BIW SECURES FURTHER £3M INVESTMENT

10 May 2001

Building Information Warehouse, the leading UK provider of online collaboration technology for construction projects, has secured a further £3 million investment. The investment, in return for an equity stake in BIW, has been made by Trevor Davis, who has successfully specialised in supporting young, unquoted businesses across a range of technology sectors.

"BIW has developed original industry-standard software, not simply looked to adapt third party tools, and its core product, the Information Channel, is the clear market leader in the UK," says Davis. "It has been adopted by key industry clients, and the technology is already delivering substantial cost savings to users."

"Its management team combines construction and IT expertise with experience in running international businesses, and they have a compelling vision in which the Information Channel becomes the de facto standard for web-based collaboration," Davis continues. "I am very excited about BIW's prospects."

BIW was originally established in 1995 and its project collaboration systems were first employed in 1998 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury and BAA. The customer list has since expanded to include Capital One Bank, Crest Nicholson, Marks & Spencer, Manchester Airport, Ikea and Asda. Its supply chain integration technology is already used by 4600 people (from some 750 companies) on over 300 UK projects.

The current management team took over the business at the start of 2000, and in addition to initial funding from private investors, secured £2.5 million investment from one of Germany's largest banks, Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB).

"By his investment, Trevor Davis has displayed considerable confidence in BIW and its future," says BIW chief executive Colin Smith. "In parallel, many clients are committing to use our systems, demonstrating similar faith in our people, processes and technology."

"Trevor's commitment, at a time when many investors are reluctant to invest in technology businesses, means we can be very bullish about BIW's future."

Notes for Editors:

• Building Information Warehouse (BIW) provides supply chain integration services to the global AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) community. Its core services were developed in partnership with the UK government, universities, major construction industry clients, professionals and contractors. Rather than looking at a building project from the perspective of the consultants, contractors or other professionals, BIW focuses on the end product - the client's building - and aims to capture all of the information associated with it. With the Information Channel, the client can then operate and maintain its facility more efficiently, and - for repeat clients - knowledge gained in initial projects allows continuous improvement in later schemes.
• At the end of March 2001, BIW's Information Channel was being used on 298 UK projects, with a further eight overseas. Over 750 different companies use the system, with a total of 4,600 individual users. Key clients include Capital One, Sainsbury's, Crest Nicholson, Marks & Spencer, Manchester Airport, Ikea, Kajima, Asda and N G Bailey.