WGT Wallgate

RNS Number:2100L
Wigmore Group (The) PLC
19 April 2005


                             THE WIGMORE GROUP PLC
                   BOARD STRENGTHENED FOLLOWING REFINANCING


The Wigmore Group plc is pleased to announce the strengthening of its Board by
today's appointment of Ilyas Khan. This follows the success of its fundraising
activities, details of which were recently announced.

Mr Khan is currently the Group Managing Director of Crosby Capital Partners, the
AIM listed Investment Banking and Asset Management Company. Mr Khan is also the
Chairman and founder of Techpacific Capital, the majority shareholder of Crosby
Capital Partners.   He was previously a Managing Director of Nomura and has had
a successful career in Investment Banking including employment by Citicorp, UBS
and Schroders.

Wigmore Chairman Paul Doona said:

"The new executive and non-executive team is taking shape and I anticipate that
I will soon be in a position to make a further announcement to this effect. The
appointment of Ilyas Khan as an independent non-executive director is part of
this process and Mr. Khan is a welcome addition to the board.

"Your board is also most appreciative of the support of our largest shareholder,
Burnbrae Limited, on whom the Company's financial viability has depended and is
particularly pleased to see the confidence shown in the Company by its new
investors".

Burnbrae is a private investment company owned by the Jimsam Trust, of which Jim
Mellon is the sole beneficiary.  It has extensive property interests including
the Sleepwell chain of hotels with over 1,000 beds in the UK and Isle of Man.
Burnbrae has previously made it clear that its own development plans will
benefit from the expertise which the Wigmore Group provides and intends to
appoint the Group as its preferred contractor.

The Board is currently engaged in a radical restructuring of the Group.
Contracting services for the hotel and leisure sectors provided by Speymill
Contracts Limited are intended to be the main focus of the Group. In addition, a
number of initiatives are being explored which are designed to capitalise on
this core competency. The first of these will be the creation of a new business
division with a remit to investigate and exploit opportunities for the Group
afforded by the proposed creation of UK-REITS (a tax advantaged real estate
investment trust). In addition, the Board proposes a name change to Speymill plc
in the near future.

The Group expects to divest itself of non-core subsidiaries and your Board is
hopeful that an announcement to this effect will be made soon.

In the meantime, the business is already benefiting from improved procedures and
operating efficiencies. The size of the forward order book gives cause for
encouragement and Head Office costs have been cut, including the closure of the
Crawley office.

The Company will publish a full business review in which its plans will be
further updated. This will be released when the preliminary results for 2004 are
published, expected to be in May.

Wigmore has recently completed the placing of #0.5 million of Wigmore equity at
0.12p per share. Burnbrae has now transferred a further 208,333,332 Ordinary
Shares at 0.12p per share to third party investors and Burnbrae's shareholding
in the Company is now 50.7%. The remaining 45.8 million shares will be
transferred shortly.

To improve liquidity and to mark the transformation of the Company a 1 for 100
share consolidation is planned in the near future.

Ilyas Tariq Khan, 42, is a director of Hong Kong listed Techpacific Capital
Limited and UK AIM listed Crosby Capital Partners Incorporated (and a number of
subsidiaries and associates of Techpacific Capital and Crosby Capital Partners).
Mr Khan is also a director of TW Indus, an investment holding company that is
wholly owned by Mr. Khan. A comprehensive list of his directorships will be
found at the end of this announcement.

There are no further disclosures to be made under Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of
the AIM rules.


For further information please contact:

Paul Doona                                                     01624 629699
Executive Chairman

Tim Blackstone                                              0207 251 2544
Britton Financial PR

Jonathan Naess                                             0207 710 7400
Nabarro Wells & Co Limited

Directorships listed for Ilyas Tariq Khan

Techpacific Capital Limited                           Crosby Capital Partners (Cayman) Limited
Techpacific Venture Capital Limited                   Crosby Capital Partners (Holdings) Limited
Techpacific.com Venture Capital Limited               Crosby Capital Partners (Mauritius) Limited
Techpacific.com (BVI) Investments Ltd                 Crosby Capital Partners (Shanghai) Limited
Techpacific.com Investments Limited                   Crosby Wealth Management (Europe) Limited
Techpacific Capital (HK) Ltd                          Crosby Wealth Management (Asia) Limited
Techpacific Capital (Cayman) Limited                  Crosby Asia Holdings Ltd
Techpacific.com Digital Ltd                           Crosby Pte Limited
Softech Investment Management Co Ltd                  Crosby Limited - Korea
Nirvana Pacific Capital Limited                       Crosby Asset Management (Cayman) Limited
Nirvana Capital Limited                               Crosby Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited
Crosby Capital Partners Ltd                           Crosby Capital Partners Inc.
Crosby Capital Partners (Singapore) Pte Ltd           TW Indus Limited
Crosby Corporate Finance (Holdings)                   Southern Energy Limited
CCP Buyout Fund Ltd                                   ECK & Partners Ltd
CCP Buyout (BVI) Ltd                                  Sunov Partners Limited
Crosby Asset Management (Asia) Limited                Sunov Petroleum (BVI) Limited
Crosby Asset Management (Europe) Limited              Sunov Petroleum Pty Ltd
Crosby Capital Partners Finance (BVI) Limited         Sunov Petroleum (Pakistan) Limited
Crosby Capital Partners (HK) Limited                  Sunov Petroleum (Middle East) Limited
Crosby Capital Partners (BVI) Limited                 Spike Networks Limited



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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