Investment In Vocalex

Interregnum PLC
4 December 2000


INTERREGNUM PLC

£1 Million Investment in Vocalex Group Inc.

Interregnum plc ('Interregnum'), the IT investment and advisory company, today
announces its ninth investment since flotation on the Alternative Investment
Market in March 2000.  It has provided £1 million in equity in third round
funding to Vocalex Group Inc. ('Vocalex'), a speech recognition software
company.

Vocalex produces context lexicons and voice enabling tools that enhance speech
recognition together with user interface software, particularly focusing on
the healthcare, insurance and government sectors.  It provides speech-enabled
technologies to organisations in the UK and North America including several
medical centres, insurance companies and insurance IT providers in the US.  

Vocalex also has strategic partnerships with companies including Philips
Speech Processing, a business unit of Philips Electronics NV, and it has
recently announced partnerships with Healthcare Technologies Inc., a leading
US medical transcription software company, and WAM!NET Inc., a leading
provider of business-to-business network, data storage, application and
hosting services,  to provide speech enabled services to the US medical
market.  

The Group is headquartered in Ohio, USA and consists of two wholly owned 
subsidiaries, Vocalex Inc. (in Ohio, USA) and Mancom Technologies Ltd. (in
Sheffield, UK).  

The funding will be used to enhance the global sales and marketing operations
at Vocalex.

Interregnum has worked with Vocalex since June 1997 and post third round
funding, owns 23% of the company in equity and holds options of 4% of the
issued share capital.  Vocalex had previously attracted funding in excess of
£1 million from NCIC Capital Fund, May Davis Group and private investors.  

Commenting on the investment, Andrew De Abreu, Associate Director at
Interregnum plc, said:

'Interregnum has worked with Vocalex since 1997 to successfully position the
company as a USA market leader in the provision of speech recognition
solutions to key sectors of healthcare and insurance. 
 
'We are excited about the growth potential at Vocalex and look forward to
continuing to work with the management team.'

Peter Barron, Chairman and CEO of Vocalex, added:

'Vocalex's software is ideally suited to markets such as healthcare, insurance
and government, where significant cost savings and productivity gains can be
achieved through the use of speech enabled applications.

'The combination of our new products and tool sets with the advanced core
speech recognition technology from Philips gives us a significant competitive
edge in the market.  The investment by Interregnum will allow us to build
additional development and sales resources and to continue expanding the
number and depth of our customer base.'

For further information please contact:

Andrew De Abreu, Associate Director 
Interregnum plc                                      Tel:       [phone]

Paul Downes/Vanessa Maydon
Merlin Financial                                     Tel:       [phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Interregnum plc

- Interregnum plc ('Interregnum') is an IT investment and advisory company.   
  It works with high potential IT entrepreneurs to develop, resource and      
  implement aggressive, marketing-led, value building strategies and to       
  'transform technology into wealth'.

- It provides both intellectual and financial capital to companies from       
  conception to exit including:

- Venture Marketing: working as non-executive directors with IT companies to  
  develop, fund and implement aggressive business strategies;
- Research & Consulting: working with innovators and investors on specific    
  projects where the critical analysis or development of strategies is        
  involved;
- Transactions: advising on mergers and acquisitions, principally focusing on 
  turn-arounds and roll-ups; 
- Venture Capital: co-investing with institutional and private investors.     
  Interregnum is also raising a £75 million venture capital fund.

- Interregnum - (www.interregnum.com) is headquartered in London with an      
  office in San Francisco, USA, and associates in Silicon Valley and New York.
  The company currently employs 26 people.
- It currently has a portfolio of 30 IT and IT-related investments with       
  holdings principally in hardware, software, services and internet           
  infrastructure businesses.

- Its recent investments include:

- Respond: £2 million in a CRM software and services vendor
- Nanomagnetics: £500,000 in an information storage materials company
- Computerwire: £250,000 in an online IT intelligence researcher and publisher
- on board info: £950,000 in software and e-commerce e-calendar company 
- Mediasurface: £270,000 in a web content management company
- Datapoint: £3.9 million in a contact centre consultancy and services company
- Synaxia:  £67,000 in a company that develops next generation storage        
  management products
- Interregnum floated on the Alternative Investment Market ('AIM') in March   
  2000.  At 1 December 2000, it is capitalised at £67.3 million.


NCIC

- The National Center for Industrial Competitiveness ('NCIC') provides debt   
  and equity financing for early stage technology companies.