20 Jan 2015 07:00
PROXAMA PLC
Board Appointments
Proxama PLC (AIM: PROX), the global mobile marketing, loyalty and payments company has appointed John Kennedy as Group Chief Financial Officer and Mike Woods as Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Payments Division, comprising Proxama's CardGateway® operations and the recently acquired Aconite business. Both will join the Board with immediate effect.
In his role as CFO, John Kennedy will lead the development of business opportunities across the UK and North America and be responsible for guiding the business through its consolidation and growth across the proximity commerce industry. John gained significant operational, sales and marketing experience at Global Insurance Company Aviva for 20 years. He also led and executed a number of the Group's cost management programmes. During his time there he was responsible for a number of several mergers and acquisitions, including transactions with RAC, HPI, CGNU, and London and Edinburgh.
John spent two years as an Executive Director of IT software company, Validus, where he helped to double the size of the company, commercialise the company's services, and led the process to its sale to private equity group Lloyds Development Capital.
He joins Proxama after most recently serving as Divisional Finance Director at RAC Motoring Service, supporting the sales process between The Carlyle Group and GIC.
Mike Woods has over 30 years of international experience in large and small businesses and was Chief Executive and Chairman of Aconite Technology which he founded in 2000 and acquired by Proxama in December 2014. Under his leadership, Aconite developed into a global software solutions company with a blue chip client base across Europe, Middle East, Africa and USA.
Mike began his career at Mark & Spencer PLC working within the business and IT functions and was involved in major retailing programmes including rolling out a 350 store, European Point of Sale system. In 1994 he was recruited by NatWest Bank as a Corporate Banking Director and involved in the Euro introduction, International electronic payments and became Director for e-commerce across the Group. Following the takeover of NatWest by The Royal Bank of Scotland he continued his role as e-commerce Director, and drove the integration of the two bank's operations. In 2000 he founded Aconite, a leading card issuance and transaction processing software business.
Proxama CEO, Neil Garner commented: "I am delighted that John and Mike are joining the Board and welcome their expertise and significant experience, which will be invaluable as we accelerate our growth in the UK and internationally. The next 18 months is critical in our development where we will see the integration of the Aconite business with our existing CardGateway® payments business and expect to make significant headway in North America and Europe. We expect to further develop strategic partnerships for our consumer engagement activities with TapPoint® where we believe we are very close to the tipping point for consumers using mobile proximity technologies."
Information in respect for John Kennedy and Mike Woods required pursuant to Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies is set out below.
Full name: John Kennedy, 49 years old
Current directorships:
JF Kennedy Consultants - Director
Previous directorships:
Validus-IVC - CFO
Full name: Michael Woods, 51 years old
Current directorships:
Aconite Solutions ltd
Aconite Technology ltd
Previous directorships:
ER Medical Services ltd
Justright Consulting ltd
Bluefish Associates ltd
Enquiries:
Proxama PLC Neil Garner, Chief Executive Miles Quitmann, Chief Commercial Officer | 020 7959 2298
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Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Richard Kauffer Edward Fox | 020 7418 8900 |
Cadogan PR Alex Walters | 0207 499 5002 07771713608 |
About Proxama
Proxama is a global platform provider of mobile proximity commerce solutions; mobile NFC contactless payments and mobile proximity marketing. Our solutions are used by banks, financial institutions, loyalty companies, media owners, stadium owners, retailers and brands.
Our two technology platforms, TapPoint® and CardGateway®, sit at the heart of our business. TapPoint® delivers proximity marketing and loyalty solutions for retailers, media owners, stadium owners and brands by utilising technologies such as NFC, Bluetooth LE (beacons), geo-fencing and QR codes. CardGateway® is our mobile contactless (NFC) payment platform that enables banks and card companies to transition their card portfolio onto mobile, for mobile contactless payments.
In December 2014, Proxama acquired Aconite Technology Limited an established card issuance and transaction processing software business with a proven track record in EMV payments over a period of 12 years. Aconite has customer relationships with global financial card issuers and processors, where its software is integrated into the core operational processes for issuing and managing millions of cards.