Board changes and update

Worthington Nicholls Group plc 19 September 2007 Worthington Nicholls Group plc Notification of board changes and update Worthington Nicholls Group plc ('Worthington Nicholls', the 'Company' or the 'Group'), installers of air conditioning, heating, ventilation and chilled water systems, announces the following changes to the board of directors of the Company (the 'Board' or the 'Directors'). Interim Finance Director The Board is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Neilson as interim Finance Director with immediate effect. Chris will take over responsibility for all financial matters whilst the Company seeks a permanent candidate for this role. Chris has advised a number of companies on financial reporting and strategy having previously worked for two AIM listed companies. He joined Synexus Clinical Research plc ('Synexus') in September 2005 as finance director to strengthen its board of directors prior to it flotation in November 2005. During his time with Synexus he helped to deliver the initial phase of a buy and build strategy through overseeing the acquisition of two businesses in central Europe and the maiden results in line with City expectations. Prior to working with Synexus, Chris spent seven years with Inter Link Foods plc ('Inter Link') as both finance director and business development director. He was the finance director of Inter Link during the time of its AIM flotation and when it raised £21 million from three share issues. During his time with Inter Link, it integrated several acquisitions in UK and Europe and its annual turnover increased from a break-even level of £5 million to £98 million with profits of £5.9 million. This appointment will bring significant public company experience to bear on the Group's finances whilst a permanent, full time finance director can be identified with a suitable background and experience. As part of this reorganisation of the finance function within the Group, Tim Hunt, the current Finance Director, will step down from the Board. Since being appointed in January 2007, Tim has focused his attentions on dealing with the City, reviewing internal systems and procedures and dealing with acquisitions. As a result of the significant amount of work involved in these areas particularly for a newly floated company with a highly acquisitive strategy, Tim and the Board have decided that, in the best interests of the Group, his focus should be on the financial operational aspects of the business and he has therefore agreed to step down from the Board, to allow a new finance director to be appointed to deal with the City. Tim will remain with the Group going forward in a senior role as Head of Finance. Operational and accounting policies reviews As part of his new role as Chairman, Alastair Stoddart has implemented two reviews aimed at assisting the Group in identifying areas for improvement and to ensure the adoption across the Group of best practices identified from within newly acquired companies. The first is a strategic and operational review of the Group focused on organic growth opportunities, integration of the acquired businesses, margins and ensuring the adoption of best practices within the Group. The review is being carried out in two stages; Mr Frank Holland with a strategic focus and Gary Price with an operational focus. Frank Holland was a founding director of MITIE Air Conditioning (North) Limited and is a business consultant to the building services industry on an international basis. He has many years' experience within the building services industry. Gary Price was formerly Managing Director of Project Air Limited which was acquired by Worthington Nicholls in June 2006 and historically achieved gross margins significantly ahead of those achieved by other Group companies. As part of the acquisition, Gary was contracted to Project Air Limited until 30 June 2007. He has since agreed to remain with the Group and now has specific responsibility for identifying and implementing robust operating practices in relation to project planning and margin enhancement throughout the Group. The Board is also conducting a review of the Company's accounting policies, the manner in which they are applied and their suitability to the recently enlarged Group. Shareholders will recognise that the Group has changed considerably in a very short space of time through five acquisitions and the Board considers it prudent to undertake such a review at this time. Further Acquisitions The Board would also like to clarify the position regarding further acquisitions. Whilst cash balances were c£12.5m as at 17 September 2007, the Board will not be considering making further acquisitions in the short term. This is to allow the Directors the time to ensure the acquisitions made to date are sufficiently integrated into the Group. The acquisition strategy previously outlined to the Company's shareholders does, however, still form a significant part of the longer term strategy of the Group. Trading statement The Group's current financial year ends on 30 September 2007. The Board intends to issue a trading statement in the second half of October 2007 outlining, in broad terms, the expected outturn for this financial year. At that time the Board will provide an update on the progress of the reviews that are referred to above. Information required under Schedule 2, Para (g) of the AIM Rules: Christopher Neilson (aged 53) is currently, or has been in the past five years, a director of the following companies: Current: Past: Manweb Communications Limited Inter Link Foods Plc Inter Link Food Group Limited ILG Realisations (No. 1) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 2) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 4) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 5) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 7) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 8) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 9) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 10) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 14) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 15) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 16) Limited ILG Realisations (No. 17) Limited Butlers Pantry Foods Limited Hepworth and Whittles Limited Iatro Limited Farmhouse Bakery Holdings Limited Study Recruitment Services Limited Synexus Clinical Research plc The contents of this announcement include the full disclosures required under Schedule 2, Para (g) of the AIM Rules. Enquiries, please contact: Worthington Nicholls Group 0870 609 1829 Alastair Stoddart, Chairman Chris Neilson, Finance Director Smithfield Group 020 7360 4900 Katie Hunt / Miranda Good Blue Oar Securities 020 7448 4400 Rhod Cruwys / Romil Patel END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100

Latest directors dealings