RNS Number:1434Q
Hartstone Group PLC
24 September 2003

                                 PRESS RELEASE


                               24 September 2003
                            (for immediate release)

                     THE HARTSTONE GROUP PLC ("Hartstone")

The Hartstone Group PLC today announced that its principal subsidiary, Aigner
Group Inc (EA), entered into an agreement with Bennett Footwear Group LLC (BFG)
on 23 September 2003 to license its branded wholesale footwear business to BFG.
BFG is a footwear sourcing and distribution business in Boston which also
carries the license for the well known "Franco de Sarto" brand.

The principal terms of this agreement are as follows:

1          BFG has entered into an exclusive  license agreement to sell all EA
branded wholesale footwear for a period up to 31 December 2010, renewable under
certain conditions for a further seven years.

2          BFG will pay 5% royalty to EA for all EA branded shoes sold by them.
In the first full year the minimum sales have been set at $50 million and the
minimum royalty will be $2.5 million, increasing by 5% per year during the
period of the license.

3            Certain sales and other staff have been transferred from EA to BFG.

4          BFG has granted the right to EA to sell EA footwear through its 63
retail outlets and will supply at least 50% of the footwear sold through these
outlets.

5          EA has sold approximately $7.9 million of its wholesale footwear
inventory and fixtures at net book value less 5% to BFG to be paid for in three
instalments, 50% payable at closing, 25% in 90 days and 25% in 180 days.  These
payments will be used to reduce EA bank borrowing which, at close of business on
Friday 19 September 2003, stood at $16.5 million.

6          BFG has contracted to use the EA warehousing and distribution
facilities up to 31 December 2004 for a charge of $242,000 per month and
thereafter $192,000 per month up to 31 December 2006.  These payments will
partly offset the loss of contribution by the EA Footwear Division to EA
overheads as described below.

The EA Footwear Division sustained a loss of $4.3 million in the financial year
2002/03, after a contribution of $5.5 million to EA overheads, such overheads
including credit and collections, distribution and administration but excluding
interest on assets. For the first five months of the current financial year
invoiced sales in the EA Footwear Division were $21.9 million, compared to $27.0
million for the same period in the preceding year.

The other two EA divisions, Accessories and Retail, will continue to be managed
as before.

This deal will allow EA to enter into a new banking agreement in the US and will
avoid the risk of further losses in EA's footwear business.


              ____________________________________________



PRESS ENQUIRIES

The Hartstone Group PLC          01494 787700
     Shaun Dowling, Chairman
     John De Morgan, Company Secretary




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