Compliance with the combined code

The UK Listing Authority requires listed companies to disclose, in relation to section 1 of the Combined Code produced by the Committee on Corporate Governance in June 1998 (the Combined Code), how they have applied its principles and whether they have complied with its provisions throughout the accounting year.

During 2003 we reviewed our corporate governance arrangements in the light of changes proposed to the Combined Code following the recent reports by Higgs and Smith.

The Company has complied fully throughout the accounting period with the provisions set down in Section 1 of the Combined Code, except that during the period two executive directors had contracts with notice periods which exceeded 12 months. The auditor’s report within the Annual Report covers their review of the Company’s compliance with the relevant provisions of the Combined Code.