SThree plc 28 September 2006 Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part in or into the United States, Australia, Canada or Japan 28 September 2006 SThree plc Exercise of Options, Gifts pursuant to the Share Gift Plan and Share Sale SThree plc ("SThree" or the "Company") announces today that two of the Company's senior management, Gary Goldsmith and Tim Lloyd, have exercised personal options granted to them prior to the Company's IPO by Simon Arber and William Bottriell, the founders of SThree as follows: Number of options Option price Gary Christopher Goldsmith 1,700,000 0.0002p Timothy Alwyn Lloyd 1,100,000 0.0002p In addition, another employee has exercised personal options over 156,117 shares in the Company ("Shares"). These options were satisfied by Shares currently owned by Simon Arber and William Bottriell. As a result of the exercise of these options, Messrs. Arber and Bottriell hold 13,760,200 and 16,765,889 Shares, representing 10.0% and 12.2% of the issued share capital, respectively. SThree also announces that 148 employees received gifts of Shares under the terms of the SThree Share Gift Plan, details of which appear on Page 77 of the IPO Prospectus dated 11 November 2005, totalling 4,729,783 Shares. These included a gift of 3,840 Shares to Ian Colletts. Following the above, employees are today selling 6,864,370 Shares through UBS Investment Bank. Of these, Gary Goldsmith is selling 1,700,000 Shares, Tim Lloyd is selling 1,100,000 Shares and Ian Colletts is selling 3,840 Shares. The price at which the sale is completed will be announced in due course. Enquiries: Ian Colletts Company Secretary 020 7292 3838 This announcement has been issued by the Company and is the sole responsibility of the Company. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of an offer or invitation to acquire or dispose of any securities of the Company, or constitute a solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for securities in any jurisdiction, including the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. The Company's shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or under the securities legislation of any state of the United States. The Company's shares may not, directly or indirectly, be offered or sold within the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan or offered or sold to a resident of Canada, Australia or Japan. New Star Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. This announcement is not for publication or distribution to persons in the United States of America, its territories or possessions or to any US person (within the meaning of Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended). Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into Australia, Canada or Japan or to Canadian persons or to any securities analyst or other person in any of those jurisdictions. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States, Australian, Canadian or Japanese securities law. The distribution of this announcement in certain other jurisdictions may be restricted by law and persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions. This announcement and any offer of securities to which it relates are only addressed to and directed at persons who are (1) qualified investors within the meaning of directive 2003/71/ec and any relevant implementing measures (the "prospectus directive") and (2) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments who fall within article 19(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or are persons falling within article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("High Net Worth Companies, Unincorporated Associations, etc") of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The information regarding the Sale set out in this announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange