ACC.L Regulatory News (ACC)

18 Apr 2007 07:01

Access Intelligence PLC18 April 2007 FOR RELEASE 7.00AM 18 April 2007 ACCESS INTELLIGENCE PLC ("Access Intelligence" or "the Group") (Access Intelligence is a Software and Computer Services group of companies providing business critical compliance and legislative driven services to both public and private sectors on a recurring revenue basis) Due North awarded North West Centre of Excellence portal and framework contract covering all public sector bodies Access Intelligence is delighted to announce that Due North, its subsidiary, haswon the five year contract with the North West Centre of Excellence, to provideits e-sourcing and e-tendering suite of software. North West Centre of Excellence, which represents 47 councils in the North West,is one of nine Regional Centres of Excellence, set up by the Department forCommunities and Local Government to support local authorities in their deliveryof greater efficiencies and service improvements. It is the third win by Due North out of the four regional centres which have sofar gone to tender. With nine centres in total there are still five of whichhave yet to come to market. The contract, which was opened up to competition throughout the EU, alsoincludes a framework agreement which now means that any public sector body cantake advantage of the Due North products without having to go to tender Thiswould include the five remaining Centres of Excellence should they elect to takeadvantage of the contract. Brendan Austin, Access Intelligence Chief Executive, said: "This latest contract win gives Due North a clear advantage in the marketplace.Public bodies who wish to take advantage of the framework contract for oure-sourcing software can potentially save themselves thousands of pounds in bothdirect and indirect costs by not having to go through the tender process. Whilstthe framework contract does not guarantee levels of business, since winning aframework contract for police and fire authorities in England and Wales we havesystems in 75% of police forces and 100% of English regional fire authorities." For further information: Access Intelligence plc 01904 520 840 Jeremy Hamer (Non Executive Chairman) Brendan Austin (Chief Executive) Colin Davies (Finance Director) Cubitt Consulting 020 7367 5100 Brian Coleman-Smith / James Verstringhe / Leanne Denman Blue Oar Securities 020 7448 4400 Rhod Cruwys / David Seal / Shane Gallwey Background note on Access Intelligence Access Intelligence is a Software and Computer Services group of companiesproviding business critical compliance and legislative driven services to both public and private sectors on a recurring revenue basis. Since the flotation onAIM in November 2003, the Group has made three acquisitions focused in the areas of compliance software and data backup and recovery. The group today Access Intelligence is based in York with subsidiaries in York, Stockport,Greater Manchester, Chorley, Lancashire and Newcastle upon Tyne.The company has two principle divisions which are: Compliance software and services division: This includes a range of software including The Virtual Compliance OfficerTMwhich enables companies in the retail financial services sector to support their customer acquisition process whilst also ensuring that they comply withever increasing regulations from the EU and the FSA. Our suite of sourcing and procurement software streamlines and reduces costs oftendering and contract management for both buyers and suppliers in the public and private sectors. The government has the objective that all public sector bodies comply with its directive to use methods such as electronic tenderingfor goods and services in order to meet its planned reductions in publicspending of £20bn per annum. Data storage back-up retrieval division: The architecture and provision of high availability systems for mission criticalapplications that enable customers' data to be available at all times in theevent of computer failure.Online offsite data storage and retrieval through Backup&RunningTM via secure data centers. Email monitoring. There is an ever increasing compliance emphasis driven byinitiatives such as Sarbanes-Oxley to ensure data is held appropriately and canbe retrieved easily when required. The business model The Group's income strategy is to build recurring revenues delivered throughextendable contracts ranging between one and five years. This model shouldprovide excellent visibility of future revenues and, with effective customer retention, outstanding gross margins over the longer term. The strategy for growth The strategy is to acquire businesses which have good management and highgrowth potential that fit the revenue model while, at the same time, addingvalue to the Group's existing services. The businesses acquired will have substantial autonomy to develop within budgetsagreed with the Group Chief Executive and Finance Director, whilst benefitingfrom the experience and cross selling opportunities provided by being part of anexpanding group of companies.New companies to the group can take advantage ofback office facilities where appropriate thus enabling them to concentrate onthe core activities of customer acquisition, service delivery and productdevelopment. At this stage of the Group's development, the Central Group Executive Team, which is based in York, will be kept to a maximum of three people, includingsupport staff. The Non-Executive Directors will continue to be involved insourcing and evaluating potential acquisitions and monitoring the performanceof the Group. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange