Change of Name

BICC PLC
10 May 2000


BICC GROUP RENAMED AS BALFOUR BEATTY PLC
========================================

Balfour Beatty plc, the international engineering, construction and services
group, has today officially changed its name from BICC plc, following the
disposal of the group's worldwide cables interests in 1999 and early 2000.

Balfour Beatty is a £2.5 billion turnover group with four principal business
areas (Building, Building Management and Services; Civil and Specialist
Engineering and Services; Rail Engineering and Services; and Investments and
Developments).

It is an international leader in the provision of engineering, construction
and service skills to customers for whom infrastructure quality, reliability
and efficiency are critical.

The company, which was recently recategorised from the electrical to the
construction sector in the FTSE, has a number of differentiating features.

USA
---

Balfour Beatty is the biggest and most successful UK-based engineering,
construction and services group operating in the USA, with annual sales in
excess of $600 million.  The US market is underpinned by the Transport Equity
Act 21, which commits federal funds to support state and other transport
infrastructure investment initiatives.  Balfour Beatty's operations in the US
comprise civil engineering, railway engineering, architectural, engineering
and programme management and building management control systems.  Amongst its
key projects are the electrification of the railway line between Boston and
New Haven for Amtrak and the seismic retrofit of the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco Bay.  The market, which is growing overall, is estimated for rail
infrastructure alone at some $15 billion per year.

PFI
---

Balfour Beatty was amongst the first and is one of the most successful
entrants into the privately financed infrastructure market.  It has 11
concessions under the UK government's Private Finance Initiative, three of
which are currently at preferred bidder stage.  In roads, the A1/M1 Link in
Yorkshire, the A50 in Derbyshire and the A30/A35 in Devon and Dorset are all
completed and in full operation.  In the healthcare sector, Balfour Beatty has
two projects under construction - the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Medical
School and the North Durham Hospital at Dryburn - and the University College
London Hospital at preferred bidder stage.  In the power sector, Balfour
Beatty is responsible for the maintenance, operation and development of London
Underground's high-voltage power distribution system and has recently
commissioned a waste-to-energy power station in Dundee.

In education, the company is preferred bidder for the maintenance of Stoke
area schools.  As part of the Metronet consortium, the company has
prequalified for both the deep-line concessions and for the sub-surface lines
for the London Underground PPP.

The UK government estimates that some £20 billion worth of PFI deals will be
signed over the next three years.

Rail
----

Balfour Beatty is the UK's largest and most versatile rail engineering and
services company.  The company, with a turnover of approaching £400 million,
has expertise which ranges from high-speed rail to mass transit and includes
trackwork, overhead and third rail electrification, signalling, power supply
systems, switches and crossings and rail-related civil engineering.  The
company, which has project experience around the world, recently acquired two
leading US trackwork specialists.  Investment in the world's rail
infrastructure is growing rapidly under the influence of rapid traffic growth,
the development of mass transit systems, rail utility restructuring and the
increasing involvement of the private sector.

Services
--------

In each of the four businesses which make up Balfour Beatty, there is a strong
service element.  In total, Balfour Beatty has more than £600 million turnover
per year in support services.  It has a market-leading asset and facilities
management business, Haden Building Management.  This business was recently
awarded, with partners, a five-year, £500 million premises management contract
for BT, the largest such contract ever let in the UK.

It has a rail maintenance capability, currently responsible for maintaining
some 30% of the UK rail network, and it has a substantial and growing road
management and maintenance business carrying out contracts for the Highways
Agency and a range of local authorities.

UK Construction
---------------

Through a clear focus on business process improvement and improved supply
chain management, Balfour Beatty operates with industry best margins in the
building and building services sectors.  It brings to the market a wide range
of skills from design through construction management, construction,
electrical and mechanical engineering, building and asset management and
building management control systems.



In each of our four business sectors we are able to work right across the
supply chain from initial concept to whole-life management.  We are
specialists in the management of complexity and the project and risk
management skills associated with it.  We believe that we can secure superior
and improving returns from the value which we add in so doing.

Our priorities for 2000 are to further refine the business mix, invest in our
growth businesses and to continue to manage the improvement and development
strategies in each of our four business streams.

Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Balfour Beatty plc
Tel: [phone]