Marlborough Stirling renames Canadian operation

Effective immediately Marlborough Stirling Plexus (formerly Plexus Systems Design Ltd.) has adopted the new name of Marlborough Stirling Canada Ltd. This change reflects the new market positioning of the company following its acquisition by UK-based Marlborough Stirling plc (FTSE: MAS).

Effective immediately Marlborough Stirling Plexus (formerly Plexus Systems Design Ltd.) has adopted the new name of Marlborough Stirling Canada Ltd. This change reflects the new market positioning of the company following its acquisition by UK-based Marlborough Stirling plc (FTSE: MAS).

Plexus was established in Vancouver in 1985 to provide software to Canadian mortgage providers. Building on a slow but steady growth, Plexus developed a reputation for providing a reliable long-term enterprise mortgage servicing application, with a client list including a number of major Canadian financial institutions.

Seeking to expand its market reach beyond Canada, Plexus entered a co-development partnership with Marlborough Stirling in Q3 1999. Based on the realization that both companies shared access to complementary markets and technologies that could lead to valuable cross-selling opportunities, this partnership eventually led to Marlborough Stirling's acquisition of Plexus in November 2000.

Immediately following the acquisition, Plexus was rebranded as Marlborough Stirling Plexus in order to capitalize on the brand equity offered by both company names. At the same time, the Plexus mortgage administration system was assigned the new name of "Optimus", in keeping with Marlborough Stirling's product naming strategy.

Over the past year, Marlborough Stirling has reached a number of significant milestones, including a successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange in April 2001, several major contract wins, and the acquisition of The Exchange FS Group plc.

Marlborough Stirling Canada President and CEO Bill Pitkin comments: "The new name of the Canadian operation reflects the evolving global identity of Marlborough Stirling and represents the success of Canadian skills and expertise in developing products and services that are in demand in the global marketplace."

Marlborough Stirling Canada maintains offices in Vancouver and Toronto.

About Marlborough Stirling Canada

Plexus Systems Design Ltd. was established in 1985 to provide software to Canadian mortgage providers. Marlborough Stirling plc, a UK-based company, acquired Plexus in November 2000. Following the acquisition, it adopted the new name of Marlborough Stirling Canada Limited.

Marlborough Stirling provides software and services to the mortgages, life and pensions and investment market sectors. It also owns The Exchange, the UK's leading financial services intermediary trading platform used by over 16,000 subscribers within Independent Financial Advisors and other authorized firms. The Marlborough Stirling Group's software and services are designed to enable financial services providers to meet consumers' demands for products that are flexible, capable of being distributed through a variety of channels and processed efficiently.

Marlborough Stirling employs approximately 1,300 people and has offices in Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Cheltenham, Brighton, Camberley, Cobham, Gloucester, Halesowen, Dublin, Douglas in the Isle of Man, Cape Town, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Milan.

Marlborough Stirling floated on the London Stock Exchange (symbol MAS) in April 2001 and gained entry to the FTSE 250 index two months later.

www.marlborough-stirling.com

For more information:

Bill Pitkin, President and CEO, Marlborough Stirling Canada
416-626-2723