167
all operating lease rentals are regular payments with the exception of £nil 2006 £8000 shown under operating 
lease rentals in respect of contingent payments due under vehicle leases in respect of excess mileage
spring group plc adopted a policy specifying the criteria for the independence of and services to be provided by the 
external auditor the policy provides a description of the services to be provided by the external auditor and it deﬁ nes 
criteria for approval when nonaudit fees will exceed predeﬁ ned amounts the audit and nonaudit fees incurred for 
professional services provided by the external auditor can be speciﬁ ed as 
 
 
2007
£000
2006
£000
auditor’s remuneration – for audit of parent company and consolidated accounts 73 43
auditor’s remuneration – for audit of subsidiary companies 250 137
auditor’s remuneration – for taxation advisory services 4 6
auditor’s remuneration – for corporate ﬁ nance work 274 –
auditor’s remuneration – other – –
the auditor’s remuneration in respect of corporate ﬁ nance work was included as part of the acquisition costs of glotel
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 45
6 finance incomecharges
 
 
2007
£000
2006
£000
finance income
on hypothecated funds 39 39
on surplus cash 1346 868
other 11 36
1396 943
finance charges
on loan notes 64 88
on bank overdrafts 73 10
on ﬁ nance leases 4 5
unwinding of discount on provisions 35 75
other 72 8
248 186
at 31 december 2007 £1000 had been accrued in respect of ﬁ nance income 2006 £11000 and £29000 had 
been accrued in respect of ﬁ nance charges 2006 £54000
 
7 taxation 
a tax on proﬁ t on ordinary activities 
2007 
£000
2006 
£000
current income tax
uk corporation tax – –
foreign tax 821 557
current income tax charge 821 557
amounts overprovided in previous years 405 –
total current income tax charge 416 557
deferred tax
origination and reversal of timing differences 1001 407
origination and reversal of timing differences – prior year adjustments 304 405
697 2
total charge to the income statement 1113 559
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 46
7 taxation continued
b  reconciliation of the total tax charge 
the tax charge in the income statement for the year is different to the standard rate of corporation tax in the uk of 
30 2006 30 the differences are reconciled below 
 
 
2007
£000
2006
£000
proﬁ t before tax 7058 5378
accounting proﬁ t multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax in the uk of 30 2117 1613
expenses not deductible for tax purposes 130 29
effect of foreign tax rates 108 –
deferred tax impact from fall in uk tax rate 203 –
prior years 709 405
movement in unrecognised deferred tax on losses 1040 1211
non recoverable overseas withholding tax       304 533
total charge to the income statement note 7a      1113 559
c unrecognised tax losses
the group has tax losses which arose in the uk of £8312000 2006 £10839000 that are available indeﬁ nitely 
for offset against future taxable proﬁ ts of the companies in which the losses arose deferred tax assets have not 
been recognised in respect of these losses as they may not be used to offset taxable proﬁ ts elsewhere in the group 
and they have arisen in subsidiaries that have either been lossmaking for some time or have insufﬁ cient foreseeable 
taxable proﬁ ts to warrant the recognition of a deferred tax asset
d  temporary differences associated with group investments
at the balance sheet date the aggregate amount of temporary differences associated with undistributed earnings 
of overseas subsidiaries for which deferred tax liabilities have not been recognised was £3028000 2006  £nil 
no liability has been recognised in respect of these differences because the group is in a position to control the 
timing of the reversal of the temporary differences and it is probable that such differences will not reverse in the 
foreseeable future there are no income tax consequences attaching to the payment of dividends by the group to 
its shareholders 
e  the deferred tax included in the balance sheet is as follows
2007
£000
2006
£000
deferred tax liability
accelerated capital allowances 470 296
acquisition fair value adjustments 1053 –
1523 296
deferred tax asset
depreciation in excess of capital allowances 1349 878
other short term timing differences 564 125
tax losses carried forward 3976 4082
share based payment 120 120
6009 5205
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 47
8 earnings per share 
 
2007
proﬁ t
£000
2007
p per
share
2006
proﬁ t
£000
2006
p per
share
basic earnings per share from 
continuing operations 5945 376 4819 308
diluted earnings per share from 
continuing operations 5945 374 4819 308
no of shares no of shares
weighted average ordinary shares in issue 162250076 160890853
weighted average ordinary shares held as 
own shares in esop trust 4329205 4329205
adjusted weighted average ordinary shares 
in issue 157920871 156561648
dilutive share options 1159064 210177
adjusted weighted average ordinary shares in 
issue and dilutive options over shares 159079935 156771825
as detailed in note 21 the company holds an investment in its own shares through an esop trust these shares are 
excluded from the calculation of the adjusted weighted average number of shares in issue as rights to dividends have 
been waived 
9 dividends
2007
£000
2006
£000
declared and paid during the year
equity dividends on ordinary shares
 final dividend for 2006 02p 2005 02p 322 313
 interim dividend for 2007 01p 2006 01p 160 156
dividends paid 482 469
proposed for approval by shareholders at the agm
 final dividend for 2007 02p 2006 02p 328 322
10 employees 
staff costs including remuneration paid to directors with service contracts were as follows 
2007
£000
2006
£000
 wages and salaries 32462 29403
 social security costs 3567 3240
 expense of equity share based payments 360 245
 pension costs 517 572
 36906 33460
the pension costs relate to deﬁ ned contribution plans only
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 48
10 employees continued
the average number of people including directors with service contracts who were employed by the group during 
the year was as follows 
 
 
2007
no
2006
no
professional stafﬁ ng 674 598
general stafﬁ ng 253 212
head ofﬁ ce 6 6
 933 816
11 employee benefits
at 31 december 2007 the following options to subscribe for ordinary shares of 10p each were outstanding 
 
number 
of shares
date options
 exercisable
subscription 
price
1989 executive share option scheme 23000 between 2003 and 2008 2595p
2001 executive share option scheme 293157 between 2004 and 2011 685p
 59424 between 2005 and 2012 650p
 250000 between 2005 and 2008 460p
100000 between 2006 and 2013 935p
2001 savings related share option scheme 71947 between june and december 2008 840p
1581432 between 2009 and 2010 390p
661903 between 2010 and 2011 605p
ltip 2524516 between 2009 and 2010 nil cost
3646172 between 2010 and 2011 nil cost
restricted share award 1000000 between 2009 and 2010 nil cost
employee share option trust
the group also has an employee share option trust esot which owns 4329205 ordinary shares 2006 4329205 
in spring group plc these shares are recorded in the balance sheet as own shares at a cost of £5369727 £124 per 
share 2006 £5369727 £124 per share 
options on shares held by the trust have been granted to employees under the colleague share option scheme 
the company share option plan 2000 and the 2001 executive share option scheme and are subject to performance 
criteria at 31 december 2007 the trust held 4329205 shares 31 december 2006 4329205 shares representing 
26 2006 27 of the called up share capital with options granted on 1407247 shares as follows 
 
number 
of shares
date options 
exercisable
subscription 
price
colleague share option scheme 872725 between 2004 and 2011 825p
company share option plan 2000 156950 between 2003 and 2010 1900p
2001 executive share option scheme 213936 between 2004 and 2011 685p
163636 between 2007 and 2014 1375p
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 49
11 employee benefits continued
warrants
in addition to the options above as part of the acquisition of magentacom limited in may 2000 certain employees 
and consultants to that company were granted in total 1400000 warrants in respect of spring group plc shares 
replacing warrants held in the share capital of magentacom limited these warrants are ﬁ rst exercisable at annual 
intervals for up to 3 years from the date of acquisition expire at latest 10 years from the date of grant and are priced 
between 250p and 300p per share a total of 1096667 2006 1096667 warrants are currently outstanding
the options granted under the 1989 executive share option scheme are performance related and are only exercisable 
if the company’s share price at the date of exercise is not less than 175 of the subscription price 
the options granted under the 2001 executive share option scheme are performance related 50 of the options 
granted at 685p 650p and 460p are exercisable if the price of the shares exceeds 900p at any time in the period 
between the third and fourth anniversary of the date of grant a further 25 of these options are exercisable if the 
price of the shares exceeds 1060p at any time in that period and a further 25 are exercisable if the price of the 
shares exceeds 1240p at any time in that period as the latter threshold for the options granted at 685p and 650p 
was not reached the ﬁ nal tranches lapsed on 28 october 2005 and 10 february 2006 respectively the options 
granted at 935p have equivalent percentages at 1080p 1230p and 1470p with these prices having to be achieved 
at any time between the grant date and the fourth anniversary of the date of grant in addition the options granted 
at 1375p are 50 exercisable at a share price at or above £1375 increased by 10 plus the percentage increase in 
the retail price index “rpi” published by the ofﬁ ce for national statistics between the rpi ﬁ gure in march 2004 and 
the latest rpi published at the time of exercise of the option “the rpi percentage increase” to be achieved at any 
time between the grant date and the fourth anniversary of the date of grant “the vesting period” 75 are 
exercisable at a share price at or above £1375 increased by 25 plus the rpi percentage increase at any time in the 
vesting period and 100 are exercisable at a share price at or above £1375 increased by 50 plus the rpi percentage 
increase at any time in the vesting period
details of the vesting requirements of the ltip and the restricted share award are given on page 20  
the colleague share options are performance related and are only exercisable if the price of the shares is greater 
than 825p increased by the annual rate of inﬂ ation plus 5 per annum and if in the opinion of the remuneration 
committee there has been an improvement in the overall ﬁ nancial performance of the group between the date of 
grant and the date of vesting 
the options under the company share option plan 2000 are performance related and exercisable if the holder has 
been continuously employed by the group for a threeyear period commencing on 4 february 2000
during 2007 options were granted over 665126 ordinary shares of 605p each under the 2001 savings related 
share option scheme exercisable between 2010 and 2011 options were exercised over 72825 ordinary shares of 
10p each with total consideration received by the group of £30224 in cash 
during 2007 awards were granted under the 2006 longterm incentive plan ltip over 4187032 ordinary shares at 
nil cost exercisable between 2010 and 2011 by the end of 2007 options over 540860 shares had lapsed
the expense recognised for sharebased payments in respect of employee services received during the year to 
31 december 2007 is £360000 2006 £245000 all of the expense arising in both the current and prior years is 
from equity settled sharebased payment transactions the following table illustrates the number no and weighted 
average exercise prices waep of share options currently extant
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 50
11 employee benefits continued
2007
no
2007
waep
2006
no
2006
waep
outstanding at the beginning of the year 10174089 413 8067976 849
granted during the year 4852158 83 8862287 203
exercised during the year 72825 415 432348 322
expired during the year 3026555 190 6323826 613
outstanding at the end of the year 11926867
1
285 10174089 413
at the end of the year a total of 733081 share options 2006 1340962 were in an exercisable period
1
 included within the balance at 31 december 2007 are options over 733081 shares 2006 options over 
1149083 shares that have not been recognised in accordance with ifrs 2 as the options were granted on or 
before 7 november 2002 these options have not been subsequently modiﬁ ed and therefore do not need to be 
accounted for in accordance with ifrs 2
the weighted average contractual life for the share options outstanding as at 31 december 2007 is 29 years 
2006 45 years all share options are settled in equity the table above does not include the total of 1096667 
2006 1096667 warrants are currently outstanding
the fair value of the share option plans are estimated as at the date of grant using the monte carlo model for the 
ltip and the blackscholes model for the other schemes modiﬁ ed for the terms and conditions of the schemes the 
following table gives the assumptions made for the years ended 31 december 2007 and 31 december 2006
2007 2006
expected volatility  33–34 36
historical volatility  34 36
riskfree interest rate  533–577 480
dividend yield  000 000
expected life of options years 
not including sharesave options where a 2year life is assumed 3 3
the expected life of the options is based on historical data and is not necessarily indicative of exercise patterns that 
may occur the expected volatility reﬂ ects the assumption that the historical volatility is indicative of future trends 
which may also not necessarily be the actual outcome
no other features of the options grant were incorporated into the measurement of fair value
the weighted average share price of options exercised during the year was £0507 2006 £0436 and the weighted 
average fair value of options granted during the year was £0447 2006 £0273
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 51
12 property plant  equipment
freehold
property
£000
leasehold
improvements
£000
furniture and 
it equipment
£000
motor
vehicles
£000
total
£000
cost
1 january 2007 54 1611 3726 14 5405
additions – 243 459 – 702
acquisition of subsidiary – 351 517 – 868
disposals 5 68 403 13 489
exchange differences – – 30  30
31 december 2007 49 2137 4329 1 6516
depreciation
1 january 2007 14 838 2465 11 3328
charge for the year 2 239 848 – 1089
disposals 5 68 401 11 485
exchange differences – – 5 – 5
31 december 2007 11 1009 2917 – 3937
net book value
31 december 2007 38 1128 1412 1 2579
freehold
property
£000
leasehold
improvements
£000
furniture and 
it equipment
£000
motor
vehicles
£000
total
£000
cost
1 january 2006 61 1654 3554 50 5319
additions  72 494 3 569
disposals 7 115 322 39 483
31 december 2006 54 1611 3726 14 5405
depreciation
1 january 2006 19 753 2133 37 2942
charge for the year 2 195 643 5 845
disposals 7 110 311 31 459
31 december 2006 14 838 2465 11 3328
net book value
31 december 2006 40 773 1261 3 2077
the net book value of freehold properties comprise solely of buildings the carrying value of furniture and it 
equipment held under ﬁ nance leases and hire purchase contracts at 31 december 2007 is £32000 2006 £55000 
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 52
13 intangible assets
                         acquisition related intangible assets
goodwill
£000
brand
£000
customer
 database
£000
candidate
 database
£000
total
£000
software
£000
total
£000
cost
1 january 2007 10670 2394 8426 17 21507 5076 26583
acquisition 9348 1163 1420 100 12031 222 12253
additions  11161116
disposals – – – – – 7 7
exchange differences 298 37 46 3 384 2 386
31 december 2007 20316 3594 9892 120 33922 6409 40331
amortisation and 
impairment   
1 january 2007 1191 2394 8426 17 12028 990 13018
amortisation – 48   86 41 175 834 1009 
impairment – – –––––
disposals – – – – – 5 5
exchange differences – – – – – 3 3
31 december 2007 1191 2442 8512 58 12203 1822 14025
net book value
31 december 2007 19125 1152 1380 62 21719 4587 26306
goodwill
£000
brand
£000
customer
 database
£000
candidate
 database
£000
total
£000
software
£000
total
£000
cost
1 january 2006 10670 2394 8426 17 21507 3532 25039
acquisitions – –––– 1600 1600
disposals – –––– 56 56
31 december 2006 10670 2394 8426 17 21507 5076 26583
amortisation and 
impairment
1 january 2006 1106 2386 8386 17 11895 597 12492
amortisation – 7 32 – 39 449 488
impairment 85 1 8 – 94 – 94
disposals – –––– 56 56
31 december 2006 1191 2394 8426 17 12028 990 13018
net book value
31 december 2006 9479 – – – 9479 4086 13565
amortisation of intangibles is included in administrative expenses in the income statement
the acquisition in 2007 relates to glotel plc as set out in note 4 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 53
13 intangible assets continued
brands customer databases and candidate databases were assessed as having a ﬁ nite life as at their respective date 
of acquisition of 10 years 6 years and 1 year respectively and are being amortised under the straightline method 
over the relevant period these assets are tested for impairment where an indicator of impairment arises
in 2006 the impairment related to the write down of certain intangible assets to their recoverable amount 
at 31 december 2007 software includes £4773000 internally generated intangible assets 2006 £3778000 
of which £2765000 2006 £2110000 are own costs these assets are classiﬁ ed as assets under construction 
until the project stage is successfully completed and the business begins to receive economic gain while assets are 
classiﬁ ed as under construction amortisation is not charged these assets came into use during 2007
software is amortised over a 3 to 7 year useful economic life
goodwill on acquisitions is subject to an annual impairment review no impairment was found to exist at the balance 
sheet date
included in the goodwill above which has primarily arisen from historic acquisitions there are certain intangible 
assets that cannot be individually separated and reliably measured from the vendor due to their nature these items 
primarily include assembled workforce and synergies
14 impairment testing of goodwill 
goodwill acquired through business combinations has all been allocated to the professional stafﬁ ng cashgenerating 
unit which is a separate reportable segment
professional stafﬁ ng cashgenerating unit
the recoverable amount of the professional stafﬁ ng unit has been determined based on a value in use calculation 
using cash ﬂ ow projections based on ﬁ nancial plans approved by senior management covering a threeyear period 
the discount rate applied to cash ﬂ ow projections is 10 per cent 2006 10 per cent 
carrying amount of goodwill brands and databases
amortisation
 period
2007
£000
2006
£000
carrying amount of goodwill – 19125 9479
carrying amount for brands 10 years 1152 –
carrying amount for customer database 36 years 1380 –
key assumptions used in value in use calculation for 31 december 2007 and 31 december 2006
the following describes each key assumption on which management has based its cash ﬂ ow projections to undertake 
impairment testing of goodwill brands and customer and candidate databases
cash generating units – the goodwill acquired through business combinations arose through the prior acquisitions 
of several professional stafﬁ ng businesses and the addition of glotel plc during the year these acquisitions have 
added volume to create critical mass in existing businesses by extending services to a broader market management 
monitor goodwill at the professional stafﬁ ng business level
period of calculation – the recoverable amount has been determined based on a value in use calculation using cash 
ﬂ ow projections based on ﬁ nancial plans covering a threeyear period cash ﬂ ows beyond the threeyear period are 
extrapolated assuming nil growth
budgeted gross margins – the basis used to determine the value assigned to the budgeted gross margins is 
the average gross margins achieved in the year immediately before the budgeted year increased for expected 
efﬁ ciency improvements 
discount rates – a 10 the discount rate has been applied reﬂ ecting the current estimate of the groups pretax 
weighted average cost of capital at the beginning of the budgeted year is utilised and the value assigned to the key 
assumption is consistent with external information sources  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 54 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
14 impairment testing of goodwill continued
key assumptions used in value in use calculation for 31 december 2007 and 31 december 2006 continued
retail price inﬂ ation – the basis used to determine the value assigned to the price inﬂ ation of contractors and 
temporary staff is the forecast price indices during the budget year for uk where most staff are sourced values 
assigned to key assumptions are consistent with external information sources at approximately 3
the calculation of value in use is most sensitive to the following assumptions
 gross margin and
 growth rate used to extrapolate cash ﬂ ows beyond the budget period
whilst the calculation of value in use is sensitive to these factors management performed sensitivity analysis to the 
calculation using nil growth rates neither result indicated a need to amend the carrying value of the goodwill
15 trade and other receivables
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
trade receivables 45302 35855
other receivables 192 73
prepayments and accrued income 38191 31563
 83685 67491
trade receivables are generally noninterest bearing however interest may be charged on overdue balances 
normal terms of trade are 7 – 30 days a provision for credit notes and bad and doubtful debts is calculated using 
a formulaic provision based on aging together with an allowance for speciﬁ c items of which management are 
aware any increasedecrease in the doubtful debt provision is chargedcredited to administrative expenses in the 
income statement other receivables reﬂ ect various deposits staff travel loans and other shortterm receivables all 
with a term of less than 12 months all “regular way” purchases and sales of ﬁ nancial assets are accounted for at 
settlement date values
where all actions to recover a debt have proved unsuccessful the provision is utilised against the debtor balance 
where there are still actions that may be taken to recover the debt the provision remains in the provision account 
as at 31 december 2007 trade receivables at nominal value of £1919000 2006 £2831000 were impaired and 
fully provided for movements in the provision for impairment of receivables were as follows
individually 
impaired 
£000
collectively 
impaired 
£000
total 
£000
at 1 january 2006 642 3100 3742 
charge for the year 315 1020 1335 
utilised 11 1401 1412 
unused amounts reversed – 822  822 
foreign exchange movements – 12 12  
at 31 december 2006 946 1885 2831 
acquired during the year 498 447 945 
charge for the year 369 233 602 
utilised 56  604 660 
unused amounts reversed 169 1677 1846 
foreign exchange movements 7 40 47 
at 31 december 2007 1595 324 1919 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 55 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
15 trade and other receivables continued
as at 31 december the ageing analysis of trade receivables is as follows
past due but not impaired
total
 
£000
neither 
past due 
nor impaired 
£000
 30 days 
£000
30 – 60 days
 
£000
60 – 90 days
 
£000
90 – 120 days
 
£000
120 days
 
£000
2007 45302 25414 12153 4145 1927 1278 385 
2006 35855 21401 9330 2028 340 1575 1181
16 other financial assets
31 december
 2007 
£000
31 december
 2006 
£000
quoted investments 4 4
quoted investments are classiﬁ ed as available for sale assets as deﬁ ned in ias 39
17 cash and shortterm deposits 
31 december
 2007 
£000
31 december
 2006 
£000
cash 18270 13176
short term deposits 21456 38019
39726 51195
cash earns interest at ﬂ oating rates based on daily bank deposit rates deposits are made for varying periods of 
between one day and one month depending on the immediate cash requirements of the group and earn interest at 
the respective shortterm deposit rates the fair value of cash and cash deposits is £39726000 2006 £51195000
at 31 december 2007 the group had available £40000000 2006 £42996000 of undrawn committed 
borrowing facilities in respect of which all conditions precedent had been met all of the group’s bankers operate a 
crossguarantee and netting structure this means that all group companies party to the facility guarantee and the 
bank has the right of offset in the event of any default under the banking facility of any of the other companies the 
netting arrangement means that the bank charges interest on the net credit or debit balance for each currency of all 
companies in aggregate which are party to the arrangement
for the purposes of the consolidated cash ﬂ ow statement cash and cash deposits at 31 december is consistent with 
the analysis above
18 trade and other payables current
31 december
 2007 
£000
31 december
 2006 
£000
trade payables 16492 13017
other tax and social security 5558 6832
other payables 903 760
accruals and deferred income 43659 36825
66612 57434
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 56 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
18 trade and other payables current continued
terms and conditions of the above ﬁ nancial liabilities
trade payables are noninterest bearing and consist of two elements – temporary staff or contractors these are 
normally settled within 7 days and all other commercial payables which are normally settled on 30day terms
other tax and social security relates to sales tax and income tax – this is remitted to the appropriate tax body on 
a monthly basis
other payables are noninterest bearing and have an average term of 30 days 
accruals and deferred income predominantly relates to accruals for contractors for which no invoice has yet been 
received the majority of these are settled within three months of the balance sheet date it also includes interest 
payable this is normally settled quarterly throughout the ﬁ nancial year 
19 financial liabilities
effective
interest rate 
maturity 2007
£000
2006
£000
current
obligations under ﬁ nance leases and hire 
purchase contracts note 23 2008–2009 24 27
bank loans
us 2503819 bank loan 
2006 us 2460000 610 7 january 2008 1254 2807
euro 4606491 bank loan 
2006 euro 4543000 548 7 january 2008 3440 1508
loan notes
sda loan notes libor – 200bp nov 2007 at latest 7 7
best loan notes libor  100bp june 2008 625 625
foreign currency hedge derivative na august 2007 – 88
5350 5062
noncurrent
obligations under ﬁ nance leases and hire 
purchase contracts note 23 2008–2009 4 32
best loan notes libor  100bp june 2008 – 625
4 657
bank overdrafts
the bank overdraft facilities are subject to a cross guarantee structure of which all material uk companies within the 
group are party the overdraft rates are repriced annually on 30 may
bank loans
the loans are unsecured and are repayable in full on 7 january 2008
loan notes
the best loan notes relate to the acquisition of the best international business they are repayable in three annual 
instalments in june they are repriced twice per annum at 1 july and 1 january the sda loan notes matured in 
november 2007 and were subsequently repaid in january 2008
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 57 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007
19 financial liabilities continued
finance lease
the ﬁ nance lease obligation relates to the spring group “home computer initiative” which was launched in 
august 2005 and has a threeyear duration during the lease term the interest rate is ﬁ xed and there is no option 
for early repayment
the total amount of ﬁ nancial liabilities payable including undiscounted unpaid interest is as follows
within
1 year
£000
12 years
£000
23 years
£000
34 years
£000
45 years
£000
more than 
5 years
£000
total
£000
year ended 31 december 2007
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance 
leases and hire purchase 
contracts 25 5–––– 30
bank loans 4699 – – – – – 4699
4724 5 – – – – 4729
floating rate
loan notes 653 – – – – – 653
year ended 31 december 2006
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance 
leases and hire purchase 
contracts 31 34 9 – – – 65
bank loans 4375 – – – – – 4375
4406 34 9 – – – 4440
floating rate
loan notes 653 667 – – – – 1320
all ﬁ nancial liabilities are classiﬁ ed as ﬁ nancial liabilities recognised at amortised cost with the exception of foreign 
currency hedge derivatives which are classiﬁ ed as ﬁ nancial liabilities at fair value through proﬁ t or loss as deﬁ ned 
in ias 39
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 58
20 provisions 
vacant property
 £000
at 1 january 2006 2345
arising during the year 351
released during the year 743
utilised 673
unwinding of discount 75 
at 31 december 2006 1355
at 1 january 2007 1355
arising during the year 200
released during the year 337
utilised 443
unwinding of discount 35
at 31 december 2007 810
current 2006 700
noncurrent 2006 655
current 2007 318
noncurrent 2007 492
vacant property
vacant leasehold property provisions are based on the directors’ best estimates of the likely time before the relevant 
leases can be assigned or surrendered and range between 1 and 5 years  expected future lease payments at the 
balance sheet date have been discounted at 477 2006 477  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 59
21 issued capital and reserves
ordinary shares authorised
2007 
thousands
2006 
thousands
ordinary shares of 10p each 510000 510000
ordinary shares issued and fully paid share premium
thousands £000 £000
at 1 january 2006 160667 16068 14447
issued during the year for cash on exercise of share options 
1
548 54 127
at 1 january 2007 161215 16122 14574
issued during the year for cash on exercise of share options 
1
73 7 23
issued during the year in lieu of salary 
1
40 4 25
issued during the year for cash 
1
2849 285 1713
at 31 december 2007 164177 16418 16335
own shares held in esop trust thousands £000
at 1 january 2006 4329 5370
issued during the year for cash on exercise of share options 
1
––
at 1 january 2007 4329 5370
issued during the year for cash on exercise of share options 
1
––
at 31 december 2007 4329 5370
each share carries an equal voting right and an equal right to any residual assets in the event that spring group plc were 
dissolved no shares carry any preferences or restrictions when compared to any other shares
at 31 december 2007 the market value of the own shares held by the spring esop trust was 4875p 2006 6900p  
the right to receive dividends in respect of these shares have been waived all expenses incurred by the trust are 
settled directly by spring group plc and charged in the accounts as incurred
the company has share option schemes under which options to subscribe for the company’s shares have been 
granted to certain executives and senior employees see note 11
 
1
  the shares issued during the year were all 10p ordinary shares and they were issued for an aggregate 
consideration of £2057000 2006 £181000 of the shares issued during the year 72285 were issued under 
employee option schemes to employees of spring group plc or one of its subsidiary companies
a further 40108 were issued in lieu of salary and 2849002 were issued for cash
other reserves
esot own shares
 £000
net unrealised
 gains reserve
 
£000
foreign currency
 translation 
reserve 
£000
merger reserve
 £000
total
at 1 january 2006 5370 8 1 9765 4386
net losses on cash ﬂ ow hedges – 80 – – 80
currency translation differences – – 19 – 19
at 31 december 2006 5370 88 18 9765 4325
net gains on cash ﬂ ow hedges – 88 – – 88
currency translation differences – – 391 – 391
at 31 december 2007 5370 – 409 9765 4804 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 60
21 issued capital and reserves continued
nature and purpose of other reservese
net unrealised gains reserve
this reserve records the portion of the gain or loss on a hedging instrument in a cash ﬂ ow hedge that is determined 
to be an effective hedge
foreign currency translation reserve
the foreign currency translation reserve is used to record exchange differences arising from the translation of the 
ﬁ nancial statements of foreign subsidiaries 
merger reserve
this represents the excess of the nominal value of shares issued over nominal value of shares received and share 
premium of companies that have merged with subsidiary companies of spring group plc these mergers were 
accounted for using merger accounting under a previous gaap prior to the date 
of transition to ifrs
22 analysis of net funds
31 december 
2006 
£000
cash 
ﬂ ow 
£000
foreign
 exchange
£000
finance
 lease 
£000
reclassiﬁ cation 
£000
31 december 
2007 
£000
cash and cash equivalents 51195 11448 21 – – 39726
financial liabilities due 
within one year 4974 246 – 3 625 5350
financial liabilities due 
after more than one year 
see note 19 657 – – 28 625 4
45564 11202 21 31 – 34372
the above analysis excludes the fair value of forward currency contracts
23 commitments and contingencies
operating lease commitments – group as lessee
the group has entered into commercial leases on certain properties motor vehicles and items of small machinery 
where it is not in the best interest of the group to purchase these assets these leases have an average life of 
between 5 and 10 years with renewal terms included in the contracts renewals are at the option of the speciﬁ c 
entity that holds the lease there are no restrictions placed upon the lessee by entering into these leases 
future minimum rentals payable under noncancellable operating leases as at 31 december are as follows
2007 
£000
2006 
£000
within one year 3326 2996
after one year but not more than ﬁ ve years 8981 9180
more than ﬁ ve years 6016 7594
18323 19770 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 61
23 commitments and contingencies continued
operating lease commitments – group as lessor
the group has entered into commercial property leases on certain leasehold properties consisting of the group’s 
surplus ofﬁ ce space these noncancellable leases have remaining noncancellable lease terms of up to 10 years 
all leases include a clause to enable upward revision of the rental charge on an annual basis based on prevailing 
market conditions future minimum rentals receivable under noncancellable operating leases as at 31 december 
are as follows
2007 
£000
2006 
£000
within one year 654 752
after one year but not more than ﬁ ve years 2297 2088
more than ﬁ ve years 1699 2241
4650 5081
finance lease and hire purchase commitments
the group has ﬁ nance leases for certain computer equipment these leases have no terms of renewal or purchase 
options and escalation clauses future minimum lease payments under ﬁ nance leases together with the present value 
of the minimum lease payments are as follows
2007 2006
minimum
 payments
 £000
present value
 of payments 
£000
minimum 
payments 
£000
present value 
of payments 
£000
within one year 25 24 31 27
after one year but not more than ﬁ ve years 54 34 32
total minimum lease payments 30 28 65 59
less amounts representing ﬁ nance charges 2 – 6 –
present value of minimum lease payments 28 28 59 59
capital commitments
at 31 december 2007 the group has commitments of £nil 2006 £nil  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 62
24 related party disclosures
the consolidated financial statements include the ﬁ nancial statements of spring group plc and the principal 
subsidiaries listed in the following table
               equity interest
name country of incorporation 2007 2006
spring technology stafﬁ ng services limited england and wales 100 100
spring technology stafﬁ ng services limited eire 100 100
spring technology stafﬁ ng services srl italy 100 na
spring personnel limited england and wales 100 100
spring corporate limited england and wales 100 100
hyphencom limited england and wales 100 100
best administrative and payroll services limited england and wales 100 100
glotel holdings plc england and wales 100 na
glotel international limited england and wales 100 na
glotel investments limited england and wales 100 na
glotel limited england and wales 100 na
glotel bv netherlands 100 na
glotel gmbh germany 100 na
glotel inc usa 100 na
glotel solutions inc usa 100 na
glotel new zealand limited new zealand 100 na
glotel pty limited australia 100 na
glotel tech solutions limited india 100 na
   
spring group plc is the ultimate parent entity of the group the trading entities are involved in the provision of 
recruitment stafﬁ ng and related services
 held directly by the company
 held indirectly by the company
entities under control or signiﬁ cant inﬂ uence of the major shareholder of the group
the following table provides the total amount of transactions which have been entered into with related parties for 
the relevant ﬁ nancial year
related party
sales to
related parties 
£000
purchases from 
related parties 
£000
amounts owed
 by related parties
 £000
amounts owed
 to related parties
 £000
entities under control or signiﬁ cant inﬂ uence of the major shareholder of the group
vidyah 2007 ––––
2006 32 – 30 –
spring it training 2007 ––––
2006 402 6 167 6
all amounts owed by related parties are unsecured and are on a thirdparty arm’s length basis and are recorded at 
their recoverable amount notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 63
24 related party disclosures continued
during 2006 et training llc a privately owned us based company which at that time owned 2006 371 of 
the shares in spring group plc also had a controlling interest in vidyah inc which in turn owned 100 of the 
share capital of spring it training limited vidyah inc disposed of its interest in spring it training limited in 
december 2006
other related party transactions
during 2006 the group paid £147000 to roberts  corr limited in respect of recruitment fees for the new chief 
executive subsequent to the commencement of the search of this assignment and his appointment to the spring 
group board jonathan wright joined the board of roberts  corr limited
compensation of key management personnel of the group 
key personnel are considered to be executive directors and appropriate senior management
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
 short term employee beneﬁ ts 2078 1643
 pension costs and other post employment beneﬁ ts 89 126
 termination beneﬁ ts 30 644
 share based payments 336 85
 2533 2498
25 financial risk management objectives and policies
the group’s principal ﬁ nancial instruments other than derivatives comprise bank loans ﬁ nance leases cash and 
shortterm deposits and loan notes the main purpose of these is to hedge foreign currency receivables and to provide 
ﬁ nancing for assets used in the group’s operations the group has various other ﬁ nancial instruments such as trade 
debtors and trade creditors which arise directly from its operations
when the group considers it appropriate the group also enters into derivative transactions principally forward currency 
contracts the purpose is to manage the currency risks arising from the group’s operations
it is and has been throughout the year under review the group’s policy that no trading in ﬁ nancial instruments shall 
be undertaken
the main risks arising from the group’s ﬁ nancial instruments are interest rate risk foreign currency risk credit risk 
and liquidity risk the board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks and they are summarised 
below the group also monitors the market price risk arising from all ﬁ nancial instruments the group’s accounting 
policies in relation to derivatives are set out in note 2
interest rate risk
the group’s exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates is considered minimal 
the group has one shortterm loan note arising from the acquisition of best international this amounts to 08 
2006 19 of total liabilities the group has no other longterm debt or longterm deposits that are directly 
affected by interest rate changes notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 64
25 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
foreign currency risk
as a result of the acquisition of glotel which has operations in the united states the group’s balance sheet can 
be affected signiﬁ cantly by movements in the us£ exchange rates the group seeks to mitigate the effect of its 
structural currency exposure by borrowing in us between 20 and 50 of the group’s investment in noneuro 
operations will be hedged in this manner
the group also has minimal transactional currency exposures such exposure arises from sales or purchases by an 
operating unit in currencies other than the unit’s functional currency the group seeks to mitigate the effect of any 
foreign currency trading exposure by borrowing in us and euro it is the group’s aim to hedge a substantial amount 
of their foreign currency balance sheet exposure in this manner 
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a reasonably possible change in the us dollar exchange rate with 
all other variables held constant of the group’s proﬁ t before tax due to changes in the fair value of monetary assets 
and liabilities and the group’s equity
increasedecrease
 in us dollar rate 
£000
effect on proﬁ t
 before tax 
£000
effect on equity
2007 5 61 662
5 58 631
   
credit risk 
the group trades only with recognised creditworthy third parties it is the group’s policy that all customers who wish 
to trade on credit terms are subject to credit veriﬁ cation procedures in addition receivable balances are monitored 
on an ongoing basis with the result that the group’s exposure to bad debts is not signiﬁ cant for transactions that 
are not denominated in the functional currency of the relevant operating unit the group does not offer credit terms 
without the speciﬁ c approval of the head of credit control
with respect to credit risk arising from the other ﬁ nancial assets of the group which comprise cash and cash 
equivalents and availableforsale ﬁ nancial assets and certain derivative instruments the group’s exposure to credit 
risk arises from default of the counter party with a maximum exposure equal to the carrying amount of these 
instruments
there are no signiﬁ cant concentrations of credit risk within the group
liquidity risk
the group’s objective is to maintain a balance between continuity of funding and ﬂ exibility through the use of bank 
overdrafts and ﬁ nance leases
fair values
there are no differences between the fair values and the carrying amounts of ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 65
25 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
interest rate risk 
the following table sets out the carrying amount by maturity of the group’s ﬁ nancial instruments that are exposed 
to interest rate risk
year ended 31 december 2007
within
1 year 
£000
12 years
 £000
23 years 
£000
34 years
 £000
45 years
 £000
more than 
5 years 
£000
total
 £000
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance 
leases and hire purchase 
contracts 24 4 –––– 28
bank loans 4694 ––––– 4694
4718 4 –––– 4722
floating rate
cash assets 39726––––– 39726
loan notes 632 ––––– 632
39094––––– 39094
year ended 31 december 2006
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance 
leases and hire purchase 
contracts 27 23 9 – – – 59
bank loans 4315 ––––– 4315
4342 23 9 – – – 4374
floating rate
cash assets 51195––––– 51195
loan notes 632 625 –––– 1257
50563 625 –––– 49938
interest on ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as ﬂ oating rate is repriced at intervals of less than one year interest 
on ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as ﬁ xed rate is ﬁ xed until the maturity of the instrument the other ﬁ nancial 
instruments of the group that are not included in the above tables are noninterest bearing and are therefore not 
subject to interest rate risk notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 66
25 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
hedging activities 
cash ﬂ ow hedge
at 31 december 2007 the group did not hold any cash ﬂ ow hedges 
at 31 december 2006 the group held a foreign exchange contract designated as a hedge of expected future 
purchases from a supplier in the united states for which the group has a ﬁ rm commitment the exchange contract 
was being used to reduce the exposure to foreign exchange risk the terms of this contract were as follows
maturity exchange rate
commitment to purchase us3902000 between september 2004 
and august 2007 inline with supplier contractual commitment august 2007
us2436000 in aggregate in broadly smooth monthly amounts us£ 173
the cash ﬂ ow hedge was concluded during the year a net unrealised loss of £nil 2006 loss of £80000 was 
included in equity in respect of this contract the amount outstanding at the 31 december 2006 was recycled 
through the income statement in the year
capital management
the primary objective of the group’s capital management is to ensure that it maintains a strong credit rating and 
healthy capital ratios in order to support its business and maximise shareholder value capital represents share 
capital share premium and other reserves the group manages its capital structure and makes adjustments to it 
in light of changes in economic conditions to maintain or adjust the capital structure the group may adjust the 
dividend payment to shareholders return capital to shareholders or issue new shares no changes were made in the 
objectives policies or processes during the years end 31 december 2007 and 31 december 2006 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 67
report of the independent auditor to the members of spring group plc group
we have audited the parent company ﬁ nancial statements of spring group plc for the year ended 31 december 2007 
which comprise the balance sheet and the related notes 1 to 20 these parent company ﬁ nancial statements have been 
prepared under the accounting policies set out therein we have also audited the information in the report of the board 
on directors’ remuneration that is described as having been audited 
we have reported separately on the group financial statements of spring group plc for the year ended 
31 december 2007
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies 
act 1985 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do 
not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body for our 
audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
the director’s responsibilities for preparing the annual report the report of the board on directors’ remuneration and 
the parent company ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with applicable united kingdom law and accounting standards 
united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the parent company ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report 
to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and international standards on auditing uk 
and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view and whether 
the parent company ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the report of the board on directors’ remuneration to be audited 
have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to you whether in our opinion the 
information given in the parent company directors’ report is consistent with the ﬁ nancial statements the information given 
in the directors’ report includes that speciﬁ c information presented in the chairman’s statement chief executive ofﬁ cer’s 
and group finance director’s reviews that is cross referred from the business review section of the directors’ report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept proper accounting records if we have not 
received all the information and explanations we require for our audit or if information speciﬁ ed by law regarding 
directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent 
company ﬁ nancial statements the other information comprises only the chairman’s statement the chief executive 
ofﬁ cer’s review the group finance director’s review the corporate governance statement the unaudited part of the 
report of the board on directors’ remuneration and the directors’ report we consider the implications for our report 
if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the parent company ﬁ nancial 
statements our responsibilities do not extend to any other information spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 68
report of the independent auditor to the members of spring group plc group continued
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing 
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the 
parent company ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited it also includes an 
assessment of the signiﬁ cant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the preparation of the parent company 
ﬁ nancial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the company’s circumstances consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary 
in order to provide us with sufﬁ cient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company ﬁ nancial statements 
and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are free from material misstatement whether caused by 
fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of 
information in the parent company ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited
opinion
in our opinion
 the parent company ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally 
accepted accounting practice of the state of the company’s affairs as at 31 december 2007 
 the parent company ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the report of the board on directors’ remuneration to be 
audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies 
act 1985 and
 the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company ﬁ nancial statements
ernst  young llp
registered auditor 
cambridge
27 february 2008 
  spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 69
spring group plc company balance sheet
note 31 december
 2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
fixed assets   
tangible assets 7 4851 4297
investments 8 76301 75769
 81152 80066
current assets
debtors 9 55131 10339
cash at bank and in hand 32359 15882
 87490 26221
creditors – amounts falling due within one year 11 66470 5872
net current assets 21020 20349
total assets less current liabilities 102172 100415
 
creditors – amounts falling due after more than one year 11 4 657
provisions for liabilities and charges 13 1280 1528
 net assets 100888 98230
capital and reserves
called up share capital 18 16418 16122
share premium 18 16335 14574
own shares held in esop trust 18 5370 5370
proﬁ t and loss account 18 73505 72904
equity shareholders’ funds 18 100888 98230
peter darraugh
group finance director 
27 february 2008  spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 70
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007
1 corporate information
the company’s ﬁ nancial statements of spring group plc for the year ended 31 december 2007 were authorised 
for issue by the board of directors on 27 february 2008 and the balance sheet was signed on the board’s behalf by 
peter darraugh spring group plc is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in england  wales the 
company’s ordinary shares are traded on the london stock exchange the principal activities of the company are 
that of an investment company
 
2 accounting policies
basis of preparation 
the accounts have been prepared on a historic cost basis except for derivative ﬁ nancial instruments that have been 
measured at fair value
investments in subsidiary undertakings 
investments in the company balance sheet are stated at cost less any impairment the carrying values of investments 
are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be 
recoverable 
depreciation 
depreciation is provided on all tangible assets on a straight line basis at rates calculated to write off the cost less 
estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life as follows 
leasehold improvements – over the lease term furniture it equipment and software – 3 to 7 years
tangible ﬁ xed assets are carried at cost and the carrying values are reviewed for impairment if events or changes in 
circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable   
  
deferred taxation 
deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance 
sheet date where transactions or events have occurred at that date that will result in an obligation to pay more or 
a right to pay less or to receive more tax save that deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that the 
directors consider that it is more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable proﬁ ts from which the future 
reversal of the underlying timing differences can be deducted 
deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which 
timing differences reverse based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date 
leased assets 
company as a lessee
assets held under leasing arrangements that transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the 
company are capitalised the capital element of the related rental obligations is included in creditors the interest 
element of the rental obligations is charged to the proﬁ t and loss account so as to produce a constant periodic rate 
of charge rentals in respect of all other leases are charged to the proﬁ t and loss account on a straightline basis over 
the term of the lease 
company as a lessor
leases where the company retains substantially all the risks and beneﬁ ts of ownership of the asset are classiﬁ ed as 
operating leases initial direct costs incurred in negotiating an operating lease are added to the carrying amount of the 
leased asset and recognised over the lease term on the same bases as rental income
pension costs 
the company operates a deﬁ ned contribution pension scheme for certain spring group employees the assets of the 
scheme are held separately from those of the company in funds administered by independent trustees contributions 
to the scheme are charged to the proﬁ t and loss account as incurred
 
foreign currencies 
transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rates ruling on the transaction dates monetary assets and 
liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 71
2 accounting policies continued
vacant leasehold property 
provisions are recognised when the company has a present obligation legal or constructive as a result of a past 
event it is probable that an outﬂ ow of resources embodying economic beneﬁ ts will be required to settle the 
obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation where the company expects some 
or all of a provision to be reimbursed for example under an insurance contract the reimbursement is recognised 
as a separate asset but only when the reimbursement is virtually certain the expense relating to any provision is 
presented in the proﬁ t and loss net of any reimbursement if the effect of the time value of money is material 
provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash ﬂ ows at a pretax rate that reﬂ ects current market 
assessments of the time value of money and where appropriate the risks speciﬁ c to the liability where discounting 
is used the increase in the provision due to the passage of time is recognised as an interest cost
provisions for vacant leasehold property costs are made up to the expected date of assignment or surrender of the 
lease and are discounted at 477 back to present value 
employee share option schemes 
employees including directors of the company receive remuneration in the form of sharebased payment 
transactions whereby employees render services in exchange for shares or rights over shares ‘equitysettled 
transactions’
equitysettled transactions
the company has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 share based payments in accordance with transitional 
provisions ifrs 2 has been applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested at 
1 january 2005
the cost of equitysettled transactions with employees is measured by reference to the fair value at the date at which 
they are granted the fair value of all equitysettled transactions is determined using the blackscholes model with 
the exception of the ltip which is determined using the montecarlo simulation model in valuing equitysettled 
transactions no account is taken of any performance conditions other than conditions linked to the price of the 
shares of spring group plc ‘market conditions’
the cost of equitysettled transactions is recognised together with a corresponding increase in equity over the period 
in which the performance conditions are fulﬁ lled ending on the date on which the relevant employees become fully 
entitled to the award ‘vesting date’ the cumulative expense recognised for equitysettled transactions at each 
reporting date until the vesting date reﬂ ects the extent to which the vesting period has expired and the number of 
equity instruments that in the opinion of the directors of the company and based on the best available estimate 
at that date will ultimately vest the income statement charge or credit for a period represents the movement in 
cumulative expense recognised as at the beginning and end of that period
no expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately vest except for awards where vesting is conditional upon 
a market condition which are treated as vesting irrespective of whether or not the market condition is satisﬁ ed 
provided that all other vesting conditions are satisﬁ ed
where the terms of an equitysettled award are modiﬁ ed as a minimum an expense is recognised as if the terms had 
not been modiﬁ ed in addition an expense is recognised for any increase in the value of the transaction as a result of 
the modiﬁ cation as measured at the date of modiﬁ cation
own shares held by esop trust
own shares held by the esop trust are carried at cost and disclosed within shareholders’ funds  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 72
2 accounting policies continued
financial instruments
financial assets and ﬁ nancial liabilities carried on the balance sheet include cash and trade and other receivables 
and liabilities and loans the accounting policies on recognition and measurement for these items are disclosed 
in the relevant accounting policies found in these notes financial instruments are classiﬁ ed as liabilities or equity 
in accordance with the substance of the contractual arrangement interest dividends gains and losses relating to 
ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as liabilities are reported as expense or income financial instruments are offset when 
the company has a legally enforceable right to offset and intends to settle either on a net basis or to realise the asset 
and settle the liabilities simultaneously
derivative ﬁ nancial instruments
the company uses derivative ﬁ nancial instruments such as foreign currency contracts to hedge the group’s risks 
associated with foreign currency ﬂ uctuations such derivative ﬁ nancial instruments are stated at fair value 
the fair value of forward exchange contracts is calculated by reference to current forward exchange rates for 
contracts with similar maturity proﬁ les 
for the purpose of hedge accounting hedges are classiﬁ ed as cash ﬂ ow hedges where they hedge exposure to 
variability in cash ﬂ ows that is either attributable to a particular risk associated with a recognised asset or liability or a 
highly probable forecast transaction
in relation to cash ﬂ ow hedges forward foreign currency contracts which meet the conditions for special hedge 
accounting the portion of the gain or loss on the hedging instrument that is determined to be an effective hedge is 
recognised directly in equity and the ineffective portion is recognised in net proﬁ t or loss
when the hedged highly probable forecast transaction results in the recognition of a non ﬁ nancial asset or a liability 
then at the time the non ﬁ nancial asset or liability is recognised the associated gains or losses that had previously 
been recognised in equity are included in the initial measurement of the acquisition cost or other carrying amount of 
the non ﬁ nancial asset or liability for all other cash ﬂ ow hedges the gains or losses that are recognised in equity are 
transferred to the proﬁ t and loss account in the same year in which the hedged highly probable forecast transaction 
affects the net proﬁ t or loss for example when the future sale actually occurs
for derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting any gains or losses arising from changes in fair value are 
taken directly to net proﬁ t or loss for the year
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or no 
longer qualiﬁ es for hedge accounting at that point in time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument 
recognised in equity is kept in equity until the forecasted transaction occurs if a hedged transaction is no longer 
expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss recognised in equity is transferred to net proﬁ t or loss for the year
3 profit for the year
in accordance with the exemption permitted by section 2303 of the companies act 1985 the company has not 
presented its own proﬁ t and loss account the proﬁ t for the year attributable to ordinary shareholders and dealt with 
in the accounts of the company was £256000 31 december 2006 £634000 the company regards £18606000 
31 december 2006 £18606000 of proﬁ t and loss account reserves as nondistributable
 
4 directors’ remuneration
please refer to the audited information contained in the report on pages 19 to 23 for disclosure relating to the 
employment share options and pensions of the directors
5 auditors’ remuneration
audit remuneration for audit work on the company was £73000 2006 £43000  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 73
6 dividends
please refer to the audited information contained in the report on page 48 for disclosure relating to dividends
 
7 tangible fixed assets
leasehold
 improvements
£000
furniture and it software
 and equipment 
£000
total 
£000
cost
1 january 2007 194 5127 5321
additions 84 1300 1384 
disposals – 8 8 
31 december 2007 278 6419 6697 
depreciation  
1 january 2006 69 955 1024
charge for the year 29 795 824
disposals – 2 2
31 december 2007 98 1748 1846
net book value  
31 december 2007 180 4671 4851
31 december 2006 125 4172 4297
during the year ended 31 december 2007 £655000 2006 £2110000 of own costs directly attributable to the 
construction or acquisition of tangible ﬁ xed assets were capitalised and are included in furniture and it equipment
the net book value of furniture and it equipment held under ﬁ nance leases at 31 december 2007 is £32000 
2006 £55000
8 fixed asset investments
investments in subsidiaries 
£000
cost 
1 january 2007 116726
additions – share options granted to subsidiary employees 532
31 december 2007 117258
amounts provided 
1 january 2007 and 31 december 2007 40957
net book value 
31 december 2007 76301
31 december 2006 75769
details of the company’s principal subsidiary undertakings are set out in note 24 in the consolidated ﬁ nancial 
statements of the group 
at the yearend the directors have reviewed the carrying value of investments in subsidiaries compared to their 
recoverable amount based on the value in use to the company and no impairment was identiﬁ ed  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 74
9 debtors          
 
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
trade debtors 259 454
amounts due from subsidiaries 49699 6714
other debtors 265 331
prepayments and accrued income 1282 1027
other tax recoverable 3626 1813
 55131 10339
within other debtors there are deferred tax assets of £206000 for the company 2006 £296000 
10 taxation    
recognised
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
analysis of deferred tax
capital allowances in excess of accelerated depreciation 470 296
deferred tax liability carried forward 470 296
share based payments 120 120
other short term timing difference 350 176
deferred tax asset carried forward 470 296
analysis of unrecognised deferred tax assets
tax losses carried forward 1980 2019
1980 2019
the company has tax losses that arose in the uk of £7071000 2006 £6730000 that are available indeﬁ nitely for 
offset against future taxable proﬁ ts of the company deferred tax assets have not been recognised in respect of these 
losses as they may not be used to offset taxable proﬁ ts elsewhere in the group and the company has insufﬁ cient 
foreseeable taxation proﬁ ts to warrant the recognition of a deferred tax asset notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 75
11 creditors
a amounts falling due within one year    
31 december 
2007
 £000
31 december 
2006
 £000
bank overdraft 32100 –
unsecured loan notes 632 632
trade creditors 1972 1272
amounts due to subsidiaries 29490 590
other tax and social security – 656
other creditors 26 31
accruals and deferred income 2226 2576
finance lease obligations 24 27
foreign currency derivative – 88
66470 5872
b amounts falling due after more than one year     
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006
£000
finance lease obligations 4 32
unsecured loan notes – 625
4 657
unsecured loan notes mature as follows
£000 £000
within 1 year 632 632
1 – 2 years – 625
 632 1257
the loan notes are in respect of deferred consideration on historic acquisitions they are repriced twice per annum 
predominantly in july and january and carry an interest rate as detailed in note 12 £7000 was payable in november 
2007 and was repaid in january 2008 the £625000 is payable in june 2008 at 31 december 2007 unpaid 
creditors of the company amounted to 45 days of purchases 31 december 2006 43 days  notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 76
12 financial liabilities
effective 
interest
 rate 
maturity 31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
current
obligations under ﬁ nance leases 
and hire purchase contracts note 14 20082009 24 27
bank overdrafts libor 100 – 120bp on demand 32100 –
loan notes
sda loan notes libid – 200bp 30 nov 2007 7 7
best loan notes libor  100bp june 2008 625 625
foreign currency hedge derivative na august 2007 – 88
32756 747
noncurrent
obligations under ﬁ nance leases 
and hire purchase contracts note 14 20082009 4 32
best loan notes libor  100bp june 2008 – 625
foreign currency hedge derivative na august 2007 – –
4 657
bank overdrafts
the bank overdraft facilities are subject to a cross guarantee structure of which all material companies within the 
group are party the overdraft rates are repriced annually on 30 may
loan notes
the best loan notes relate to the acquisition of the best international business they are repayable in three annual 
instalments in june they are repriced twice per annum at 1 july and 1 january the sda loan notes matured in 
november 2007 and were subsequently repaid in january 2008
finance lease
the ﬁ nance lease obligation relates to the spring group “home computer initiative” which was launched in 
august 2005 and has a threeyear duration during the lease term the interest rate is ﬁ xed and there is no option 
for early repayment
13 provisions for liabilities and charges
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
vacant leasehold property provisions 810 1232
deferred tax 470 296
1280 1528 notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 77
13 provisions for liabilities and charges continued
vacant leasehold property provisions are based on directors’ best estimates of the likely time before the relevant 
leases can be assigned or surrendered and range between 1 and 5 years expected future lease payments at the 
balance sheet date have been discounted at 477 2006 477 
the movement on provisions in the year comprises 
 
vacan leasehold 
£000
at 1 january 2007 1232
created in the year 200
released in the year 285
utilised in the year 372
unwinding of discount 35
at 31 december 2007 810
deferred tax 
£000
at 1 january 2007 296
created in the year 174
 at 31 december 2007 470
14 commitments 
operating lease commitments
the minimum annual rentals under operating leases are as follows
land and buildings other
 
31 december 
2007 
£000
31 december 
2006 
£000
31 december 
2007
 £000
31 december 
2006
 £000
operating leases which expire   
within 1 year 73 118 – 6
between 2 and 5 years 1371 796 248 36
in over 5 years 797 1362 – –
2241 2276 248 42
      notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 78
14 commitments continued
finance lease and hire purchase commitments
the company has ﬁ nance leases for certain computer equipment these leases have no terms of renewal 
or purchase options and escalation clauses future minimum lease payments under ﬁ nance leases together with the 
present value of the net minimum lease payments are as follows
2007 2006
minimum 
payments 
£000
present value 
of payments 
£000
minimum 
payments 
£000
present value 
of payments 
£000
within one year 25 24 31 27
after one year but not more than ﬁ ve years 54 34 32
total minimum lease payments 30 28 65 59
less amounts representing ﬁ nance charges 2 – 6 –
present value of minimum lease payments 28 28 59 59
capital commitments
at 31 december 2007 the company has commitments of £nil 2006 nil 
15 related party disclosures
the company has taken advantage of the exemption under frs 8 “related party disclosures” and other disclosures 
are provided in note 24 the consolidated ﬁ nancial statements
16 financial risk management objectives and policies
please refer to the audited information contained in the report in note 25 for disclosure relating to ﬁ nancial risk 
management objectives and policies
there are no differences between the fair values and the carrying amounts of ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities
interest rate risk
the company’s exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates is considered minimal the company also 
considers interest rate risk on shortterm deposits minimal 
the company has one longterm loan note arising from the acquisition of best international this amounts to 09 
2006 27 of total liabilities the company has no other longterm debt or longterm deposits that are directly 
affected by interest rate changes notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 79
16 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
the following table sets out the carrying amount by maturity of the company’s ﬁ nancial instruments that are 
exposed to interest rate risk
year ended 31 december 2007
within1 year 
£000
12 years
 £000
23 years 
£000
34 years 
£000
45 years 
£000
more than 
5 years 
£000
total 
£000
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance leases 
and hire purchase contracts 24 4 – – – – 28
24 4 – – – – 28
floating rate
cash assets 32359 – – – – – 32359
loan notes 632 – – – – – 632
31727 – – – – – 31727
year ended 31 december 2006
within1 year
£000
12 years
 £000
23 years 
£000
34 years 
£000
45 years
 £000
more than 
5 years 
£000
total 
£000
fixed rate
obligations under ﬁ nance leases 
and hire purchase contracts 27 23 – – – – 59
27 23 – – – – 59
floating rate
cash assets 15882 – – – – – 15882
loan notes 632 625 – – – – 1257
15250 625 – – – – 14625
interest on ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as ﬂ oating rate is repriced at intervals of less than one year interest 
on ﬁ nancial instruments classiﬁ ed as ﬁ xed rate is ﬁ xed until the maturity of the instrument the other ﬁ nancial 
instruments of the company that are not included in the above tables are noninterest bearing and are therefore not 
subject to interest rate risk
hedging activities
cash ﬂ ow hedge
there were no cash ﬂ ow hedges at 31 december 2007 at 31 december 2006 the company held a foreign 
exchange contract designated as a hedge of expected future purchases from a supplier in the united states for which 
the group has a ﬁ rm commitment the exchange contract is being used to reduce the exposure to foreign exchange 
risk on a group basis the terms of this contract are as follows
maturity exchange rate
commitment to purchase us3902000 between september 2004 
and august 2007 in line with supplier contractual commitment august 2007
us2436000 in aggregate in broadly smooth monthly amounts us£ 173 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 80
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
16 financial risk management objectives and policies continued 
the cash ﬂ ow hedge was assessed to be ineffective at the company level as the supplier contract is held by a fellow 
group subsidiary as at 31 december 2006 a net unrealised loss of £80000 was included in the proﬁ t and loss 
account in respect of this contract however the cash ﬂ ow hedge has been assessed to be highly effective on a 
group basis and therefore the net unrealised loss of £80000 was included in equity in the group accounts 
 
17 share capital 
please refer to the audited information contained in the report on page 59 note 21 for disclosure relating to 
share capital
 
details of the share option schemes at 31 december 2007 are given in note 11 to the consolidated ﬁ nancial statements
18 share capital and reserves 
share capital
 
£000
share premium
 
£000
own shares held 
by esop trust 
£000
proﬁ t and loss 
account 
£000
total 
£000
1 january 2006 16068 14447 5370 72682 97827
retained proﬁ t for the year – – – 634 634
new shares issued 54 127 – – 181
share based payments – – – 57 57
dividends – – – 469 469
31 december 2006 16122 14574 5370 72904 98230
retained proﬁ t for the year – – – 256 256 
new shares issued 296 1761 – – 2057
share based payments – – – 827 827 
dividends – – – 482 482 
31 december 2007 16418 16335 5370 73505 100888
the cumulative amount of goodwill written off company reserves at 31 december 2007 was £75606000 
31 december 2006 £75606000
at 31 december 2007 the market value of the own shares held by the spring esop trust was 4875p 2006 6900p 
the right to receive dividends in respect of these shares have been waived all expenses incurred by the trust are 
settled directly by spring group plc and charged in the accounts as incurred
  spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 81
notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 december 2007 continued
19 share based payments 
the expense recognised for sharebased payments in respect of employee services received during the year to 
31 december 2007 is £295000 2006 £57000 all of the expense arising in both the current and prior years is 
from equity settled sharebased payment transactions the following table illustrates the number no and weighted 
average exercise prices waep of share options currently extant
2007 
no
2007 
waep
2006 
no
2006
 waep
outstanding at the beginning of the year 3704210 5801 1435729 7714
granted during the year 1615103 101 4372575 042
exercised during the year –– 24376 4250
expired during the year 413051 8619 2104094 3635
outstanding at the end of the year 4906262 2474 3704210 5801
    
the weighted average contractual life for the share options outstanding as at 31 december 2007 is 29 years 
2006 45 years all share options are settled in equity
the fair value of the share option plans are estimated as at the date of grant using the monte carlo model for the 
ltip and the blackscholes model for the other schemes modiﬁ ed for the terms and conditions of the schemes the 
following table gives the assumptions made for the years ended 31 december 2007 and 31 december 2006
2007 2006
expected volatility  3334 36
historical volatility  34 36
riskfree interest rate  533 577 480
dividend yield  000 000
expected life of options years not including 
sharesave options where a 2 year life is assumed 3 3
the expected life of the options is based on historical data and is not necessarily indicative of exercise patterns that 
may occur the expected volatility reﬂ ects the assumption that the historical volatility is indicative of future trends 
which may also not necessarily be the actual outcome
no other features of the options grant were incorporated into the measurement of fair value
the weighted average share price during the year was £0507 2006 £0436 and the weighted average fair value 
of options granted during the year was £0447 2006 £0273 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 82
notice of meeting
notice is hereby given that the 50th annual general 
meeting of the company will be held at the ofﬁ ce of 
norton rose llp  3 more london riverside london 
se1 2aq on 8th may 2008 commencing at 1100 am 
for the following purposes 
ordinary business 
to receive and if thought ﬁ t to adopt the accounts 1 
for the year ended 31 december 2007 together with 
the reports thereon by the directors and independent 
auditors
to receive and if thought ﬁ t to approve the 2 
directors’ remuneration report for the year ended 
31 december 2007
to declare a ﬁ nal dividend of 02p per ordinary share 3 
to reelect amir eilon who retires by rotation 4 
as a director of the company
to reelect adam cohn who retires by rotation 5 
as a director of the company
to reelect steven fink who retires by rotation 6 
as a director of the company
t o reappoint ernst  young llp as the company’ s auditor 7 
and authorise the directors to ﬁ x their remuneration
special business
to consider and if thought ﬁ t to pass the following 8 
resolution as a special resolution
“that in substitution for any other authority subsisting 
at the date of this resolution the directors be and are 
hereby generally and unconditionally authorised for 
the purposes of section 80 of the companies act 1985 
the “act” to exercise all the powers of the company 
to allot relevant securities as deﬁ ned in section 80 
of the act up to an aggregate nominal amount of 
£6603286 provided that this power unless renewed 
varied or revoked shall expire at the conclusion of the 
next annual general meeting of the company or 15 
months from the passing of this resolution if sooner 
but so that this power shall extend to the making 
before such expiry of an offer or agreement which 
would or might require equity securities to be allotted 
after such expiry and the directors may allot equity 
securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if 
the authority conferred hereby had not expired”
to consider and if thought ﬁ t to pass the following 9 
resolution as a special resolution
“that subject to and conditional upon passing 
resolution 8 and in substitution for all such authorities 
granted and subsisting at the date of this resolution 
the directors be and are hereby empowered in 
accordance with section 95 of the companies act the 
“act” to allot equity securities as deﬁ ned in section 
942 of the act of the company pursuant to the 
authority conferred pursuant to resolution 8 set out 
in the notice of this meeting as if section 891 and 
subsections 16 of section 90 of the act did not 
apply to any such allotment provided that the power 
conferred by this resolution shall be limited to the 
allotment of equity securities
in i  connection with an issue or offering by way of 
rights in favour of holders of equity securities and 
other persons entitled to participate in such issue 
or offering where the equity securities respectively 
attributable to the interests of such holders and 
persons are proportionate as nearly as may be to 
the respective numbers of equity securities held by 
or deemed to be held by them on the record date 
of such allotment subject only to such exclusions or 
other arrangements as the directors may consider 
necessary or expedient to deal with fractional 
entitlements or legal or practical problems under the 
laws or requirements of any recognised regulatory 
body in any territory and
for cash otherwise than pursuant to subparagraph ii 
i above up to an aggregate nominal value not 
exceeding £820822 provided that this power 
unless renewed varied or revoked shall expire at the 
conclusion of the next annual general meeting of 
the company or 15 months from the passing of this 
resolution if sooner but so that this power shall 
extend to the making before such expiry of an offer 
or agreement which would or might require equity 
securities to be allotted after such expiry and the 
directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of 
such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred 
hereby had not expired”
to consider and if thought ﬁ t to pass the following 3 
resolution as a special resolution 
“that the articles of association produced to 
the meeting and initialled by the chairman of the 
meeting for the purpose of identiﬁ cation be adopted 
as the articles of association of the company in 
substitution for and to the exclusion of the existing 
articles of association”
by order of the board 
gavin tagg
company secretary 
27 february 2008  spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 83
notice of meeting continued
notes
a member is entitled to appoint one or more proxies to exercise all or 1 
any of the member’s rights to attend speak and vote at the meeting 
a proxy need not be a member of the company if a member 
appoints more than one proxy to attend the meeting each proxy 
must be appointed to exercise the rights attached to a different share 
or shares held by the member if a member wishes to appoint more 
than one proxy and so requires additional proxy forms the member 
should contact equiniti limied aspect house spencer road lancing 
west sussex bn99 6zl
any person receiving a copy of this notice as a person nominated 
by a member to enjoy information rights under section 146 of the 
companies act 2006 a “nominated person” should note that the 
provisions in this notice concerning the appointment of a proxy or 
proxies to attend the meeting in place of a member do not apply to 
a nominated person as only shareholders have the right to appoint 
a proxy however a nominated person may have a right under 
an agreement between the nominated person and the member 
by whom he or she was nominated to be appointed or to have 
someone else appointed as a proxy for the meeting if a nominated 
person has no such right or does not wish to exercise it heshe may 
have a right under such an agreement to give instructions to the 
member as to the exercise of voting rights at the meeting
a form of proxy is provided with this notice for members to be 2 
effective the form of proxy and any power of attorney or other 
authority under which it is signed or a notarially certiﬁ ed copy of 
such authority must be deposited with the company’s registrars 
equiniti limited aspect house spencer road lancing west sussex 
bn99 6zl not less than 48 hours before the time of the holding of 
the meeting or any adjournment thereof completion and posting 
of the form of proxy will not preclude shareholders from attending 
and voting at the meeting should they wish to do so
the statements of the rights of the shareholders in relation to the 3 
appointment of proxies in notes 1 and 2 above do not apply to 
nominated persons these rights can only be exercise by members of 
the company
pursuant to regulation 411 of the uncertiﬁ cated securities 4 
regulations 2001 2001 no 3755 the company has speciﬁ ed that 
only those members registered on the register of members of the 
company at 6 pm on 6 may 2008 or if the meeting is adjourned 
at 6 pm on the day two days prior to the adjourned meeting shall 
be entitled to attend either in person or by proxy and vote at the 
meeting in respect of the number of shares registered in their name 
at that time changes to the register of members after the relevant 
time shall be disregarded in determining the rights of any person to 
attend and vote at the meeting
crest members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the 5 
crest electronic proxy appointment service may do so for the meeting 
and any adjournments thereof by utilising the procedures described 
in the crest manual crest personal members or other crest 
sponsored members and those crest members who have appointed a 
voting service providers should refer to their crest sponsor or voting 
service providers who will be able to take the appropriate action on 
their behalf
in order for a proxy appointment made by means of crest to be valid 
the appropriate crest message a “crest proxy instruction” must 
be properly authenticated in accordance with euroclear uk  ireland 
limited’ s speciﬁ cations and must contain the information required for 
such instructions as described in the crest manual the message must 
be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer’ s agent by the latest 
times for receipt of proxy appointments speciﬁ ed in note 2 above 
for this purpose the time of receipt will be taken to be the time as 
determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the crest 
applications host from which the issuer’ s agent is able to retrieve the 
message by enquiry to crest in the manner prescribed by crest 
crest members and where applicable their crest sponsors or voting 
service providers should note that euroclear uk  ireland limited does 
not make available special procedures in crest for any particular 
messages normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in 
relation to the input of crest proxy instructions it is the responsibility 
of the crest member concerned to take or if the crest member is 
a crest personal member or sponsored member or has appointed 
a voting service providers to procure that his crest sponsor or 
voting service providers takes such action as shall be necessary to 
ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the crest system 
by any particular time in this connection crest members and where 
applicable their crest sponsors or voting service providers are referred 
in particular to those sections of the crest manual concerning 
practical limitations of the crest system and timings
the company may treat as invalid a crest proxy instruction in the 
circumstances set out in regulation 355a of the uncertiﬁ cated 
securities regulations 2001
if the chairman as a result of any proxy appointments is given 6 
discretion as to how the votes the subject of those proxies are cast 
and the voting rights in respect of those discretionary proxies when 
added to the interests in the company’s securities already held 
by the chairman result in the chairman holding such number of 
voting rights that he has a notiﬁ able obligation under the disclosure 
and transparency rules the chairman will make the necessary 
notiﬁ cations to the company and the financial services authority 
as a result any member holding 3 or more of the voting rights 
in the company who grants the chairman a discretionary proxy in 
respect of some or all of those voting rights and so would otherwise 
have a notiﬁ cation obligation under the disclosure and transparency 
rules need not make a separate notiﬁ cation to the company and 
the financial services authority
as at 26th february 2008 being the last business day prior 7 
to the printing of this notice the company’s issued capital 
consisted of 164187801 ordinary shares carrying one vote each 
therefore the total number of voting rights in the company as at 
26th february  2008 is 164187801
copies of the directors’ service agreements and letters of 8 
appointment with the company and a copy of the proposed new 
articles of association of the company with a copy of the existing 
memorandum and current articles of association marked to show 
the changes being proposed in resolution 10 will be available for 
inspection at the registered ofﬁ ce of the company during usual 
business hours on any weekday saturdays sundays and bank 
holidays excluded until the date of the meeting and also on the date 
and at the place of the meeting from 1045 am until the conclusion 
of the meeting 
in order to facilitate voting by corporate representatives at the 9 
meeting arrangements will be put in place at the meeting so that 
i if a corporate shareholder has appointed the chairman of the 
meeting as its corporate representative to vote on a poll in accordance 
with the directions of all of the other corporate representatives for 
the shareholder at the meeting then on a poll those corporate 
representatives will give voting directions to the chairman and the 
chairman will vote or withhold a vote as corporate representative 
in accordance with those directions and ii if more than one 
corporate representative for the same corporate shareholder attends 
the meeting but the corporate shareholder has not appointed the 
chairman of the meeting as its corporate representative a designated 
corporate representative will be nominated from those corporate 
representatives who attend who will vote on a poll and the other 
corporate representatives will give voting directions to that designated 
corporate representative corporate shareholders are referred to 
the draft guidance issued by the institute of chartered secretaries 
and administrators on proxies and corporate representatives www
icsaorguk for further details of this procedure the draft guidance 
includes a sample form of appointment letter if the chairman is being 
appointed as described in i above spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007 84
five year record
 
 
 
year ended
31 december
2003
uk gaap
£m
year ended
31 december
2004
ifrs
£m
year ended
31 december
2005
ifrs
£m
year ended
31 december
2006
ifrs
£m
year ended
31 december
2007
ifrs
£m
turnover from 
continuing operations 3484 4745 4547 4073 4328
operating proﬁ t
from continuing operations 
before reorganisation costs and 
amortisation and impairment of 
acquisition related intangibles 19 86 11 48 61
net cash ﬂ ow from 
operating activities 100 28 71 140 199
net funds 330 287 343 456 344
shareholders’ equity 676 760 700 747 831
 pence pence pence pence pence
basic lossearnings per share 
from continuing operations 1292 51 359 308 379
dividends per share 02 02 03 03 03
the accounting period ended 31 december 2003 is shown under uk gaap  whereas accounting periods thereafter are 
shown under international financial reporting standards ifrs all accounting periods have been restated for activities 
that have been discontinued in current or prior years dir ec tors and advi so r s
directors
amir eilon
chairman
andrew pinder cbe
senior independent nonexecutive director
peter w searle
chief executive officer
peter a darraugh
group finance director
jonathan wright
independent nonexecutive director
steven b fink
nonexecutive director
adam cohn
nonexecutive director
registered office
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
london ec4y 8ax
tel 020 7300 9000 fax 020 7300 9090
 
registered number
590054
solicitors
norton rose llp
3 more london riverside
london se1 2aq
tel 020 7283 6000 fax 020 7283 6500
stockbrokers 
collins stewart plc 
9th floor 
88 wood street 
london ec2v 7qr
tel 020 7523 8000 fax 020 7523 8131
financial advisors
hawkpoint partners limited
41 lothbury
london ec2r 7ae
tel 020 7665 4500 fax 020 7655 4600
 
princip al bankers
royal bank of scotland plc
9th floor
280 bishopsgate
london ec2m 4rb
tel 020 7672 0890 fax 020 7672 0934
barclays bank plc
west midlands corporate centre
po box 3333
15 colmore row
birmingham b3 2wn
tel 0121 480 5649 fax 0121 480 5513
registrars
equiniti limited
aspect house
spencer road
lancing
west sussex bn99 6da
tel 0871 384 2207
auditors
ernst  young llp
compass house
80 newmarket road
cambridge cb5 8dz
tel 01223 557000 fax 01223 557001
 
spring group plc is an international full service 
recruitment provider comprised of three core 
business divisions professional staffing general 
staffing and managed solutions 
operating under a multibrand strategy with a global network 
of offices spanning uk europe usa and asia pacific spring 
group targets a broad range of industry sectors and has clients 
ranging from market leading multinationals to small and 
medium enterprises
c on tents
highlights  01
business profile  02
chairman’s statement  04
chief executive officer’s review  06
group finance director’s review  10
spring group plc directors  12
corporate governance  14
report of the board on  
directors’ remuneration  19
directors’ report  24
report of the independent  
auditor to the members of  
spring group plc group  28
consolidated income statement  30
consolidated balance sheet  31
consolidated cash flow statement 32
consolidated statement of  
changes in equity  33
notes to the accounts  34
report of the independent  
auditor to the members of  
spring group plc company  67
spring group plc company  
balance sheet  69
notes to the accounts company  70
notice of meeting  82
five year record  84
directors and advisors  85 spring group plc     annual report  accounts 2007
positioned for growth
wwwspringcom
spring group plc 
annual report  accounts 2007
spring group plc     annual report  accounts 2007
spring group plc
spring group plc
executive and registered office  
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street 
london ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom  
t   44 0 20 7356 0701 
f   44 0 20 7356 0711 
e  corpspringcom 
spring technology  
staffing services ltd 
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street  
london ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom 
t   44 0 20 7300 9039 
f   44 0 20 7300 9021 
e  technologyspringcom 
best people recruitment ltd 
hazlitt house 
4 bouverie street 
london ec4y 8ax 
united kingdom 
t   44 0 20 7300 9000 
f  44 0 20 7300 9021  
e  bestspringcom 
  
glotel inc 
suite 2800 
30 south wacker drive 
chicago 
il 60606 
united states of america 
t  1 312 715 0699 
f  1 312 715 0756 
e  chicagoglotelinccom 
hyphencom ltd
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
london ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t   44 0 20 7300 9039
e  infohyphencom
spring personnel ltd
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
london ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t   44 0 1782 221500
f   44 0 1782 221600
e  personnelspringcom
glotel interna tional  
limited
hazlitt house
4 bouverie street
london ec4y 8ax
united kingdom
t  44 0 207 300 9000
f  44 0 207 300 9021
e  londonglotelcom
glotel pty limited
level 1 80 mount street
p o box 1158
north sydney
new south wales 2060
australia 
t 61 0 2 8905 0500
f  61 0 2 8905 0901
e  sydneyglotelcom


Summary:
 4
i am pleased to report that 2007 
saw a further improvement in 
the performance of the group 
during the course of the year 
the group has restructured its 
core operations strengthened 
its management team with 
experienced senior staff to 
run each of the key operating 
divisions delivered further 
improvements to efﬁ ciency 
of its support operations and 
accelerated the growth strategy 
both organically by increasing 
the number of sales consultants 
and by acquisition through the 
purchase of the glotel business
the culture of the company has 
changed we have focussed our 
people on delivering excellent 
service to our candidates and 
clients we have endeavoured 
to recruit the best people by 
providing an environment of 
high reward recognition and 
motivation we believe we will 
retain and develop these staff to 
put us in a position where we can 
outshine the competition this 
policy has created a workplace 
that whilst challenging and 
competitive is also a fun and 
rewarding place to work we 
believe our company provides 
opportunities for our staff to fulﬁ l 
their ambitions by providing a 
structured career in which they 
can grow and develop their 
talents
our management team are 
highly motivated and ambitious 
to further grow our organisation 
both organically and through 
selective acquisitions the last 
twelve months have laid down 
an extremely strong platform to 
enable these goals to be realised
our results for 2007 reﬂ ect the 
successful execution of our plans 
and the consequent continued 
improvement in the ﬁ nancial 
health of the group revenues 
increased 63 to £4328 million 
but the more relevant measure of 
volume in our business net fee 
income improved by 227 to 
£561 million pretax proﬁ ts were 
£71 million an improvement of 
312 compared to the prior 
year with basic earnings per share 
of 376p up 221 on 2006 
the group’s balance sheet 
remains healthy with total assets 
of £1583 million compared with 
£1395 million at 31 december 
2006 closing net cash at the year 
end was £350 million compared 
with £469 million last year 
reﬂ ecting the £308 million cash 
outﬂ ow for the glotel business 
and continued strong cash 
generation from the underlying 
business
and expanded geographically
chairman’s statement
“we have endeavoured to 
recruit the best people by 
providing an environment 
of high reward recognition 
and motivation”
“our management team is highly motivated and 
ambitious to further grow our organisation both 
organically and through selective acquisitions”
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 we announced the successful 
completion of the acquisition 
of glotel plc in july and the 
integration of the glotel business 
was completed during the second 
half of the year since acquisition 
the glotel business has been 
trading ahead of our expectations 
and the board expects this 
acquisition to be earnings 
enhancing in 2008 
 
whilst market commentators have 
mixed views on the prospects 
for the recruitment sector in 
2008 our business is so far this 
year trading inline with our 
expectations we will continue 
to review opportunities to grow 
our company by looking at new 
markets and possible acquisitions 
but we remain determined to 
invest wisely in and continue to 
build the business for the beneﬁ t 
of our shareholders the group 
is well placed to make further 
progress in 2008
spring staff
the continued progress shown by 
the group in 2007 is a function 
of the efforts from all of the staff 
throughout the group i would 
like to extend the appreciation 
of the board and shareholders to 
the staff at spring and to thank 
them for their dedication to the 
group and to all of our clients and 
candidates 
annual general meeting
 
our agm will be held on 
8 may 2008 and i look forward to 
welcoming shareholders there
amir eilon
chairman
27 february 2008
“since acquisition the glotel business has been trading 
ahead of our expectations and the board expects this 
acquisition to be earnings enhancing in 2008”
spring is now a worldwide group
chairman’s statement continued
“we will continue to 
review opportunities to 
grow our company by 
looking at new markets 
and possible acquisitions”
5 spring group plc annual report and accounts 2007