Contract Awarded

PARITY GROUP PLC
24 August 1999


PARITY SOLUTIONS APPOINTED BY DETR NEXT STEPS AGENCY TO DEVELOP NEW
ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Parity Solutions, part of Parity Group plc, the international IT consultancy
group, has been appointed by The Department of the Environment, Transport and
the Regions ('DETR') to develop a new administration system to support The
Rent Service, a Next Steps Agency of the DETR.  The contract was awarded to
Parity Solutions after a competitive tender to demonstrate its ability to
deliver a system sufficiently flexible to cope with changing business demands
over the next decade as the Agency becomes further established, as well as
being able to adapt to changes in legislation.

The contract, which will initially be worth £1.5 million, will be carried out
under an existing consultancy framework agreement on a time and materials
basis and will utilise skills from all divisions within Parity Solutions.  It
is expected that the system will be completed towards the end of 2000.

Parity will work as a development partner with the Agency using a one-stop
shop approach. Parity services will cover the analysis, design, software
development, installation and ongoing maintenance and support for the system
infrastructure.

Commenting on the award, Keith Jennings, Managing Director of Parity
Solutions, said, 'We are delighted to have won this contract against strong
competition from several of our leading competitors.  We already have a
proven track record working with the Agency, having successfully completed a
Year 2000 programme on time and to budget, rolling it out with full support
and maintenance to 99 offices.'

For The Rent Service, senior manager Norman Foster, said, 'The objective of
the new Rent Service is to provide a national cost effective, high quality
and consistent service at a local level. The new IT system will be designed
to facilitate this role and to improve communications between members of the
Agency, leading to increased efficiency of service. The new system will be
used by staff both in the office and eventually working remotely and will be
designed to improve the quality of service provided to our customers.'

This contract follows the announcement last week of a new £800,000 contract
to develop software for the next generation of BT Payphones.

Further information:

Michael Harrington, Group Communications   Parity Group plc  0171 824 8008
Philippa Power/Sophie Fitton               Brunswick Group   0171 404 5959


Note to Editors:

Parity Group plc is an international IT consultancy group with 40 offices in
the UK, mainland Europe and the USA.  The Group is a FTSE 350 company, listed
on the London Stock Exchange.  In the year to 31 December 1998, Parity plc's
turnover increased by 44 per cent to £290 million, and pre-tax profits rose
49 per cent to £20 million.