7 Jul 2005

Interserve Plc, the infrastructure and facilities management group, today announces the appointment of a chairman designate and provides an update on first-half trading to 30 June 2005 in advance of announcing interim results on 12 September 2005.

Board Appointment
The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Norman Blackwell (Lord Blackwell) as Non-Executive Director (chairman designate) with effect from 1 September 2005. Mike Bottjer intends to stand down as Chairman, and from the Board, at the end of the year, at which time Lord Blackwell will be appointed as his successor.

Trading Update
Overall trading in the first half has continued well and in line with our expectations. In addition to benefiting in the period from the contribution of the recently-secured South East Regional Prime project, our Facilities Services division has won significant long-term contracts in the health and education PFI markets. Industrial Services has furthered its transition towards a revenue mix focused on term-maintenance contracts. Project Services continues to enjoy a healthy flow of new work in the education and health markets and through its established framework partnerships. Equipment Services has made good progress, particularly in the Middle East and the UK.

The interim results will be our first reported under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). A seminar explaining the accounting changes and their impact on Interserve was held on 7 June 2005. Copies of the presentation and of the explanatory notes are available on the Group website (www.interserveplc.co.uk).
The Board remains confident that the Group is well placed to deliver continued growth through 2005 and beyond.

Note
Lord Blackwell currently has a range of business interests including non-executive directorships at Standard Life Assurance and Slough Estates plc.  He is also a non-executive Board Member of the Office of Fair Trading.  In his earlier career he was a partner of McKinsey & Company until 1995 and was Head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from 1995-1997.   He was created a life peer in 1997.