NAK.L Regulatory News (NAK)

27 August 2015

Nakama Group plc

("Nakama" or "the Company")

Directorate Change

Nakama Group plc, the AIM quoted recruitment consultancy working across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia providing staff for the web, interactive, digital media, IT and business change sectors, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rob Sheffield as Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect.

Rob has been a founding director of the Company since October 2009, when he jointly established Nakama Ltd in London and its subsidiaries in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) and Hong Kong with Paul Goodship, prior to its subsequent acquisition by AIM listed, IT recruitment specialist, Highams Systems Services Group plc, to create Nakama Group plc in October 2011.

He is an experienced senior executive with a track record in leading, sustaining and growing significant businesses, from both startup to more established enterprises. Rob has a strong knowledge of business, legal and operational requirements in Asia, Australia and Europe, successfully building teams to service the recruitment, digital, marketing, creative services and advertising industries.

He took an early lead in expanding Nakama's operations into the Asia Pacific region and in June 2012, relocated to Australia to build the Company's APAC service offering across Asia and Australia. This involved growing APAC staff numbers from 12 to 42 in three years, defining a vision, culture and putting in place a strategic roadmap for the business, both culturally and financially and training and developing key management individuals across the region. He has established and profitably grown the offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore and expanded trading into Shanghai and Bangkok. He has grown Nakama's APAC contract revenue over the past three years by an average of over 40% year on year and APAC's permanent revenue by 55% on average year on year. The APAC region now represents 29% of the Group's revenue.

Prior to 2009, Rob spent six years as Head of Technology at Aquent, the large and prestigious international staffing firm specialising in the creative and marketing fields, where he worked with a wide range of UK and International clients covering Agency, Corporate and Government organisations within the digital space. He helped drive the commercial growth of the division year on year before leaving to set up Nakama.

Ken Ford, Non-executive Chairman, commented:

"I am delighted that Rob has agreed to expand his CEO role in APAC to now comprise leadership across the Group as a whole.

"Over the past six years, Rob has played a key role in developing the Group, both in terms of our strategy, establishing focus, driving performance and embedding a disciplined and results driven approach that is serving us well. I am confident that Rob will lead the Group very effectively and that his drive, motivation and experience will deliver both value and results."

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Nakama Group plc:

Nakama Group plc is a recruitment group of two branded solutions placing people into specialist and management positions:

· Nakama operates in the digital, creative, media, marketing and technology sectors all over the world from offices in the UK, Asia and Australia.

· The Highams brand specialises in the Financial Services sector, specifically Business Change and IT in Insurance and Wealth Management currently in the UK and Europe.

Nakama Group plc was created in October 2011 through the acquisition of Nakama Ltd UK and its subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne by AIM listed Highams Systems Services Group plc.

Since forming in 2011, the Group has opened an office in Singapore for Digital, Creative, Media and Marketing.

Our aim is to offer all our services from both our brands in all our locations.