ARL.L Regulatory News (ARL)

19 Dec 2005 07:00

SMC Group Plc19 December 2005 19th December 2005 Embargoed until 7.00 am, Monday 19th December SMC Group Plc Formation of New Division to Target Education Sector 'SMC Education & Community' SMC Group Plc ('SMC'), one of the UK's leading groups of architects anddesigners, has announced the formation of a new division specifically designedto service the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme to which theGovernment has committed a spend of circa £60bn over 10 to 15 years in upgradingand replacing secondary schools throughout England. The new SMC division, called "SMC Education & Community" (SMCE&C) recognises theimportance of consultation processes and local knowledge, in addition to designand innovation skills, in its contribution to the success of the BSF programme.The division will therefore contain leading Communities Liaison Officers andEducationalists, working in harmony with SMC's Architects and Designers withtheir established office networks throughout the country. SMC Education & Community will be Chaired by Warwick based Robert Gisby (SMCCorstorphine & Wright) who has had a long career in local government and hasrecently designed many high profile schools, including Stratford Upon Avon HighSchool. Chief Executive will be Manchester based Andrew Rae (SMC DTR:UK) workingwith Managing Director Steve Wass (Leeds based SMC Gower Architects). Each ofthese SMC Group companies is already assisting contractor and facilitiesmanagement led consortia in the bidding process for batches of BSF schools invarious cities in England. SMCE&C CEO, Andrew Rae commented, "This is an initiative on behalf of the SMCGroup to proactively assist the contractor and facilities teams with theirbidding process as we are only too aware of the importance of community andlocal issues relating to educational development. Consultations withcommunities, school governing bodies and pupils have all become essentialingredients in the BSF programme and will drive success for school developmentin future". Chairman of the new division, Robert Gisby commented, "One of the fascinatingaspects of new schools in the community has been the advent of mixed-usedevelopment activity. On several schemes we are already driving the integrationof residential and leisure development as part of the overall school sites, forwhich our own wide ranging market sector skills are ideal". The new division was formally announced by SMC Group Plc Chief Executive,Stewart McColl, at an annual networking function, PERP, held in the House ofLords on Thursday 15th December 2005. He told an 80-strong audience ofcontractors, architects and developers that SMC Education & Community wasideally placed to win BSF bids and therefore was actively aligning itselfalongside the various bidding consortia rather than simply awaiting approachesfrom consortia. For further information please contact: SMC Group Plc - Stewart McColl Tel: 44 (0)20 7495 5335 Bell Pottinger - David Rydell/Geoff Callow Tel: 44 (0)20 7861 3232 SMC Education & Community - Andrew Rae Tel: 44 (0)161 834 4880 Noble & Company-Matthew Hall Tel: 44(0) 20 7763 2200 Notes to Editors SMC Group Plc, which was admitted to AIM on 10th June 2005, is the holdingcompany for a group of architects and designers. It has established expertise ina broad range of sectors, including residential, retail, industrial, workplace,transportation, leisure and education. The Group has national coveragethroughout England, with offices in London, Warwick, Manchester, Leeds,Birmingham, Liverpool and Lancaster, and is engaged in a range of projectsthroughout the UK, in Eire and parts of mainland Europe. The Company's core strategy is to create an architectural group with the scaleand expertise to access the most profitable schemes across a range of sectorsand geographical locations. The Group intends to focus on its organic growth,increasing its share of the UK market and securing larger, higher marginprojects. The Group plans to complement this organic growth withearnings-enhancing acquisitions in order to consolidate its geographic andsector coverage. On 5th September 2005 the company announced its maiden interim results for thesix months ended 30th June 2005. SMC reported turnover of £5.4m (an increase of47% compared to the same period in 2004) and profit before tax of £1.1m (anincrease of 110% compared to the same period in 2004). The company alsoannounced plans to introduce a maiden dividend in June 2006. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange