Institutional Placing

Gooch & Housego PLC
06 March 2006



For Immediate Release                                              6 March 2006


                              Gooch & Housego PLC


                  Institutional Placing of Gooch Family Shares


The Gooch family and their various family and charitable trusts ('the Gooch
Family') today announce that they have reduced their holding in Gooch & Housego
Plc.


Gooch & Housego PLC ('Gooch & Housego' or 'the Company'), the specialist
manufacturer of acoustic-optic and electro-optic devices, precision optical
components, crystals, instruments for measuring optical radiation and
hyperspectral imaging systems, announces that the Gooch Family has reduced its
shareholding in Gooch & Housego from 40.8% to 30.8% by selling 1,800,000 shares
at 360p per share (the 'Sale Shares') to institutional investors through Oriel
Securities Limited.


The exact details of the disposals and the underlying beneficiaries who sold
them and the resulting holdings of the various 'Gooch Family' Interests, are as
follows:

+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|Beneficiary  |No. of      |% of issued    |No of shares  |% of issued share   |
|             |Shares      |share capital  |remaining to  |capital remaining to|
|             |disposed of:|disposed       |be held       |be held             |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|The Gooch    |            |               |              |                    |
|1997         |            |               |              |                    |
|Discretionary| 1,200,000  |          6.7% |   1,799,880  |              10.0% |
|Settlement   |            |               |              |                    |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|The Gooch    |            |               |              |                    |
|Charitable   |            |               |              |                    |
|Trust        |            |               |              |                    |
|(Ilminster)  |   200,000  |          1.1% |      77,000  |               0.4% |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|Heather      |   400,000  |          2.2% |   2,333,226  |              13.0% |
|Virgin       |            |               |              |                    |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|Others       |         Nil|            Nil|   1,341,173  |               7.4% |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+
|      Total  | 1,800,000  |         10.0% |   5,551,279  |              30.8% |
+-------------+------------+---------------+--------------+--------------------+


Following the share sale referred to in this announcement, the Gooch Family and
the trustees have indicated that they have no intention of selling further
shares for the foreseeable future.

Commenting on this announcement, Gareth Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Gooch
& Housego, said:


'This is a positive development for Gooch & Housego. The Gooch Family's
reduction in its shareholding in Gooch & Housego marks another milestone in the
growth of our business and has enabled the Company to broaden its institutional
shareholder base significantly. The Company's shareholder register is
strengthened as a result and we would anticipate that future liquidity will be
enhanced. I would like to both welcome our new shareholders to Gooch & Housego
and to record my thanks for the Gooch Family's historic and continued support
for the Company.'


For further information please contact

Gareth Jones, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, 01460 52271
Tim Thompson, Buchanan Communication Ltd, 020 7466 5000
Andrew Edwards, Oriel Securities Limited, 020 7710 7600




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