Malcolm Eckersall Appointed Group MD

BICC PLC
4 January 2000


SENIOR MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENT AT BALFOUR BEATTY

Balfour Beatty, the engineering, construction and services group, announces
today the appointment of Malcolm Eckersall as Group Managing Director with
responsibility for Civil and Specialist Engineering and Associated Services. He
joins two existing Group Directors in reporting to Group Chief Executive, Mike
Welton.

They are Paul Lester, who is responsible for UK Construction, and Jim Cohen, 
who is responsible for Railway Engineering and Services and Investments and
Developments.

Malcolm Eckersall, who is 53, joins Balfour Beatty from AMEC where he was a main
board Director. From 1995,he was Group Executive Director with responsibility
for AMEC's Civil Engineering, Building, Design and Management and Electrical and
Mechanical Engineering businesses. From 1991 to l995 he was Chairman of AMEC's
Construction Sector. In all, he has been at AMEC for 25 years, holding a variety
of senior management positions.

Commenting today, Mike Welton, BICC Chief Executive, said 'I am delighted to
welcome Malcolm Eckersall to Balfour Beatty. Malcolm has a wealth of  experience
in engineering management, developing partnerships and alliances with major
customers and in international contracting'.

BICC  Group recently announced that, subject to shareholder approval, it  is  to
change its name to Balfour Beatty plc. It is also  introducing a new  reporting
structure for the businesses following the sale of its energy and  
communication cables businesses earlier this year. The five new segments are as
follows:

        Building, Building Management and Services Balfour Beatty is an         
       international specialist in the design construction, equipping,
        maintaining and management of buildings and selected aspects of their
        internal environment.

        Civil and Specialist Engineering and Services Balfour Beatty is a       
       leading provider of civil and other specialist engineering, design       
      skills, principally in the transport and energy sectors of the
        international infrastructure market, and including the United States    
           
        Railway Engineering  and Services
        Balfour Beatty is an international leader in the design, construction,
        equipping, maintenance and management of rail assets and systems.

        Investments and Developments
        Balfour Beatty promotes and invests in privately funded infracture      
       projects developments in selected sectors in the UK and overseas.

        Data Cable Systems

        Brand-Rex is a leading international manufacturer of data and           
       specialist cables and cable systems.

                              
        Enquiries to: 
        Tim Sharp 
        BICC Group.
        Tel: [phone]