Harvey Nash - spreading its bets

I’ve just spoken to Harvey Nash CEO, Albert Ellis (now a firm fixture on CNBC Europe!) and it looks like the strategy of ‘spreading its bets’ in different regions and sectors is definitely helping, especially in current market conditions. Harvey Nash has gone way beyond the usual UK ITSA business model, especially with its rapidly growing Vietnam-based offshore IT services business. But it goes beyond that, even employing engineers in Germany working on wireless and embedded technology projects. This is more like a typical Indian SI’s R&D business (TCS, Wipro and HCL do a lot of work in this area, though mostly out of India) than a typical staffing company! I must admit it’s been a long while since I have taken a close look at Harvey Nash and plan to do so soon – especially on the offshoring side – before passing further comment. I only note that as noon approaches, Harvey Nash’s shares are up even further (over 11%), so clearly the market liked what they heard.