RNS No 3238e
TAYLOR WOODROW PLC
17 May 1999

 
TAYLOR WOODROW SHARPENS THE FOCUS OF ITS CONSTRUCTION DIVISION


Taylor Woodrow plc confirmed today that it was sharpening the focus of its
construction business as part of the ongoing process to improve efficiency in
this area. This follows the statement, made in March at the preliminary
results announcement, when Group chief executive Keith Egerton said that the
division was to become a more solid core with a concentration on projects
where the rewards better matched the risks involved.

As a consequence the following actions are being undertaken by the
construction division:

*  UK Building and Civils activity will be amalgamated
   into one division
*  A complete withdrawal will be made from process
   engineering activity
*  Birtley Engineering, the materials handling company
   owned by the division will either be sold or closed

Following these changes there will be a reduction of around 250 people in the
construction workforce through the course of 1999. It is anticipated that this
reduction will be achieved through a combination of redundancy and natural
processes, such as retirement.

Commenting on the changes Group chief executive Keith Egerton said, "Whilst
any redundancies are obviously regrettable they are a necessary consequence of
reducing our exposure to construction projects where the rewards do not match
the risks. I believe that when this process of refinement is completed later
this year, there will be a much brighter future within Taylor Woodrow for the
construction division."

Bruce Russell, chairman and managing director of the construction activity
said, "We are now clear as to the way forward. We will be concentrating on our
core skills in selected areas of the world. This means focusing on civils work
in the transport and utilities fields, and buildings work, including
facilities management, across a number of areas such as retail, industrial
projects, stadia, hotels and high quality apartments. We will continue to
develop opportunities to work with the Private Finance Initiative. 

"Our Engineering Division, with its technical expertise, will now largely play
a support role to our production divisions. Geographically we will mainly
focus on these core skills across the UK, Asia Pacific and Africa'.


Media enquiries
Tom MacQuillan                            Andrew Wadsted
Taylor Woodrow plc                        Taylor Woodrow Construction
0181 575 4175                             0181 575 4192  
Pager 01399 714261                        Pager 01459 115845


END

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