Ordinary Shares of 10p

Ashtead Group plc

8 April 2008

                               ASHTEAD GROUP PLC                               

                            Ordinary Shares of 10p                             

Ashtead Group plc announces it has been advised that on 7th April 2008, Lazard
Asset Management LLC were interested in a total of 26,964,995 shares (or 5.05%
of its share capital).

Enquiries:

Ashtead Group plc 020 7726 9740

Eric Watkins