Report of the Directors on Remuneration

				Incentive scheme

Table 1 Directors' emoluments	Salary £000	Profit sharing £000	Benefits £000	Short term £000	Long term £000	Total 1999 £000	Total 1998 £000




Lord MacLaurin (a) Mr J A Gardiner Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr C Allen (b) Mr P A Clarke (b) Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson Mrs L James Dr M G Jones (c) Mr T J R Mason Mr J W Melbourn Baroness O'Cathain Mr G F Pimlott Mr D T Potts (b) Mr J M Wemms	- 300 565 512 366 3 58 475 347 257 10 347 37 32 30 79 398	- - 8 8 8 - 2 8 - 8 - 8 - - - 2 8	- - 16 36 17 - 2 40 11 21 - 20 - 12 - 3 35	- - 184 165 117 - 14 153 115 83 - 113 - - - 19 128	- - 128 115 82 - 9 106 80 58 - 79 - - - 13 89	- 300 901 836 590 3 85 782 553 427 10 567 37 44 30 116 658	259 232 798 743 550 - - 709 267 385 33 493 31 40 28 - 589


	3,816	60	213	1,091	759	5,939	5,157


a) Former director. b) Mr P A Clarke and Mr D T Potts were appointed to the Board on 16 November 1998 and Mr C L Allen was appointed to the Board on 19 February 1999. c) Dr M G Jones resigned from the Board on 11 June 1998.



Table 2 Gains made on share options			Number of shares at exercise price (pence)					Value realisable


	72.3(a)	72.3	77.3	90.3	104.0	Total	Price at exercise (pence)	1990 £000	1998 £000


Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr P A Clarke Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson Mrs L James Mr T J R Mason Mr D T Potts Mr J M Wemms	- - 69,123 - - - - - 59,622 -	- - - - - - - - - 27,648	- - - - 43,968 - - - 79,713 -	- - 119,556 - 256,824 - 223,182 291,552 - 128,412	- - 255,312 251,580 623,157 - 300,048 437,805 393,432 100,000	- - 443,991 251,580 923,949 - 523,230 729,357 532,767 256,060	- - 182 165 183 - 187 180 172 183	- - 386 153 781 - 466 594 410 232	125 903 363 - 585 - 223 111 - 228
Date of grant	29/10/92	27/5/93	29/9/94	27/4/95	13/10/95

a) Mr D T Potts exercised these options at a discounted rate of 61.7p as targets relating to growth in earnings per share have been achieved in accordance with ABI guidelines.

The value realisable from shares acquired on exercise is the difference between the fair market value at exercise and the exercise price of the options, although the shares may have been retained. Where individual directors exercised options on different dates and sold the shares, the price at exercise shown represents an average of the prices on these dates weighted to the number of options exercised.

The market price of the shares at 27 February 1999 was 177p. The share price during the 52 weeks to 27 February 1999 ranged from 157p to 202p.

Table 3 Pension details of the directors	Age at 27 Feb 1999	Years of service	Increase in accrued pension during the year (a) £000	Transfer value of increase during the year £000	Accrued total pension at 27 Feb 1999 (b) £000



Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr P A Clarke (c) Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson (d) Mrs L James Mr T J R Mason Mr D T Potts (c) Mr J M Wemms	43 52 53 38 54 41 49 41 41 59	20 14 13 24 34 1 14 17 26 27	18 21 13 5 14 12 11 13 4 14	165 292 183 36 203 102 141 117 44 246	189 212 160 48 255 14 100 109 73 250

a) The increase in accrued pension during the year excludes any increase for inflation.
b) The accrued pension is that which would be paid annually on retirement at 60 based on service to 27 February 1999.
c) The increase in accrued pension during the year for Mr P A Clarke and Mr D T Potts relates to the period from 16 November 1998 when they were appointed to the Board of Directors.
d) Part of Mr A T Higginson's benefits, in respect of pensionable earnings in excess of the earnings limit imposed by the Finance Act 1989, are provided on an unfunded basis within a separate unapproved arrangement.

Table 4 Share options held by directors and not exercised at 27 February 1999 Executive share options schemes (1984), (1994) and (1996)

Number of shares at exercise price (pence)


	72.3 (a)	72.3 (b)	70.0 (b)	81.0 (b)	77.3 (b)	90.3	104.0	98.3	Sub-total



Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr P A Clarke Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson Mrs L James Mr T J R Mason Mr D T Potts Mr J M Wemms	62,211 - - - - - - - - -	51,150 11,058 51,153 - - - - - - -	417,144 11,427 75,714 - - - - - - 87,141	471,372 - - - - - - - - -	- - 106,833 - - - 42,813 - - -	398,523 194,835 - - - - - - - -	248,256 557,712 - - - - - - - 566,603	523,728 223,728 250,170 165,504 122,034 - 113,646 284,745 97,581 275,643	2,172,384 998,760 483,870 165,504 122,034 - 156,459 284,745 97,581 929,387

Date exercisable (d)	29/10/95	27/5/96	10/6/97	12/8/97	29/9/97	27/4/98	13/10/98	3/7/99


		Sub- total b/f	117.7	151.7	160.3	176.7(c)	164.0(c)	178.0(c)	Total



Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr P A Clarke Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson Mrs L James Mr T J R Mason Mr D T Potts Mr J M Wemms		2,172,384 998,760 483,870 165,504 122,034 - 156,459 284,745 97,581 929,387	- - 94,335 - - - - - - 50,994	120,660 601,305 299,904 76,281 504,999 - 225,150 198,669 119,238 154,944	- - - - - 411,642 - - - 34,731	- - 89,433 17,718 150,564 373,584 - 149,076 - 65,658	126,832 90,245 26,831 29,946 56,100 63,415 19,514 63,415 38,756 -	- - 149,171 146,991 364,092 - 113,263 255,796 288,730 -	2,419,876 1,690,310 1,143,544 436,440 1,197,789 848,641 514,386 951,701 544,305 1,235,714

Date exercisable (d)			17/4/2000	7/10/2000	17/11/2000	21/5/2001	30/9/2001	28/1/2002



a) The options may be exercised at 61.7p as targets related to growth in earnings per share have been achieved in accordance with ABI guidelines. b) The 72.3p, 70.0p, 81.0p and 77.3p options may be exercised at 61.7p, 59.7p, 69.0p and 66.0p respectively, provided targets related to growth in earnings per share are achieved in accordance with ABI guidelines. If the targets are not met, the option holders retain the right to exercise the options at the higher price. c) Options granted in the year. d) Date of expiry is seven years from date exercisable, with the exception of the 98.3p, 117.7p, 151.7p and 160.3p options which expire four years from date exercisable.

Table 5 Share options held by directors and not exercised at 27 February 1999 Savings-related share option scheme (1981)
Number of shares						Value realisable

	As at 28 Feb 1998	Granted	Exercised	As at 27 Feb 1999	Exercise price (pence)		1999 £000	1998 £000


Mr T P Leahy Mr D E Reid Mr R S Ager Mr P A Clarke Mr J Gildersleeve Mr A T Higginson Mrs L James Mr T J R Mason Mr D T Potts Mr J M Wemms	25,095 19,575 23,145 21,711 19,692 - 25,926 20,475 20,700 25,095	- - 4,963 1,488 - - - - - -	- - 12,855 3,855 - - 6,426 - - -	25,095 19,575 15,253 19,344 19,692 - 19,500 20,475 20,700 25,095	61.7-83.0 61.7-121.7 61.7-136.0 61.7-136.0 61.7-121.7 - 61.7-83.0 61.7-83.0 83.3 61.7-83.0		- - 18 5 - - 9 - -	- 15 - - 23 - - - 18

The subscription price for the savings-related share option scheme granted during the year was 136p and the option matures in either 2002 (three-year scheme) or 2004 (five-year scheme). The shares relating to options exercised in the year were all retained.

Between 27 February 1999 and 12 April 1999 there have been no changes in the number of share options held by the directors. For further details on the company share option schemes see note 25.

Table 6 Disclosable interests of the directors, including family interests

27 Feb 1999

28 Feb 1998

Ordinary
shares

Options to
acquire
ordinary
shares

Ordinary
shares

Options to
acquire
ordinary
shares

Mr J A Gardiner

Mr T P Leahy

Mr D E Reid

Mr R S Ager

Mr P A Clarke (a)

Mr J Gildersleeve

Mr A T Higginson

Mrs L James

Dr M G Jones

Mr T J R Mason

Mr J W Melbourn

Baroness O'Cathain

Mr G F Pimlott

Mr D T Potts (a)

Mr J M Wemms

353,325

1,233,415

1,418,418

797,067

65,145

771,244

60,512

737,681

452,596

6,570

46,473

26,134

157,588

765,054

2,444,971

1,709,885

1,158,797

455,784

1,217,481

848,641

533,886

972,176

565,005

1,260,809

353,325

1,052,841

1,212,093

803,925

43,698

723,789

476,292

6,894

347,541

6,570

46,473

25,566

123,660

663,111

2,318,139

1,619,640

1,345,245

515,076

1,570,674

411,642

930,765

1,233,246

770,286

1,451,211

a) Mr P A Clarke and Mr D T Potts respectively held at 16 November 1998, their date of appointment to the Board, 60,834 and 156,417 ordinary shares, and 312,648 and 415,610 options to acquire ordinary shares.

Options to acquire ordinary shares shown above comprise options under the executive share option schemes (1984), (1994), (1996) and the savings-related share option scheme (1981) (note 25).

Between 27 February 1999 and 12 April 1999 there were no changes in the number of shares held by the directors.