MAIS.L Regulatory News (MAIS)

July 2nd, 2013

RNS Reach

blur (Group) plc

("blur," the "Group" or the "Company")

All points South West as blur sets up R&D Center

Region shares Valley characteristics for great tech clusters

blur Group (LSE AIM: BLUR), the company that's reinventing commerce at blurgroup.com, has announced that it's heading South-West as it sets up a new R&D Centre in Exeter.

This move by blur Group, one of the most successful recent Tech IPOs in London, shows a commitment to a region which with 4 of the country's top 20 universities, a track record in innovation and entrepreneurship and where start-ups have attracted more than $550 million in investment and returned more than $800 million to shareholders, shares many characteristics with the original Silicon Valley and is in a prime position to become the UK's leading tech region.

Philip Letts, CEO of blur Group and one of the few UK businessmen to have been the CEO of a major Silicon Valley tech company, described the choice of Exeter for blur's R&D location:

"The South West combines innovation and technology excellence, a great mix of universities with both academic and venture focus, and an established reputation in attracting hi-tech firms while providing great incubation and support for earlier stage business. It's a combination that has worked well for the US and has the potential to do the same in the UK."

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: "It's a great story for Devon when successful UK tech ventures decide to locate here and proves our superb infrastructure is teed up for this kind of business. We are extremely excited to welcome blur Group who were attracted here through the County Council's Devon Delivers campaign and I would expect others to follow suit to be part of the region's growing economy."

Letts concluded "Choosing this location was very straightforward. In doing so, we've received exactly the kind of support from local universities and the County Council that reinforces why the South-West will assume the UK tech cluster crown. And one ingredient that everyone overlooks in finding the next Silicon Valley was pointed out to me on the first day of my tenure in the Valley - and is very prevalent here - the sea."

blur Group's head office is in West London and it has a regional office in Dallas, as well as having Exchange businesses in 141 countries.

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About blur (Group) plc at blurgroup.com

blur Group is a technology company reinventing how businesses do commerce at blurgroup.com. Its Global Services Exchange delivers services differently: a new way to buy, manage and pay for core services. Over 30,000 businesses in 141 countries have adopted this s-commerce platform and changed the way they work.

blur Group (BLUR) is a public company headquartered in the UK with offices in the US and Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. blur was founded in January 2006 and launched in alpha in 2007 with the full, formal launch of the Global Services Exchange in January 2010. At that time, just over three project briefs per month were submitted. Now 100 projects per month from companies like Broadridge, Coral, Exceed, HCA, Momentive, Red Commerce, the Financial Times, Berlitz, Butlins, GE Healthcare and Tyco are received. Over the same time, average brief value has grown from approximately $1,500 in 2010 to $10,800 in Q1 2013.

Today, more than 2,100 projects have been submitted with a combined value of over $33 million. These have come from the US, UK, Europe, Africa and Asia with over 28,000 expert service providers on eight exchanges responding to them.