Worthington Nicholls Group plc
21 February 2007
RNS release
21 February 2007
Major new international contract secured
Worthington Nicholls Group plc (AIM: WNG) ('Worthington Nicholls' or the
'Company'), one of the UK's largest independent installers of air conditioning,
heating, ventilation and chilled water systems, has signed an agreement with
Australian software specialists Q2 Solutions Pty Limited ('Q2'), a leading
supplier to the InterContinental Hotels Group ('IHG').
Q2 has appointed Worthington Nicholls to be its preferred service provider to
install and maintain Q2's ESCAP IHG service software solution ('ESCAP') in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa ('EMEA') for an initial period of five years
with a rolling three year notice period thereafter. Worthington Nicholls has,
over the past six months, sent employees to Q2 in Australia to receive training
in the installation and support of the ESCAP system.
ESCAP is a bespoke web-based software product, developed specifically for IHG's
hotel brands which include InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn,
Express by Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites. ESCAP enables hotel managers to
benchmark and monitor individual hotel engineering and maintenance performance
on a global and regional basis, and ensures that engineering and maintenance
tasks are carried out consistently whilst costs and resources are managed with
increased efficiency. The system is currently successfully deployed in 66 IHG
hotels in Asia Pacific.
IHG has confirmed that Worthington Nicholls will be its preferred provider of
ESCAP to its estate of hotels within EMEA and will train staff, install and
operate the software in all owned, managed and franchised hotels that subscribe
to the system.
Under the terms of the agreement, in the first year Worthington Nicholls is
aiming to provide ESCAP to up to 197 IHG owned/managed hotels in EMEA. Upon
installation of the software the Company will receive a one-off licence fee of
€7,500 per hotel. It will also receive annual additional software support and
maintenance fees payable over the term of the agreement. Worthington Nicholls
has already commenced the ESCAP roll out to IHG owned/managed hotels.
Worthington Nicholls will also market the benefits of ESCAP to IHG's 420
franchise hotels in EMEA. The contract value with IHG franchised hotels and the
cost of ESCAP support and maintenance contracts will be negotiated on a hotel by
hotel basis.
Mark Worthington, Chief Executive of Worthington Nicholls, said:
'This agreement expands the breadth of our services into facilities management
support. An important part of winning the Q2 contract was our principal
contractor status with IHG. This is a major opportunity for Worthington Nicholls
to continue to grow the business in the EMEA region. It has taken 12 months of
negotiation to secure this agreement with Q2 and we now look forward to
delivering it successfully into IHG's EMEA estate.'
Enquiries:
Worthington Nicholls 0870 609 1829
Mark Worthington, Chief Executive
David Levis, Corporate Director
Gresham PR Ltd 020 7404 9000
Neil Boom / Laura Black
Corporate Synergy 020 7448 4400
Rhod Cruwys / Romil Patel
Halliwells LLP 0870 365 8000
Frank Shephard / Lisa Stavropoulos
Information on Worthington Nicholls can be accessed via the Group's website:
www.worthington-nicholls.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange