Foresightgr Regulatory News (FSG)

6 Sep 2005 07:01

Focus Solutions Group PLC06 September 2005 06 September 2005 Focus Solutions Group plc ("Focus" or "the Group") Focus announces major contract with Barclays Bank Focus, a leading provider of customer management solutions to the retailfinancial services market, has today announced a contract with major bankingorganisation, Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays"). The contract, worth £2m over 5 years, is for the development of an electronicPoint of Sale (POS) solution to support the sale of regulated life and pensionsproducts for Barclays corporate and personal customers. The new POS solutionwill be integrated with industry portal, Assureweb. This contract takes Focus into another new vertical market, the growingbancassurance sector. Banks are taking a larger percentage of sales of life andpensions products following the start of Depolarisation in December 2004. Thishas created the opportunity for new distribution channels, with the ability tosell life and pensions products from a selected panel of insurers. Focus hasalready extended its reach into the general insurance market, with the recentsigning of a contract with Assurant Solutions. John Streets, CEO, Focus Solutions Group plc added: "This contract creates sustainable revenues for Focus and we look forward tobuilding a long-term relationship with Barclays. This is our first majorcontract with a large retail bank and extends our solutions into a newmarketplace. As the benefits of Depolarisation unfold, we expect increasingdemand for our technology and Multi Channel Advice (MCA) sales solutions." -ends- Enquiries: Focus Solutions Group plc01926 468300 John Streets - Chief ExecutiveMartin Clements - Finance Director Seymour Pierce Limited0207 107 8000 Mark Percy Notes to editors: About Focus Solutions Group plc Focus is a leading provider of customer management solutions for the financialservices industry. Focus' MCA (Multi-Channel Advice) approach, powered by goal:technology, delivers the life, pensions, mortgage and general insurance marketswith a single solution to enable effective electronic trading across multipledistribution channels, online or offline, achieving straight through electronictrading at a much reduced cost to the financial services industry. Focus has a blue chip customer base of financial services organisationsincluding Abbey for Intermediaries, Assurant Solutions, Barclays Bank PLC,Capital Home Loans Ltd, Kensington Mortgages, Legal & General, Mortgages plc,Norwich Union, Paymentshield, Prudential, Scottish Equitable, Scottish Widows,Skandia UK Group, Standard Life, Winterthur and Zurich, as well as industryportals, including Assureweb, The Exchange, IFAengine, Trigold and Webline. For further information on Focus, please visit www.focus-solutions.co.uk. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange