Holding in Company

Weir Group PLC
5 July 2001


LETTER TO: THE WEIR GROUP PLC

LETTER DATED 3 JULY 2001
  

12.5p ORDINARY SHARES ('SHARES')

We write to advise you that we, Schroder Investment Management Limited, have an
interest in 22,999,211 shares which are held in portfolios managed by us on a
discretionary basis for clients under investment management agreements.

Included in this figure are:-

(i)   12,222,850 shares registered or to be registered in the name of our
      wholly-owned subsidiary nominee company, Schroder Nominees Limited
      (Schroder Nominees),

(ii)  518,740 shares held in (a) unit trust(s) operated and managed by
      another wholly-owned subsidiary, Schroder Unit Trusts Limited (SUTL), and
      registered or to be registered in the name of Chase Nominees Limited

(iii) 10,257,621 shares neither registered nor to be registered in the name of
      Schroder Nominees or Chase Nominees Limited. The registration details are 
      shown in the schedule below.

An affiliated company, Schroder Hermes, is managing 274,597 shares in (a)
portfolio(s) on a passive (index tracker) basis for clients under investment
management agreements. These shares are registered or to be registered in the
name of Chase Nominees Limited.

We believe that we and our subsidiary and affiliated companies are therefore
interested in an overall aggregate of 23,273,808 shares, representing some
11.586% of the total number of shares in issue, namely 200,885,877 shares.

This notification is made to you:-

(a) in respect of our interest as investment managers and also by virtue of the
    fact that we are the parent company of SUTL.

(b) on behalf of SUTL and Schroder Hermes in relation to the interests they are 
    treated as having respectively under the Companies Act 1985 (the Act), and

(c) on behalf of Schroders plc., our holding company, which is treated as
    having an interest in all of the above shares under the Act by virtue of
    its ownership of ourselves.



FROM: SCHRODERS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

                              THE WEIR GROUP PLC
                          
                             12.5p ORDINARY SHARES

REGISTRATION                                                             AMOUNT

Bank of England Nominees Limited                                          5,500
Bank of New York                                                        100,000
Bath Street Nominees Limited                                             20,000
British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (Client) Nominees            1,453,900
Limited P a/c
BT Globenet Nominees Limited a/c: 6B                                    500,000
MSS Nominees Limited a/c: 767412                                         75,000
Chase Nominees Limited                                                2,617,579
Chase Nominees Limited a/c: F02391                                      883,819
Mineworkers Pension Scheme (Client) Nominees Ltd R a/c                  641,100
MSS Nominees Limited a/c: 756593                                        224,473
MSS Nominees Limited a/c: 831286                                      1,022,983
MSS Nominees Limited a/c: 809797                                        170,971
Nortrust Nominees Limited                                             1,185,441
Nutraco Nominees Limited                                                201,714
RBSTB Nominees Limited                                                   52,300
RBSTB Nominees Limited a/c: AAUKPS                                       82,500
RBSTB Nominees Limited a/c: ESPSBEB                                     121,627
Strand Nominees Limited a/c: EDIC                                         3,000
Nortrust Nominees Ltd a/c: SRC13                                         35,000
MSS Nominees Ltd a/c: 766653                                            375,214
MSS Nominees Ltd a/c: 809955                                            221,000
Morgan Nominees a/c: B                                                  220,500
Royal Bank of Scotland                                                   44,000

                                                                     10,257,621