Leicester University Hospitals Pathway PFI

Serco joint venture appointed preferred bidder for Leicester University    
                             Hospitals Pathway PFI                             

Serco Group plc's ('Serco') joint venture with Equion Ltd, the accommodation
division of John Laing plc, has today been named as preferred bidder for a
major programme to improve health services in Leicester.

The Pathway project, commissioned by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS
Trust, involves extensively refurbishing, modernising and supporting three
hospitals.

Patients will benefit from modern hospitals providing shorter waiting times,
increased privacy, new technology to support clinical care and more effective
community care. Employees will benefit from better working facilities and
closer working relationships between medical teams.

The joint venture will be responsible for designing, constructing, maintaining
and supporting the three hospital sites. The joint venture has appointed Laing
O'Rourke as design and construction contractor and Serco as the support
services provider.

Serco already provides facilities management services to one of the hospitals -
Leicester Royal Infirmary - and this contract continues until financial close
is reached on the PFI which is expected in 2006, after which the FM contract
will expand to cover all three sites.

It is anticipated construction will start in 2006 and Serco will support the
new facilities as they come on stream and manage the transition process. When
the five-year development phase is finished, Serco will provide support
services to the Trust for a further 30 years. In total, the operating contract
is valued at around £1.2bn to Serco over the 35 years.

In addition to its work at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Serco provides support to
the NHS through its health consulting business and through services provided to
Wishaw Hospital in Lanarkshire and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.

Serco chief executive Christopher Hyman said: 'We are delighted that the Trust
has selected us as preferred bidder for this very important contract. The award
reflects the quality of the services we already provide to Leicester Royal
Infirmary and our proven track record in change management. We look forward to
working with Equion to deliver this exciting project for the people of
Leicester.'

                                   - Ends -                                    

For further information please contact Serco Group plc: T [phone]

Dominic Cheetham, Corporate Communications Director

Richard Hollins, Head of Investor Relations

Notes to editors

The project covers three major hospitals within Leicester City: Leicester Royal
Infirmary; Leicester General Hospital; and Glenfield Hospital.

The main elements of the plan include developing a new Women's and Perinatal
Unit by merging the two maternity units onto the Glenfield Hospital site,
refurbishing the majority of the service facilities at the Leicester Royal
Infirmary, developing state-of-the-art planned care and rehabilitation
facilities at the Leicester General Hospital and developing a new
multi-professional education and training centre in partnership with the
University of Leicester School of Medicine and the De Montfort School of
Nursing & Midwifery.

Serco is one of the world's leading service companies operating on an
international basis in a diverse range of sectors, including health, education,
science, local government, transport, justice and defence. More information can
be found at www.serco.com

Equion, part of John Laing plc, is a specialist provider of facilities in the
PFI and PPP markets with a long-term perspective and approach. The company
manages and delivers projects from planning and funding through to design,
construction and operation. It is actively involved in the management of a wide
range of health, education, police, defence and special purpose government
facilities. www.equion.ltd.uk

Laing O'Rourke is one of the UK's leading constructors, a global business with
a turnover approaching £2bn and over 16,000 employees worldwide.