Britain’s £72 Billion Under-the-Radar Success Story: RELX
In an era where the UK economy often wrestles with questions about its global competitiveness, one company quietly stands out with a remarkable growth trajectory and an indispensable role across multiple professional sectors: RELX. Valued at an eye-watering £72 billion (approximately $97 billion), RELX rivals in market worth the combined forces of powerhouses like Tesco, Vodafone, British Airways’ parent IAG, and Schroders.
The UK’s Economic Strength Beyond the Usual Suspects
A leading City investment banker recently laid bare a stark reality: Britain today produces relatively few tangible exports that command the world’s wallets, save for luxury cars, aerospace components, Scotch whisky, and similar high-end niches. Financial services, once the crown jewel of the UK economy, have barely regained pre-crisis vigor. Against that backdrop, sectors such as life sciences, world-class universities, and legal and professional services emerge clearly as the proud cornerstones of British economic strength.
What ties these sectors together? RELX. Often flying under the radar, this London-based titan exemplifies how knowledge, analytics, and information services have become the new currency of economic dynamism.
What is RELX?
Originally born from the 1993 merger of the Dutch scientific publisher Elsevier and British conglomerate Reed International, RELX rebranded itself in 2015 to better reflect its decisive pivot from print-era publishing to cutting-edge data analytics and intelligence solutions.
Today, RELX operates across four key market segments:
- Risk Solutions: RELX's largest and most profitable division, delivering data analytics to 85% of the Fortune 500, nine of the top 10 global banks, and 23 of the leading insurance firms.
- Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM): Providing researchers and healthcare professionals with vital scientific information and tools worldwide.
- Legal & Professional: Home to LexisNexis, this segment manages over 161 billion legal and news documents used by over 1.1 million legal practitioners globally.
- Exhibitions: Ranging from New York Comic Con to the London Book Fair, this division has rebounded robustly post-pandemic, showcasing pent-up demand for global events and trade shows.
From Print to Digital Powerhouse: A Transformation Story
Once a dominant print publisher—think of the beloved British comics like Roy of the Rovers and Whizzer and Chips—RELX has traversed a dramatic transformation. At the dawn of the 21st century, print accounted for nearly two-thirds of its revenue; now, less than 5% comes from physical print products.
This digital shift wasn’t without challenges. Notably, the company endured leadership turmoil in 2009 but found steady footing under CEO Erik Engstrom, who has spearheaded organic growth intertwined with shrewd acquisitions—five alone in the past year—while divesting less synergistic units.
Investing Heavily in AI: Ahead of the Curve
RELX’s forward-thinking approach embraces artificial intelligence (AI) not as an afterthought but as a core driver. Over a decade ago, it began embedding AI into its products, and now AI powers a significant majority of its revenues, particularly within Risk Solutions, where over 90% of incomes come via machine-to-machine data exchanges.
On the legal front, RELX is rolling out Lexis+AI, lauded as the world’s first generative AI platform tailored for legal professionals, redefining how legal research and practice evolve. Similarly, in STM, ScienceDirect AI accelerates research workflows, delivering relevant peer-reviewed insights instantly—a crucial tool as misinformation challenges scientific integrity worldwide.
Such commitment to R&D places RELX among the top 10 FTSE-100 spenders, blurring lines between traditional publishing and technology leadership.
Relentless Competition and Open-Access Dilemmas
Yet, RELX faces mounting pressure. Competition from open-access platforms such as arXiv and SSRN challenges its academic publishing dominance. Many in academia decry the high subscription costs imposed on university libraries—a controversy epitomized by campaigns like The Cost of Knowledge and even contract cancellations, such as UCLA’s brief 2019 split.
This tension raises important questions about the sustainability and ethics of academic publishing, pressing RELX and its peers to innovate while reconciling financial imperatives with open knowledge ideals.
RELX as a Reflection of the UK’s Economic Future
At its core, RELX is quintessentially a “quality compounder”: a business that consistently reinvests at high returns, continually adapting to shifting landscapes. Like FTSE-100 peers Experian and Halma, RELX embodies the UK's evolving strength—leveraging intellectual capital, data services, and technology to generate global impact.
For policymakers and investors alike, companies like RELX shine a spotlight on the UK's economic potential beyond conventional manufacturing or traditional finance—making a compelling case for supporting innovation ecosystems, data infrastructure, and skills development around AI and digital transformation.
Editor’s Note
RELX’s astonishing journey from print publisher to AI-powered global analytics leader underscores the often-overlooked resilience and evolution of the UK’s knowledge economy. Yet, underlying tensions around open access, data ethics, and competitive pressures invite closer scrutiny. How can Britain’s policymakers balance fostering innovation in firms like RELX with ensuring equitable access to knowledge critical for societal progress? And what lessons can other economies draw from RELX’s model in an increasingly data-driven world?
As the digital data economy takes center stage, RELX not only charts a path of corporate transformation but also highlights the vital role of thoughtful regulation, investment in AI talent, and ethical stewardship in shaping economic futures.
