Cisco Agreement

Acal PLC
26 October 2001


Press Release                         For Release   7.00 AM    26 October 2001

 Acal plc, 2 Chancellor Court, Occam Road, Surrey Research Park, Guildford, GU2
 7AH, England
 Telephone : [phone]            Fax : [phone]


                              ACAL plc ('Acal')

          ACAL AWARDED EUROPEAN CISCO DISTRIBUTION PARTNER STATUS

Cisco has announced its new Europe, Middle East and Africa Distribution
strategy and has awarded Acal one of their prestigious Cisco Distribution
Partner positions.

Within Western Europe, the Cisco Distribution Partners, of which there are
seven, are the only distributors that will have a direct purchasing
relationship with Cisco.  The  remaining distributors in Western Europe,
called Cisco Authorised Distributors, will in future have to procure Cisco
products from a Cisco Distribution Partner.

Paris G Arey, Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa Channels &
Alliances, Cisco Systems Inc. said:

'Our Cisco Distribution Partners have been carefully selected on the basis of
many criteria including financial breadth, the ability to integrate into
Cisco's backend systems and processes and particularly their ability to work
on a pan-European basis.  Acal has demonstrated these capabilities and we look
forward to working with them in their new role as Cisco Distribution Partner.'

Acal's 'centre of excellence' for Cisco is the Netherlands where they have
been a Cisco distributor for seven years and Tony Laughton, Acal's Chief
Executive Officer, said:-

'Our networking products business has grown significantly in recent years.
This appointment as a Cisco Distribution Partner is both a great honour and a
challenge for Acal.  It will enable us to achieve our desire to grow and
extend our networking activities in Europe, and reflects the success that our
team in the Netherlands, headed by Kees van Kempen and Marcel van Eemeren, has
achieved.'


Contact:  Tony Laughton                   Jim Virdee
          Chief Executive                 Finance Director
          Tel:  [phone]        Tel:  [phone]
          [e-mail]         [e-mail]

Notes to Editors:-

1                    The Acal Group is a leading European, value-added
distributor providing specialist design-in, sales and marketing services for
international suppliers in the fields of Electronic Components, Information
Technology Products, IT Parts Services and Industrial Controls.  Its
value-added philosophy and geographic coverage enables Acal to provide
specialist knowledge and support to customers on a pan-European basis.

2                    Acal has operating companies in the UK, Netherlands,
Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the USA.