Appointment

Wolseley PLC
9 August 2001


                                 NEWS RELEASE

                                9 August 2001


                                 Wolseley plc

                        Senior Management Appointments

Following the recent appointment of Charles Banks, Group Chief Executive, two
senior management positions at Wolseley's corporate headquarters have been
announced, effective 1 August 2001.

Rob Marchbank has been appointed Director of Strategic Planning and
Development. His responsibilities will be to focus on Wolseley's overall
strategy for continued and long term development, to ensure comprehensive
planning is in place for Wolseley's continued growth in sales and profits for
new and existing markets. Rob carried out this role for many years at Ferguson
Enterprises Inc, one of Wolseley's principal subsidiaries in the USA. Rob
joined Ferguson in June 1982 and is currently Vice President - Strategic
Planning and Information Systems for Ferguson.

Mike Verrier has been appointed Group Treasurer. Mike joined Wolseley in May
2000 from Albright & Wilson where he was Group Treasurer. Mike has twenty
years of treasury experience working for major corporations including Deloitte
and Touche, Chemical Bank and Dunlop.

Charles Banks said, 'These two appointments will expand the corporate team to
help take us forward into the next stage of the group's development. These are
two very talented individuals that bring additional strength to our management
team'.

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                                  ENQUIRIES:

                    Charles Banks - Group Chief Executive

                    Steve Webster - Group Finance Director

                    Wolseley plc - Telephone [phone]

                        Tom Wyatt - Financial Dynamics

                           Telephone [phone]

                               www.wolseley.com