Alexander Fleming Appointed as New Fund Manager

Foreign & Colonial Smaller Co's PLC
15 February 2000

                                       
                   Foreign & Colonial Smaller Companies PLC
                           appoints new fund manager

Foreign & Colonial announces that Alexander (Sandy) Fleming has been appointed
as   manager  of  Foreign  &  Colonial  Smaller  Companies  PLC,   the   £350m
international smaller companies investment trust.  Fleming will succeed Andrew
Barker, who has been the manager since 1975, when he retires on 31 March 2000.

Fleming  joined  Foreign & Colonial in 1996 at the time of the acquisition  of
ESN  Pension Management Ltd where he had been head of UK Small companies.  His
investment  career began at the Unilever Pension Fund in 1964.  From  1972-82,
he was a fund manager for Commercial Union Assurance, and subsequently held  a
number  of  senior  investment management positions at Hill Samuel  Investment
Management,  National  Employers Mutual Insurance, the  Abu  Dhabi  Investment
Authority  and MANEX prior to its asset management business being acquired  by
ESN in 1993.  In addition to heading up the UK Small Companies team at Foreign
&  Colonial  Sandy  is  Chairman of the global sector review  committees  that
include  Telecommunications and Technology, both areas with particular topical
relevance.   He is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries  and
Administrators.

Commenting on this appointment, Baroness Hogg, Chairman of Foreign &  Colonial
Smaller Companies, said:

'We  are delighted to appoint Sandy as fund manager.  He has vast experience
of  investment in general and smaller companies in particular.  We would  like
to  thank Andrew for his valuable contributions and achievements over the past
twenty-five years.  An investment of £1,000 made when he became manager  would
now be worth in excess of £37,000 - an annualised return  of  over 15.5%. Over
the past year both the NAV and the share  price
have risen by around 50%.'

Fleming   will  be  supported  by  an  experienced  team  of  smaller  company
specialists  in each major geographical area and the intention is to  continue
the successful strategy of utilising the trust's global perspective to exploit
opportunities in the smaller company universe.

For further information please contact:

Sandy Fleming, Foreign & Colonial       Tel. [phone]
Claire Barry, Financial Dynamics        Tel. [phone]

Notes to Editor

Foreign  &  Colonial Smaller Companies PLC, was launched  in  1889,  with  the
objective  of  securing a high total return by investing in smaller  companies
worldwide.