Watkin Jones plc

('Watkin Jones' or the 'Company')

Annual Report and Accounts

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Watkin Jones plc (AIM:WJG), a leading UK developer and constructor of multi occupancy property assets, with a focus on the student accommodation sector, announces that electronic copies of its Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2016 together with the Notice of Annual General Meeting and Form of Proxy are available from the Company's investor relations website at www.watkinjonesplc.com.  Hard copies of the 2016 Annual Report and Accounts, Notice of Annual General Meeting and Form of Proxy will be posted to shareholders today.

The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 16 February 2017 at the offices of DLA Piper UK LLP, 1 St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE.

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Notes to Editors

Watkin Jones is a leading UK developer and constructor of multi occupancy property assets, with a focus on the student accommodation sector.  The Group has strong relationships with institutional investors, and a good reputation for successful, on-time-delivery of high quality developments.  Since 1999, Watkin Jones has delivered over 31,800 student beds across 98 sites, making it a key player and leader in the UK purpose built student accommodation market.  In addition, Watkin Jones has been responsible for over 50 residential developments, ranging from starter homes to executive housing and apartments.

The Group's competitive advantage lies in its experienced management team and business model, which enables it to offer an end to end solution for investors, delivered entirely in-house with minimal reliance on third parties, across the entire life cycle of an asset.  Key components of the business model are:

·     Site identification - extensive experience of site identification and acquisition facilitates high quality sites being acquired;

·     Planning consents - in depth knowledge and experience of the planning consent process specific to this type of asset facilitates high success rates on planning applications;

·     In-house construction and delivery - in-house construction expertise, management and delivery limits reliance on third parties and, together with favourable contractual relationships with key suppliers, enhances control of cost;

·     Funding structure - forward sale model reduces risk for Watkin Jones and provides security and visibility of the asset pipeline for investors.  The Group has strong relationships with blue chip investors, including a number that are repeat investors in Watkin Jones developments; and

·     Asset management - dedicated property management division provides a continued service solution to investors post development completion and completes the 'end to end' business model.