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1 July 2004

Multimap.com Paves the Way to Focus Wickes Stores across the UK

Focus DIY and Multimap, Europe’s number one online mapping provider, today announced a deal that enables DIY enthusiasts and gardeners to find their nearest Focus DIY store quickly and easily. Multimap’s services, being template-based, were made live in a matter of hours, involving very little time investment from Focus’s web developers.

Visitors to www.focusdiy.co.uk click on the ‘Store locator’ tab on the homepage to access Multimap’s “Storefinder” service. They click on the UK map that appears on-screen, or enter their street and town or postcode, to receive a list of the top ten nearest stores, in order of proximity to the location entered, with full contact details, plus a map of the area. Users click on a link to access a more detailed map of the location of the store of their choice. Each map has full panning and zooming in/out capabilities, and users can also adjust their view by selecting one of 13 different map scales.

Willem Mijnarends, Multimap’s UK Sales Manager said, "We are delighted to provide a service to Focus DIY that’s of such immediate benefit to its customers. In only three easy steps, they can now find their most convenient store, and the effect on site loyalty cannot be underestimated. Our business clients using ‘Storefinder’ tell us time and time again that customer feedback on this additional functionality is extremely positive.”

Willem Mijnarends, Multimap’s Sales Manager UK said, "By making it quick and easy for users of the site to see the location their nearest “Go the Extra Mile” venue, whether they plan to take part or simply watch, we are helping to get more people along to the events, raising awareness of the campaign, and contributing to its overall success. We are delighted to support such a worthwhile initiative!”

Commenting on the deal, Colin Ball, Group Commercial Services Director, Focus Wickes, said, “Our stores are designed to appeal to DIY and gardening enthusiasts, and tradesmen. Both target markets are demanding in terms of service and we aim to replicate our excellent in-store service in an online environment. The deployment of Multimap’s services is a natural result of this strategy. Both our customers and our technical team are delighted with the service that Multimap provides!”

About Multimap.com
Multimap.com is Europe's leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on WAP, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

About Focus Wickes
Focus Wickes is the second largest UK DIY retailer in terms of turnover. Through its Focus and Wickes branded stores, the Group offers an extensive range of home improvement products to both DIY and trade customers. This dual brand approach is unique in the UK DIY Market and allows the Group to access the broader UK RMI Market. Following a number of acquisitions, as at April 2004, the Group operated 259 Focus stores, 171 Wickes stores. Focus aims to be the store of choice and convenience for DIY and gardening products in each of its local markets.