Holding in Company

Great Universal Stores PLC
19 January 2001


Letter to Company Announcements Office 

The Great Universal Stores P.L.C. has today received notification, pursuant to
Sections 198 to 208 of the Companies Act 1985, from Fidelity Investments
advising that FMR Corp. (and its direct and indirect subsidiaries), Fidelity
International Limited (and its direct and indirect subsidiaries) and Mr Edward
C. Johnson 3d (principal shareholder of FMR Corp. and Fidelity International
Limited) hold an interest in 30,231,974 ordinary shares of 25p each in this
Company.  This holding represents 3% of the issued ordinary share capital of the
Company (currently 1,006,217,594 shares).

A copy of the notice received from Fidelity Investments is below for
completeness.

Letter from Great Universal Stores PLC


NOTIFICATIONS UNDER SECTIONS 198 TO 202 -- UK COMPANIES ACT

1. Company in which shares are held:      Great Universal Stores Plc

2. Notifiable Interest:                   Ordinary Shares

     A     FMR Corp
           82 Devonshire Street
           Boston, MA 02109

           Parent holding company of Fidelity Management & Research Company 
           (FMRCO), investment manager for US mutual funds, and Fidelity
           Management Trust Company (FMTC), a US state chartered bank which
           acts as a trustee or investment manager of various pension and trust
           accounts. (See Schedule A for listing of Registered Shareholders 
           and their holdings.)

     B     Fidelity International Limited (FIL)
           P.O. BOX HM 670
           Hamilton HMCX, Bermuda

           Parent holding company for various direct and indirect subsidiaries,
           including Fidelity Investment Services Ltd (FISL), and               
           Fidelity Pension Management (FPM), investment managers for various   
           non-US investment companies and institutional 
           clients. (See Schedule A for listing of Registered Shareholders and 
           their holdings).

3.     The notifiable interests also comprise the notifiable interest of

           Mr Edward C Johnson 3d
           82 Devonshire Street
           Boston, MA 02109

           A principal shareholder and Chairman of FMR Corp. and Fidelity 
           International Limited.

4.     The notifiable interests include interest held on behalf of authorized
       unit trust schemes in the U.K. notwithstanding the exemption from 
       reporting pursuant to Section 209 (1) (e) of the Companies Act 1985.

5.     These notifications of disclosable interests constitute separate
       notifications of interest in the shares and are combined solely for 
       the purposes of clarity. Nothing herein should be taken to indicate 
       that FMR Corp. and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, 
       Fidelity International Limited and its direct and indirect subsidiaries
       or Mr Edward C Johnson 3d act as a group or in concert in respect of 
       the disclosed interests, or that they are required to submit these 
       notifications on a joint basis.

6.     The disclosable interests arise under section 208(4) (b) of the Act,
       namely where a person, not being the registered holder, is entitled
       to exercise a right conferred by the holding of the shares or to 
       control the exercise of such rights, or under section 203 of the Act
       respectively.

SCHEDULE A

SECURITY: GREAT UNIVERSAL STORES PLC                     


                      SHARES HELD   MANAGEMENT   NOMINEE/REGISTERED
                                     COMPANY     NAME
(Ordinary Shares)

                    
                      2,387,480       FMRCO      State Street Nominees Limited
                      2,007,000       FMRCO      Chase Nominees Limited
                         30,900       FMTC       State Street Nominees Ltd.
                        297,300       FMTC       Lloyds Bank Nominees Limited
                         40,600       FMTC       Bank of New York- Europe
                         23,300       FMTC       Nortrust Nominees
                      9,579,852       FISL       Clydesdale Bank (Head Office)  
                                                 Nominees Limited
                         92,900       FPM        Bankers Trust
                         94,100       FPM        Citibank
                         77,800       FPM        BT Globenet Nominees Ltd
                         40,700       FPM        MSS Nominees Ltd
                        244,600       FPM        Chase Nominees Ltd
                        205,800       FPM        HSBC Client Holdings Nominee   
                                                 (UK) Limited
                        539,600       FPM        Nortrust Nominees Ltd
                      7,830,840       FIL        BBH
                        429,575       FIL        MSS Nominees Ltd
                      1,179,480       FIL        Nortrust Nominees Ltd
                        215,000       FIL        Morgan Stanley
                        123,776       FIL        NAB-Australia
                         47,000       FIL        Chase Nominees Ltd
                        320,030       FIL        State Street Nominees LTD
                      1,738,150       FIL        RBS Trust Bank
                        541,292       FIL        Northern Trust
                        349,900       FIL        State Street Bank & Trust
                        237,300       FIL        Mellon Bank
                         11,700       FIL        Credit Suisse
                        730,450       FIL        Bankers Trust
                         56,630       FIL        KAS Associatie                 
                         73,240       FIL        RBS-EDINBURG
                        402,700       FIL        Bank of New York, Europe
                        263,000       FIL        Clydesdale Bank (Head Office)  
                                                 Nominees Limited
                         19,979       FIL        Citibank



TOTAL ORDINARY SHARES: 30,231,974

CURRENT OWNERSHIP PERCENTAGE:  3.01%

SHARES IN ISSUE:       1,005,937,640