Official Opening of Pendle Court (UK)
Friday, January 12, 2007

Fraser Eagle’s Pendle Court declared open by Prime Minister of Malta

Prime Minister of Malta Lawrence Gonzi has officially opened the new UK head office of Fraser Eagle Group.

The Prime Minister performed the official opening ceremony at Fraser Eagle’s £1.8million Pendle Court in Padiham, Lancashire.

The state-of-the-art building is the final part of a total investment of over £4million by Fraser Eagle in property in Padiham and puts all of the company’s 190 head-office staff on one site for the first time.

The official opening came after the Prime Minister had earlier visited Hapton Primary School to meet local schoolchildren during their morning assembly.

The event was part of a three-day visit to Lancashire by the Prime Minister, who also visited Blackburn Cathedral, Accrington Stanley’s Fraser Eagle Stadium and Ewood Park to watch Blackburn Rovers’ fixture with Arsenal.

During the official opening, attended by over 100 representatives from the UK transport industry and business community, Dr Gonzi spoke about the special relationship between the UK and Malta and how Fraser Eagle’s investment in Malta had benefited the island.

Fraser Eagle opened a second control centre in the Maltese city of Mosta in 2006 which employs 30 people.

Dr Gonzi said: “Investment in Malta by prestigious UK companies like Fraser Eagle is testament to the huge advances Malta has made in upgrading its infrastructure, enhancing its IT capabilities, developing an environment that is conducive to doing business, and to the strong work ethic of the Maltese people.

The Prime Minister emphasized: “Successfully attracting capital investment in high value-added areas that require specialized human resources is a priority for my government to create a modern dynamic economy.

“Besides the direct benefits of having the Fraser Eagle Group in Malta it also acts as a beacon for other potential investors, which in turn provide employment, generate wealth and support local economies.”

Kevin Dean, Fraser Eagle Group managing director, added: “In business it is extremely important to have good links with other areas of the globe and our relationship with Malta is hugely beneficial to both countries.

“As well as raising our international profile it raises Malta’s profile as an excellent place to conduct business.”

Dr Gonzi was invited to the UK by Fraser Eagle Group after also performing the official opening of the company’s Mosta-based control centre last July.

The company opened the second centre in Mosta to give it dual control of its UK transport operations.

Fraser Eagle was first attracted to Malta by the quality of its IT infrastructure and has awarded contracts to Crimsonwing, Megabyte and Dmax.

Notes to Editors

1. Fraser Eagle Group is a multi-million pound group of companies with operations in the coach, bus and rail sectors. It also specialises in managed taxi services, corporate travel, incident management, event transport, contract interior design and project management.
   
2. Fraser Eagle employs around 350 people nationwide and is the largest supplier of managed transport services to the UK rail industry.
   
3. Using two 24-hour control centres and a nationwide database of over 5,000 coach and taxi operators, Fraser Eagle transports thousands of people on a daily basis.
   
4. In 2007 Fraser Eagle will operate approximately 270,000 taxis and 60,000 coaches on behalf of its clients.