MXCP.L Regulatory News (MXCP)

8 Aug 2005 07:00

2 ergo Group plc08 August 2005 Embargoed until 07.00 8 August 2005 2ergo group plc ("2ergo" or the "Group") Launch of Business Initiative 2ERGO ANNOUNCES PIONEERING PARTNERSHIP TO COMBAT TRUANCY AND BULLYING VIA MOBILE TELEPHONY 2ergo, the AIM listed provider of convergent mobile communication solutions, ispleased to announce that it has entered into an exclusive partnership withFingershield (UK) Limited who will be responsible for the national distributionof 2ergo's "Truancy Tracker" and "Tell By Text" applications under the brandname 2NC. Fingershield has existing relationships with the majority of schoolsin the UK, thereby making them the perfect partner for this initiative. Local authorities have reported an estimated 50,000 children every day aretruant from school, despite on-the-spot fines and potential prison sentences forparents, whilst over 30% of children experience bullying during their childhood. In view of the quoted figures, local authorities have been charged with drawingup legislation to identify and respond to the issues and needs of the communityand in particular, those of young people regarding truancy and bullying.Critical to the success of the local authorities and the schools to eradicatetruancy and bullying, is their ability to implement effective solutions to dealwith the situation. 2ergo has now successfully completed a number of trials of the 2NC Alert Systemin schools in the North West of England, which have shown immediate results bothin the lowering of truancy figures and also in the number of incidents ofbullying that have been reported and satisfactorily dealt with. In July, StMary's Catholic High School in Wigan, the first school to adopt the technology,was presented with the prestigious Diana, Princess of Wales Anti-Bullying Awardfor its significant achievement in combating bullying. 2NC will offer an effective twofold solution in combating truancy and bullying: •Targeting truancy - schools will be able to send secure messages to parents or guardians of unauthorised absentees via the Truancy Tracker who in turn can contact the school for further information. •Bullying - through the discrete Tell By Text service, victims will be able to alert the school regarding a problem or incident they have witnessed. This alert will then be immediately notified to designated teachers within the school so that action can be taken. Revenues from the application will be generated in three ways - an initialset-up fee, a monthly management fee and a per transaction fee. Due to thesuccess of the trials, the Group is confident in averaging revenue ofapproximately £2,000 per school, per year. Barry Sharples, Joint MD of 2ergo commented:"We are delighted that Fingershield has agreed to partner with 2ergo regardingthe distribution of our 2NC product which will complement its extensiveportfolio of youth and educational related products. This is the perfectpartnership to build on 2ergo's initial solution developed for St. Mary'sCatholic High School, one of the largest secondary schools in the North West. Wehave every confidence in seeing a significant reduction in truancy figures andbullying incidents throughout UK schools." Frank Garvey, Chairman of Fingershield commented:"As well as assisting schools to combat truancy and bullying the 2NC AlertSystem will enable pupils who witness drug use, vandalism of school property andother anti-social behaviour, to anonymously notify school management of theidentities of the culprits. We believe this is something they would not dowithout the guarantee of absolute anonymity - which the 2NC Alert System nowprovides. "We are very excited to be chosen by 2ergo to be their exclusive distributor of2NC." -ends- For further information, please contact: 2ergo - 01706 221777Neale Graham, Joint Managing DirectorBarry Sharples, Joint Managing Director Tavistock Communications - 020 7920 3150Christian Taylor-WilkinsonPaul Dulieu Notes to Editors: About 2ergo group plc2ergo group plc facilitates communication and interaction between companies andtheir staff or customers using Mobile Internet, SMS, MMS, Web and VoiceApplications. Headquartered in Lancashire, the Company listed on AIM on 11 March2004. About Fingershield Safety (UK) LimitedFingershield Safety (UK) is a well established business focusing on products andservices into the Educational market. Fingershield is passionate in its approachto providing total customer satisfaction, and with over 5,000 existing customersin the Education market this is testimony of their success. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange