8. Equity Share Capital

	2012 Number of shares	2012 £000	2011 Number of shares	2011 £000
Ordinary shares of 1p each:
Allotted, called up and fully paid	199,383,222	1,994	211,985,998	2,120

During the current period the Company's share capital decreased by 12,602,776 shares (2011: increased by 1,275,038 shares). During the period the Company repurchased and cancelled 12,634,493 shares, and 31,717 new shares were issued on exercise of share options by employees. There has been no significant impact on share premium as a result of the shares issued, with share premium remaining at £151.0m (2011: £151.0m).

In total the Company received proceeds of £2.1m (2011: £4.5m) from the exercise of share options.

Potential Issue of Ordinary Shares

The Company has three employee share option schemes, which were set up following the Company's flotation. Further information regarding these schemes can be found in note 21 of the Group's financial statements.

Interest in Own Shares

At 30 March 2012 the Company held in Trust 4,932,009 (2011: 1,108,520) of its own shares with a nominal value of £49,320 (2011: £11,085). The Trust has waived any entitlement to the receipt of dividends in respect of its holding of the Company's ordinary shares. The market value of these shares at 30 March 2012 was £15.4m (2011: £3.9m).