RNS Number:1787T
Asfare Group plc
12 December 2003


Press Release                                                   12 December 2003



                        Asfare Group plc joins AIM



Asfare Group plc ("Asfare" or "the Company"), the UK's leading manufacturer of
ladders for the rescue services, today is admitted to trading on the AIM market
of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM").  Seymour Pierce is acting as both
Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company.  The stock market EPIC will be
ASF.L



Placing Statistics
Placing Price                                                              100p
Number of new Ordinary Shares being issued pursuant of the Placing    2,400,000
Number of Warrants in issue following the Placing                       670,000
Percentage of enlarged issued share capital being placed                  57.1%
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission                       4,200,000
Gross proceeds of the Placing                                             #2.4m
Market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price on Admission    #4.2m



Use of Proceeds

The Placing and Listing will give the Company greater visibility to overseas
customers and currency for future acquisitions.



The Placing of #2.4 million, which is all new money, has attracted high levels
of interest resulting in seven institutions subscribing for shares.



David Chisnall, Chief Executive of Asfare Group plc, said: "The Placing has been
extremely successful and the Company now has a high quality institutional
shareholder base.  The Company has a long history, healthy customer base and
leading market position in the UK which we are now looking to expand overseas.
The feedback has been very positive and we look forward to taking the Company to
the next phase of development."



Bradmount Investments Limited, a private investment company that has been
involved in a number of successful flotations, notably GW Pharmaceutical,
Medical Solutions, Atlantic Global and RWS Group has also subscribed for shares.




                                    - Ends -



Enquiries:


Asfare Group plc
David Chisnall, Proposed Chief Executive Officer      Tel: +44 (0) 2380 861 966


Seymour Pierce
Mark Percy                                            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000


Bradmount Investments
Adrian Bradshaw                                       Tel. +44 (0)20 7495 5524



Media enquiries:
Bankside
Ariane Vacher/Julian Bosdet                           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7444 4143
ariane.vacher@bankside.com                                     www.bankside.com





PRODUCT SUMMARY AND PRODUCTION FACILITIES

Fire Ladders

The Company's core product is the AS Fire range of Fire Ladders that are
specifically designed to meet the demanding needs of the fire and emergency
services. These Fire Ladders have formed the backbone of the requirements of the
U.K. fire service for the last twenty years. The Fire Ladders range from 7
metres to 15 metres in length and are rated to take the weight of three people
in a rescue situation. Strength, rigidity and light weight are achieved by means
of a truss construction, using aircraft industry techniques of riveting,
combined with high tensile aluminium extrusions. The ladders have various
special features, such as nylon rollers and double-action automatic pawls,
designed for safety and ease of use. Fire Ladders are built and tested to
stringent Home Office or EN European standards. A feature of the construction
method is that damaged ladders can be repaired with minimum tooling requirements
at the customer's premises. Although many fire departments carry out routine
repairs themselves, ladders may be returned to the factory for inspection,
repair, test and re-certification. In addition to its double and treble
extension ladders, AS Fire makes aircraft rescue ladders, roof ladders and two
and four-man rated police ladders. Bayley ladders are made in a range up to 10.5
metres. These ladders, which conform to the relevant JCDD and EN specifications,
are of a swaged design and are smaller and lighter than the AS Fire range. The
Bayley range of ladders includes a 3.7 metres 'Stowaway' ladder, which can be
stowed in a car boot or stowage compartment of emergency vehicles.



Gantry Systems

The Company manufactures a range of gantry systems that has been developed to
address modern health and safety and manual handling requirements. They provide
manual ground level access to a variety of equipment, including for example
rigid inflatable boats, which are stored for transport on a vehicle roof. The
Company's latest development is a powered version of the beam gantry system. A
combination of computer control and hydraulic power gives a range of options for
the near effortless stowage of heavy items and removes operator height and
strength considerations. The 'Quickstow' system has been designed for loads up
to 50kg and is ideally suited to vans and off-road vehicles. The Company's
gantry systems cater for a wide range of ladders and equipment from makers
around the world on an international mix of vehicle designs.



Slide Systems

Slide systems are used on fire and emergency vehicles to assist stowage and
deployment of heavy equipment.  The AS Portable Pump Carrier can be configured
to take generators and air compressors or similar heavy equipment. The slide
system has been designed to tolerate severe over-load situations, such as when
equipment is dropped.



Roller Shutters

AS Roller Shutters have been designed to afford rapid single-handed access to
lockers on emergency vehicles. The AS Fire system includes infra-red electronic
locking and 'Lit-Strip' lighting, designed to give even ambient lighting
throughout the locker regardless of equipment stowage, but with minimal effect
on night vision.



PAC Range

AS Fire is the exclusive distributor in Europe and Australia of PAC Tool
Mounting Brackets and Systems.  This versatile range of mountings produced by
the Performance Advantage Company of Lancaster, New York, U.S.A. is designed to
provide flexibility, rapid access and ease of use in the stowage of tools and
equipment.

Various elements of AS Fire's ladders, gantry systems and roller shutters
systems are covered by patents or patent applications in numerous countries
around the world.



The Company operates from leasehold premises in Totton, near Southampton. In
June 2003, it consolidated its manufacturing from seven to three adjacent
facilities totalling 21,000 square feet.





                                    - Ends -




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

MSCNKDKBOBDDCBD