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From: "Dr Barbara Page-Roberts"
<barbarapr@simplyglobal.com> To: <christopher.laing@laing.com> To: Dear Mr Laing WHAT'S IN A NAME? The name "John Laing" and any of its derivatives "Laing" , "Laing Homes" etc, in Great Britain is synonymous with quality and above all Corporate Sustainability (Sustainable Development), which primarily relates to the three dimensions of Corporate Behaviour, namely the environmental, social and economic aspects of a company's operations. Laing's own "Sustainable Development Report" as summarized in your 2001 Annual Report clearly commits the Group Companies to fully integrate environmental and social factors at all levels into their activities, products and services, and further as a minimum to comply with all relevant legislation, industry guidance and voluntary agreements including that provided by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association, Green Futures Business Network and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, It is with dismay therefore that I find myself, a British Citizen, in Las Vegas, Nevada where the names "Laing", and "John Laing" are being dragged into the gutter by your former joint venture partners, WL Homes LLC, now merely your associate company. Whilst Laing is on record as stating that it wants out of WL Homes in its entirely, the fact is that company continues to operate as dba John Laing Homes, with a logo which implies an association with the original 1848 Laing House, and so it is hardly surprising that the media associate the currently proposed anti-environmental land swap, mega-housing development at Red Rock Canyon, NV, as being the responsibility of the BRITISH company. (see 'media' at www.redrock.org). The purpose of this passing off exercise can only be speculated upon, but I presume the vast majority of Laing PLC shareholders are totally unaware of what is going on, and would certainly not approve if they did. My concern in this matter, to which I would welcome an open i.e. publishable response, is to set the record straight, so that there can be no misunderstanding that WL Homes LLC has either the moral or the financial backing of a major UK PLC for this project, without which there may be some question of its ability to perform, particularly in view of the onerous debt repayment to yourselves which appears still to be outstanding. Yours sincerely Barbara A Page-Roberts |
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