New Factory Site

Gooch & Housego PLC
18 January 2005




18 January 2005



                              Gooch & Housego PLC
                                        
                                New Factory Site
                                        
After a four-year search for a suitable site on which to construct a new factory
and headquarters building Gooch & Housego PLC is hopeful that it will soon be
able to announce the acquisition of a factory and land in Ilminster.

Clarks, the well-known shoe manufacturer, recently announced that it would cease
production at its Dowlish Ford factory, on the edge of Ilminster, in March this
year. The facility will close in April. Gooch & Housego and Clarks have begun
discussions with a view to Gooch & Housego acquiring the facility, thereby
enabling the site to continue to be used for employment purposes. Although a sad
development for the Clarks workforce, this represents an exciting opportunity
for Gooch &Housego and an important step for Ilminster in enabling major
employer to stay and expand in the town.

It is essential for Gooch & Housego to find larger premises in order to prevent
future growth being constrained by lack of space. It is also important for Gooch
& Housego to have a high quality, clean environment in which to manufacture its
precision optoelectronic products. At nearly eight acres and with a number of
good quality buildings in place, the Clarks site represents an ideal location
for a new G&H facility. By combining the restoration and refurbishment of the
best of the existing buildings with an element of new build, subject to planning
consent, Gooch & Housego hopes to create a facility that will improve efficiency
and provide scope for substantial future growth. It is significant that this
development will potentially allow Gooch & Housego to begin to benefit from the
additional space within months.

For further information :

Gareth Jones                              01460 52271
Gooch & Housego PLC

Tim Thompson                              0207 466 5000
Buchanan Communications Ltd



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