Last checked at 16 Jul 2009 07:00
16 July 2009
Eckoh plc.
("Eckoh" or "the Group")
Appointment of two Non-Executive Directors
The Board of Eckoh today announces the strengthening of its Board with the appointment of Mr Christopher Batterham and Mr Clive Ansell as two new independent non-executive directors with immediate effect. The Board also announces that its Chairman, Mr Peter Reynolds, has decided to step down after five years in this position. Mr Reynolds informed the Board that, having guided Eckoh through its restructuring programme, it is the right time for him to step down and focus on his other directorships. Mr Christopher Batterham will join the Board as Chairman Designate and will become Chairman of the Group following a suitable handover period.
Mr Batterham has extensive experience as a quoted PLC director, in both an executive and non-executive capacity. He has significant success in the management of profitable growth and change, and possesses general financial understanding having undertaken several roles on both quoted and unquoted companies as Finance Director. Mr Batterham currently serves on the Board of Directors of SDL plc, Office2Office plc, Iomart Group plc, DRS Data and Research Services plc, The Risk Advisory Group (Holdings) plc and Betfair Group Limited. Previously, as Group Finance Director and then Managing Director at UUNET (formerly Unipalm Group plc), Mr Batterham grew the business prior to its successful sale. Mr Batterham is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Mr Ansell joins Eckoh bringing with him a wealth of experience in the telecoms and communications industry, having held senior positions at BT. He was President for Strategy, Marketing and Propositions at BT Global Services and Group Strategy Director for BT Group plc. Prior to this, he was Executive Board Member, and Senior Managing Director of the Business Division of Japan Telecom, a TSE-quoted company. At present, Clive Ansell is a Senior Policy Advisor to the Board of the Royal Mail advising on the changes facing the business.
Nik Philpot, CEO of Eckoh, said:
"On behalf of Eckoh I would like to express my gratitude to Peter Reynolds for the work, dedication and counsel he has provided over the past 5 years, steering the Group through the restructuring programme. He will leave Eckoh as a focused and profitable Group and one which under his guidance has developed into the UK's market leader of hosted speech recognition services.
"Furthermore, we are delighted to appoint two such senior figures to the Board. Chris Batterham has had a long and distinguished career in the city and his business acumen and extensive UK plc experience will be a tremendous asset to Eckoh as we execute on our strategy. Clive Ansell is an industry expert with an understanding of the sector which is unparalleled, his knowledge and contacts will help Eckoh remain at the forefront of the speech industry and we are therefore extremely pleased to welcome him onto the Board."
Enquiries:
Eckoh plc
Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer
Adam Moloney, Group Finance Director
Jim Hennigan, Executive Director
www.eckoh.com Tel: 01442 458 300
Corfin Communications
Harry Chathli / Victoria Ward Tel: 020 7977 0020
Seymour Pierce
Jonathan Wright Tel: 020 7107 8000
Notes:
In addition to the companies listed above, Mr Batterham is a director of The Sporting Exchange (Clients) Limited and in the last five years Mr Batterham has served on the Board of Directors of Searchspace Group Ltd, Fortent Limited, The Sporting Exchange Limited, Tibco BPM (formerly Staffware plc) and TSE Treasury Services Limited .
Mr Batterham was on the Board of Directors of The Mediawave Group Limited when it went into administration and compulsory liquidation in 2003. There are no other disclosures required with respect to Mr Batterham and Mr Ansell under Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.