New Factory Site

Gooch & Housego PLC 18 January 2005 18 January 2005 Gooch & Housego PLC New Factory Site After a four-year search for a suitable site on which to construct a new factory and headquarters building Gooch & Housego PLC is hopeful that it will soon be able to announce the acquisition of a factory and land in Ilminster. Clarks, the well-known shoe manufacturer, recently announced that it would cease production at its Dowlish Ford factory, on the edge of Ilminster, in March this year. The facility will close in April. Gooch & Housego and Clarks have begun discussions with a view to Gooch & Housego acquiring the facility, thereby enabling the site to continue to be used for employment purposes. Although a sad development for the Clarks workforce, this represents an exciting opportunity for Gooch &Housego and an important step for Ilminster in enabling major employer to stay and expand in the town. It is essential for Gooch & Housego to find larger premises in order to prevent future growth being constrained by lack of space. It is also important for Gooch & Housego to have a high quality, clean environment in which to manufacture its precision optoelectronic products. At nearly eight acres and with a number of good quality buildings in place, the Clarks site represents an ideal location for a new G&H facility. By combining the restoration and refurbishment of the best of the existing buildings with an element of new build, subject to planning consent, Gooch & Housego hopes to create a facility that will improve efficiency and provide scope for substantial future growth. It is significant that this development will potentially allow Gooch & Housego to begin to benefit from the additional space within months. For further information : Gareth Jones 01460 52271 Gooch & Housego PLC Tim Thompson 0207 466 5000 Buchanan Communications Ltd This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange