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| UK eLearning and Futuremedia Plc Team Up to Deliver Government Funded Blended Learning Programmes<
E-learning solutions provider Futuremedia Plc (NASDAQ: FMDAY) today announced that following the joint success of the Company and UK eLearning Ltd to be awarded the contract to deliver Lifelong Learning Programmes to Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust announced yesterday, the Company is now actively working with UK eLearning to offer this solution to other Trusts within the NHS. The Lifelong Learning Programmes combine Futuremedia's e-Learning expertise and products with UK eLearning's expertise of developing and delivering blended learning solutions mixing e-Learning modules with instructor led training events. Furthermore, to ensure learner participation from the start the programme starts with the innovative "How-to-eLearn" module developed by UK eLearning where the learners, through tutor led hands-on activities, get familiar with their e-Learning modules. BizVantage – Serious & personalized business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage. The programme, which was delivered to the first group of learners during the summer, will assist Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust in the delivery of core workforce development competencies including Numeracy, Literacy, Information technology, How to eLearn, Personal Learning Plans, Diagnostics, Health and Safety, and Information, Advice and Guidance. Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust is the first organisation within the County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority Area to take up this innovative programme. The programme will be delivered between October 2003 and July 2004 with an additional contract value of over 500,000 ($800,000). Pat Carter, Education, Training and Development Manager, Information for Health, Durham and Tees Healthcare Community, comments: "This partnership will provide us with an opportunity to test the effectiveness of blended e-Learning training solutions while giving us time to plan and budget for implementing e-Learning with a clearer knowledge and understanding. Working with Futuremedia and UK eLearning is an exciting opportunity for us to implement a range of funded programmes supported by our training teams, who will provide internal marketing and project management to UK eLearning and Futuremedia, who will deliver the programmes across a range of technologies including learning centres, stand-alone PCs, the Intranet and the Internet." The programme will be delivered using a blended education and training approach, developed by UK eLearning, incorporating e-Learning, mentoring, classroom based training as well as one-on-one and group sessions with expert tutors. All of the programmes are recognised by the Qualifications Curriculum Authority and cover City and Guilds, British Computer Society, and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health standards. Mick Durham, MD of UK eLearning, comments: "This partnership has given rise to a ground breaking and innovative model for learning, focusing on the creation of an inclusive learning community that breaks down barriers to learning. A key problem for organisations has been how to meet the development needs of an entire workforce. Futuremedia is key to the success of being able to provide a stable and scalable technology that is intuitive to the learner and is therefore able to provide organisation-wide learning opportunities. Mats Johansson, CEO of Futuremedia, comments: "Our partnership with UK eLearning follows a successful collaboration where each company's respective strengths were combined to deliver a compelling solution to our customers. UK eLearning brings valuable and unique know-how, products and contacts that are a core part of the success of delivering Lifelong Learning Programmes to the NHS. We are now looking forward to working with UK eLearning to offer this solution to other Trusts within the NHS." About UK eLearning Ltd UK eLearning Ltd is a provider of supported and blended learning solutions. The company, working directly with employers, develops and builds successful inclusive models for workforce development. UK eLearning are committed to developing engaging and motivating learner- focused programmes. The company blends and wraps structured (and awarded) training to meet the organisational learning need that maximises the investment in technology. "How to eLearn", developed by UK eLearning, breaks down the barriers to learning by providing the learner with strategies that enable a successful outcome. It assumes no pre-conceived ideas concerning the use of technology for learning, providing a highly scalable yet individual programme for success. UK eLearning can be found at http://www.ukelearning.com About Futuremedia Futuremedia plc (est. 1983) is a Solutions Provider in the growing e-learning market with 20 years experience in the interactive media field supplying products and services to industrial and commercial business sectors and government, mainly in the UK and Continental Europe. The Company has a proven track record in providing knowledge and training via Solstra, its proprietary Learning Management System which in its largest application has a capacity for 240,000 users. Futuremedia's customers include Royal Mail, Syngenta, BUPA, BT, Daimler Chrysler, GSK, Channel Four, IDEA and Hilton International. Training content from partners SmartForce, Centra Software, SkillSoft and NETg is supplied and supported. Futuremedia can be found on the Web at http://www.futuremedia.co.uk. "Safe Harbor" Statement under Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: This press release contains forward-looking statements related to future results and speaks only of the Company's expectations as of the date hereof. Such statements include discussions concerning Company's future financial performance and the future performance of the Company's products. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The risks and uncertainties include the early stage of the Internet and intranet learning and communications market, the management of growth, the ability of the Company to develop and successfully market new products, to integrate acquisitions, rapid technological change and competition, and other factors detailed in the Company's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in expectations or in information on which any such statement is based. All product names and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks of Futuremedia or their respective owners. Press information: Kay Phelps The PR Department for Futuremedia kay.phelps@vtheprdepartment.com Mick Durham UK eLearning mick.durham@ukelearning.com Investor relations: Mats Johansson CEO T: +44 1273-829700
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