Thursday, February 20, 2003

Equion plc, a subsidiary of John Laing plc, today celebrated the laying of the foundation stone of South East Essex college – its £40 million college relocation project.

Richard Weston, Managing Director, of Equion said:

“Today marks a momentous step in a project which will be pivotal to the regeneration of South East Essex. As a specialist investor and operator, Equion will create first-class facilities for the benefit of students, staff and the wider community. Through our investments and development activity, we are able to both facilitate the creation of a new college and take responsibility for the development of the existing site. We will share these profits with the college.”

Equion, the award winning infrastructure developer and operator, will design and construct modern college facilities in Southend High Street as well as cover shortfalls in the financing. These costs will be recovered by developing existing college sites, the benefits of which will be shared with the college.

John Harwood, Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council laid the first stone for the new college building. He said:

“It gives me great pleasure to be here in Southend to witness the beginning of a new learning era for the area. Our mission at the Learning and Skills Council is to increase participation in learning and to ensure that provision is of the highest quality.

The new building will be central to the success of that mission in South Essex, and I’m sure it will become a beacon of learning for the town and a large county.”

Laing/O’Rourke, under contract to Equion plc, began the building work in September 2002 and the completion date for the 26,000 m2 building project is August 2004. In comparison to its predecessor, the new college will provide a great deal more space for many more students. When the town centre building is complete 14,000 students will be able to take advantage of the fantastic new facilities compared with 12,000 students in the existing college building.

Designed by KSS, the proposal consolidates the operation of South East Essex College into a single, energy efficient building. The development provides open plan teaching space, and includes a covered atrium, 250-seat performance pod and an amphitheatre for informal seminar events. Underground parking for 240 vehicles is provided in the basement.

Notes to Editors

1. Equion and its parent company Laing Investments Ltd won the Infrastructure Journal PPP Developer of the Year Award for the second year running in February 2003. Equion is the UK’s leading provider of police accommodation and facilities.

2. Equion plc is a specialist provider of facilities in the PFI (Private Finance Initiative) and in PPP (Private Public Partnerships). Equion is a subsidiary company of Laing Investments Ltd, part of the publicly quoted John Laing PLC. Laing Investments holds a large and expanding portfolio of investments spanning transport, health, education and special purpose government facilities. The company is one of the most successful participants in the Government's Private Finance Initiative and has a proven record of delivering new investments on time and on cost. For further information see the Equion website http://www.equion.plc.uk

3. Design and construction of the school is by O’Rourke. The school will have a floor area of 26,125m2. The architects are KSS.

4. This is a pathfinder scheme for the Learning Skills Council who will be financing the project together with South East Essex funds including finance from Equion’s development of the existing college buildings.

5. Equion, were awarded the 25-year contract to design, build, finance and operate the £25 million Highlands School, Enfield. This is the first LEA community secondary school in Britain to be built and subsequently maintained through PFI. It was officially opened last year by Prime Minister Tony Blair. Highlands School in Enfield has been described as a "school for the 21st century" and has places for 1290 pupils.

6. Artists impressions of the new school building are available.

7. John Laing plc has undergone a marked transformation since the sale of Laing Construction in October 2001. It has reorganised its debt; completed an asset realisation programme, including the sale of Laing Property and Europistas; and following a strategic review, which concluded that Laing Investments offered the greater growth prospects, sold Laing Homes Limited, its UK housebuilding arm, to George Wimpey plc for £297 million. It recently negotiated the purchase of Amey’s PFI assets, acquiring a further eight PFI projects, taking its total portfolio to 33 investments, of which 24 are fully operational. John Laing plc is now a focused infrastructure investment and operations company, and today’s announcement further enhances its position as the UK’s leading provider of services for PFIs and PPPs.