IMJ.L Regulatory News (IMJ)

28 Aug 2009 07:00



imJack Plc

("imJack" or the "Company")

Memorandum of Understanding

Strategy Update

imJack Plc (AIM: IMJ), the digital educational networking and media business, is pleased to announce that it has today entered into a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding with Tanya Byron, Anthony Lilley and Samantha Richards (together "TAS") (the "MOU"), which the Directors believe will allow the Company to significantly enhance the speed of the roll out of its imJack technology platform (the "Platform").

Professor Tanya Byron and Anthony Lilley OBE are extremely well regarded in both the education and media sectors, having provided strategic advisory services to both public and private sector organisations.

The Directors intend to enter into a formal consultancy agreement (the "Consultancy Agreement") and share option agreement with TAS within seven days of this announcement. Under the Consultancy Agreement the commercial activities which TAS will undertake immediately having entered into the MOU, and are described below, will continue on an ongoing basis. These activities, which are subject in part to the Company securing sufficient working capital in order to finance them, include:

A high profile PR campaign to raise profile and awareness of the Platform through national media;

a major education sector marketing campaign, using specialist media, conferences and professional bodies;

increasing awareness of the Platform through public affairs and channels into the government Department for Children, Schools and Families, Ministers and Cabinet committees; and

further enhancing product development via contributions to safety and commercial policies, product design and industry partnerships.

It is anticipated that these activities will enable the Company to obtain scale more quickly, by increasing the speed at which the Platform can be rolled out into schools across the UK. Under the terms of the MOU, the Company has provided TAS with an initial working capital payment of £24,000 to allow marketing activity to commence.

The Directors believe that the profile of both Professor Byron and Mr Lilley provides the Company, and indeed the Platform, with a highly significant endorsement.

Professor Tanya Byron is a PhD clinical psychologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health, who writes a weekly column in The Times newspaper and several women's magazines. She has also been involved in various TV programmes with the BBC and has published four books on child behaviour. She is currently Chancellor of Edge Hill University and has recently produced a review of harmful and inappropriate material on the internet and in video games for the government, which was unequivocally accepted by the Prime Minister in 2008.

Anthony Lilley OBE is currently Chief Executive of Magic Lantern Productions and is a BAFTA award-winning digital media creative. His clients include the BBC, Channel 4, Google, BT and various government departments. He is a former board member of Becta, a Content Board Member of Ofcom and has past visiting Professorships at both Oxford and Bournemouth Universities. Anthony is also a former New Media Columnist for The Guardian.

Michael Abrahams, Chairman of imJack, said "The preliminary agreement with TAS gives us an excellent opportunity to increase rapidly the roll out of the imJack technology platform to schools and reduce the timeframe in which the Company will be able to successfully execute its growth strategy."

Strategy Update

The Company has, in recent months, conducted extensive market research and, as a result, subject to the availability of sufficient working capital, plans to develop a new revenue stream, in addition to the sponsorship and advertising income which the Directors expect the Platform to generate. The new business model, to be developed in conjunction with TAS, will result in the Company charging a fee to schools for the installation of the Platform, after the conclusion of a trial period, as well as an ongoing fee based on the number of pupils in each school. The Directors believe this will enable the Company to generate material revenues at a much earlier stage than the previous business plan envisaged and will also provide the Company with a more stable and visible revenue stream.

Working Capital

Pursuant to the Company's announcement on 19 May 2009, and subject to market conditions and various assumptions, the Company's current business model assumes that sufficient revenue will be generated in the final quarter of 2009 and beyond, such that no further external funding will be required in addition to a loan facility, which will be provided by Jeffrey Morris, a substantial shareholder in the Company (the details of which were contained in the Company's RNS announcement made on 19 May 2009). As is customary for a business in the early stages of development, it is difficult to predict the timing of revenues with accuracy and, in the event that revenues are materially delayed or are materially less than those anticipated by the Directors, further funding may be required to finance working capital. There can be no guarantee that such funding will be available. 

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