Rm Regulatory News (RM.)

14 Mar 2008 07:00

RM PLC13 March 2008 RM confirms Sunderland City Council BSF ICT contract RM confirms that it has reached contractual close with Sunderland City Councilfor a £16m contract to provide managed ICT services to the Council's BSF(Building Schools for the Future) programme. The Group previously announced thatit had been appointed selected bidder for the contract on 17 January 2008. Commenting on the contract, Tim Pearson, CEO of RM, said: 'Reaching contractual close is an extremely important milestone and it's greatnews that we've been able to move so quickly in Sunderland. We can now get onwith the important work of delivering the very best ICT services for learnersand teachers in the City.' Councillor Bob Symonds, Leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "Reaching financial close means the building blocks are now in place for thispioneering programme and construction work will begin soon. The initiative isgathering real momentum and we will continue to consult and inform schools,local residents and businesses throughout the building programme. We are lookingforward to working with Balfour Beatty Construction and RM to transform theschool experience for thousands of children and young people throughout thecity." For further information, please contact:Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08450 700300Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Notes to Editors: 1. Founded in 1973, the RM Group is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools, colleges and universities, local government and central government education departments and agencies. RM works closely with educationalists to create new products, processes and technology which improve teaching and learning. RM is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol RM.L 2. BSF (Building Schools for the Future) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. It aims to rebuild or renew every one of England's 3,500 state secondary schools during the lifetime of the programme. A key part of the initiative is to ensure that local authorities develop a sustainable, area-wide ICT strategy for schools in line with the Government's personalised learning agenda: 10% of the funding is ring-fenced for ICT. 3. Sunderland City Council's BSF programme covers five secondary schools and three Sunderland Model academies, serving a total of 8,000 pupils. RM will be responsible for designing and delivering a sophisticated managed ICT service, which will be integrated into the fabric of the schools. RM will also provide a shared learning platform for the schools and a Web-delivered MIS system based on its IntegrisG2 product. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange