Re Contract

RM PLC
04 February 2003


                                                               4th February 2003


RM awarded contract to provide ICT infrastructure to schools in Northern Ireland


RM plc, the UK's leading supplier of ICT and services to education
establishments, announces today that it will provide infrastructure software and
services, and computer hardware to all 237 post-primary and 48 special needs
schools in Northern Ireland.

The project is worth £21 million to RM over five years and is part of the third
phase of Northern Ireland's Classroom 2000 (C2K) initiative.  RM will be acting
as a sub-contractor to Sx3, the IT services company.  Sx3 is the prime
contractor for the £60 million project, and has been selected to provide a
complete managed service (including delivery, management and support) to the
schools.

RM will provide a sophisticated network infrastructure system, based on its
Community Connect 3 product family, to the project.  RM has worked closely with
Sx3 to provide a solution that effectively brings together all 285 schools into
a single network, which will be one of the largest implementations of
Microsoft's networking technologies in Europe.  The Group will also provide its
innovative, proven PC systems, including network servers and 23,000
workstations.

Commenting on the contract, Tim Pearson, CEO of RM, said:

'We reported in November that RM was targeting a number of major strategic
projects.  The Northern Ireland contract is one of these and is a major win for
RM's market-leading Community Connect network infrastructure system.  We're
committed to working with Sx3 to ensure that post-primary schools in Northern
Ireland have a solid technology platform on which to deliver educational
benefits.'

Noel Brady, Managing Director of Sx3 Ireland, said:

'We have been heavily involved in the C2K project from the outset, and being
awarded the third phase is a landmark achievement for our company.  We have
worked with RM for many years and together we will deliver a leading-edge
service from which 167,000 teachers and pupils are guaranteed to benefit.'

Joe Martin, Chief Executive of the Western Education and Library Board, added:

'ICT is recognised as key to the future of education and with the support of Sx3
and RM, the implementation of the third phase will take us one step closer to
meeting the objectives of the Education Department's ET strategy.'


                                    - Ends -


For further information, please contact:

Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc                              08709 200200

Andrew Fenwick/Fiona Fong, Brunswick                          020 7404 5959


Notes to Editors:


1.   The contract for Phase 3 of the C2K initiative has been awarded by the 
     Western Education & Library Board on behalf of all Northern Ireland 
     post-primary and special education needs schools.

2.   The Sx3 / RM consortium has been in sole negotiations since July 2002 and 
     was appointed preferred bidder for the contract in November 2002 and has 
     worked closely with the Western Education Library Board since to specify 
     the technical solution.

3.   Phase 3 of the C2K initiative is the largest contract so far in Northern 
     Ireland's project to equip all of its schools with the latest information 
     and communications technology.


4.   RM has a long track record of working with Sx3 to provide educational ICT 
     to schools in Northern Ireland.  Sx3 is a member of the Viridian Group plc 
     and employs 1,300 people in its four divisions - Sx3 Ireland, Sx3 
     Applications Solutions, Sx3 Infrastructure Services and Sx3 Scotland.  
     Sx3 offers a wide range of IT related business process outsourcing products 
     and services, including network and systems integration, software 
     development and desktop managed services.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange