William Hay & Sons (Aberdeen) Ltd.

Beverley Road :: Inverurie AB51 3QN
Telephone: (01467) 634800 Fax: (01467) 634801

PRESS RELEASE

MONDAY 9TH APRIL 2001

The Directors of Woodrow's of Dunfermline Limited announce the acquisition of William Hay & Sons (Aberdeen) Limited.

Andrew Gillies (Woodrow's Managing Director) states, "We are delighted with this acquisition. Founded in 1908 Woodrow's has expanded steadily and this provides increased geographical coverage throughout Scotland. Hays are, like ourselves, a family owned business and we believe the two companies can dovetail well together."

Michael Hay (the retiring Hays Managing Director) adds "We have worked closely with Woodrow's over many years and, indeed they have in more recent years manufactured Hays products on our behalf. Knowing the Woodrow's directors well we believe that this move represents the best way forward for the development of Hays."

"We would like to take this opportunity to recognise the efforts of the retiring directors in building the Company into the highly respected name it carries within the local community and we look forward to working with the Hays staff in the future. We are particularly pleased that the Hays name will continue to be involved in that Arthur Hay will be remaining in the role of General Manager based in Inverurie. This will provide continuity for both staff and customers", Andrew Gillies continued..

Michael Hay welcomed these sentiments, "We would also like to offer our sincere thanks to the staff for their loyal support and wish them success under the new ownership. We are confident that Hays will go from strength to strength."

END OF RELEASE