£125m North West Water Contract Won

Allen PLC
13 January 2000

                               
                      Allen Plc ('Allen')
 (Hire Services, Housebuilding, Civil Engineering Contracting,
   Building Contracting, Property Development & Investment)
                               
                               
    NORTH WEST WATER AWARDS £125 MILLION CONTRACT TO ALLEN
                               
Allen's  specialist utilities services company,  D  J  Ryan  &
Sons, has been selected as preferred contractor by North  West
Water for a five year term contract commencing on 1 April 2000
covering  the  North  &  South Lakes, Preston,  Blackburn  and
Burnley areas.

The  contract  has a value of approximately  £25  million  per
annum  and  is  for the provision of all service  requirements
including site investigation, engineering design, and  day  to
day  operational  management  to live  networks  and  customer
supplies.

Work   will   include  rehabilitation,  repair  and   reactive
maintenance  in part using trenchless technology.   New  mains
and  service work is also included together with installations
of domestic meters.

Ken Fox, Allen's Chief Executive, commented:

'This  contract  underlines  the  strength  of  our  utilities
businesses  and  in  particular, Ryan's position  as  a  major
service provider in this expanding market.  We are pleased  to
receive  this award from North West Water for the  largest  of
their  areas  and look forward to working in partnership  with
them on the project.

'The  contract for North West Water together with our existing
contracts  for Transco, Norweb and Servern Trent Water  places
us  in  a  strong  position to continue  our  growth  in  this
important sector of our business.'

For further information:

Ken Fox (Chief Executive)                       01204 699277
Neil O'Brien (Group Finance Director)           01204 699277

Brian Coleman-Smith/Bruce Croxford              0171 786 9600
Binns & Co Public Relations