Trading Statement

W.H. Ireland Group PLC
15 November 2004


                          Pre-close Trading Statement
                   Termination of Preliminary Takeover Talks

                             W.H.Ireland Group PLC

W.H. Ireland Group plc, the financial services company which is the parent
company of W.H. Ireland Ltd, Stockbrokers and AIM corporate finance specialists,
and W.H. Ireland Financial Services Ltd, the independent financial adviser, is
issuing this trading update prior to the commencement of its close period and
its year end of 30th November 2004.

The preliminary results for the year to 30th November will be issued at the end
of January.

We are delighted with the progress the firm has made, which has seen unaudited
turnover for the 11 months to 31st October 2004 increase by more than 80% over
the figure for the same period last year.

The group is pleased with current trading which is in line with market
expectations. The group has performed strongly in the second half of the year
and the Board expects a satisfactory result for the year as a whole.

The acquisitions that the group has made which have expanded our stockbroking
operations in Cardiff and Birmingham have performed very well. Ingram Phillips,
our financial services acquisition in Cardiff, has also performed encouragingly
and contributed to our expanding independent financial advisory business.

The performance of the corporate finance division has been particularly
successful. For the year so far to September 2004 W.H. Ireland, as reported by
the London Stock Exchange, was the top Nominated Adviser on AIM in terms of
volume of deals, with 20 transactions. Likewise, the company was equal first
among AIM stockbrokers, advising on 23 companies brought to the market. Work in
progress in this area continues to be very strong.

The preliminary discussions regarding a potential takeover which were announced
on 5th October 2004 have now been terminated.

We are confident that the strategy we are pursuing will deliver further
shareholder value over the short and medium term.

For further information contact:

W.H.Ireland Group plc                                            0161 832 6644
Richard Lee, Director
Laurie Beevers, Managing Director

Biddicks PR                                                      0207 448 1000
Zoe Biddick




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