Kazera Global Regulatory News (KZG)

21 Feb 2007 08:39

Worthington Nicholls Group plc21 February 2007 RNS release 21 February 2007 Major new international contract secured Worthington Nicholls Group plc (AIM: WNG) ("Worthington Nicholls" or the"Company"), one of the UK's largest independent installers of air conditioning,heating, ventilation and chilled water systems, has signed an agreement withAustralian software specialists Q2 Solutions Pty Limited ("Q2"), a leadingsupplier to the InterContinental Hotels Group ("IHG"). Q2 has appointed Worthington Nicholls to be its preferred service provider toinstall and maintain Q2's ESCAP IHG service software solution ("ESCAP") inEurope, the Middle East and Africa ("EMEA") for an initial period of five yearswith a rolling three year notice period thereafter. Worthington Nicholls has,over the past six months, sent employees to Q2 in Australia to receive trainingin the installation and support of the ESCAP system. ESCAP is a bespoke web-based software product, developed specifically for IHG'shotel brands which include InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn,Express by Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites. ESCAP enables hotel managers tobenchmark and monitor individual hotel engineering and maintenance performanceon a global and regional basis, and ensures that engineering and maintenancetasks are carried out consistently whilst costs and resources are managed withincreased efficiency. The system is currently successfully deployed in 66 IHGhotels in Asia Pacific. IHG has confirmed that Worthington Nicholls will be its preferred provider ofESCAP to its estate of hotels within EMEA and will train staff, install andoperate the software in all owned, managed and franchised hotels that subscribeto the system. Under the terms of the agreement, in the first year Worthington Nicholls isaiming to provide ESCAP to up to 197 IHG owned/managed hotels in EMEA. Uponinstallation of the software the Company will receive a one-off licence fee of€7,500 per hotel. It will also receive annual additional software support andmaintenance fees payable over the term of the agreement. Worthington Nichollshas already commenced the ESCAP roll out to IHG owned/managed hotels. Worthington Nicholls will also market the benefits of ESCAP to IHG's 420franchise hotels in EMEA. The contract value with IHG franchised hotels and thecost of ESCAP support and maintenance contracts will be negotiated on a hotel byhotel basis. Mark Worthington, Chief Executive of Worthington Nicholls, said: "This agreement expands the breadth of our services into facilities managementsupport. An important part of winning the Q2 contract was our principalcontractor status with IHG. This is a major opportunity for Worthington Nichollsto continue to grow the business in the EMEA region. It has taken 12 months ofnegotiation to secure this agreement with Q2 and we now look forward todelivering it successfully into IHG's EMEA estate." Enquiries: Worthington Nicholls 0870 609 1829Mark Worthington, Chief ExecutiveDavid Levis, Corporate Director Gresham PR Ltd 020 7404 9000Neil Boom / Laura Black Corporate Synergy 020 7448 4400Rhod Cruwys / Romil Patel Halliwells LLP 0870 365 8000Frank Shephard / Lisa Stavropoulos Information on Worthington Nicholls can be accessed via the Group's website:www.worthington-nicholls.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange