UNG.L Regulatory News (UNG)

6 Jul 2007 14:44

Universe Group PLC06 July 2007 Immediate release: 6 July 2007 Universe Group PLC ("Universe" or "the Company") Contract Wins and Further Expansion of Senior Management Team Universe, the retail and loyalty systems company, (AIM: UNG.L) announces thatHTEC Limited ("HTEC"), the Company's operating subsidiary, has won two majorcontracts with existing clients. HTEC has signed an agreement with BP Netherlands ("BP") for the immediateroll-out of 575 Gemini online loyalty terminals. The contract to upgrade andexpand BP's existing online loyalty scheme is worth an initial £350,000, and hasbeen placed with HTEC's newly formed International Division, which isresponsible for projects with major oil companies and global loyalty programmes. A further contract, worth €880,000 and deliverable over the next 12 months, hasbeen signed with one of the World's largest oil companies. This constitutes thefirst phase of the international roll-out of the global software system, aspreviously announced in Universe's Preliminary Results statement issued in March2007. Universe also announces the appointment of Richard Philips as Head of HTEC'sInternational Division. His appointment follows the recent appointment ofCharlie Goulding and Darren Graham into HTEC's senior sales and marketing roles.Richard's responsibilities will include management of the Company's Madridoffice, adding particular support to the existing services being provided to BPin the Iberian peninsular. Richard was previously a regional manager for Esso and has also worked as amanagement consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, running a number ofsignificant marketing projects, most notably for Heineken and Sainsbury's. Morerecently Richard was a Strategic Projects Director with Diageo, before moving onto be EMEA Solutions Director with Carlson Marketing, the world's third largestmarketing services agency, where he concentrated on loyalty solutions for Shelland MBNA. Paul Cooper, Chief Executive of Universe commented: "The agreements with BPNetherlands and another of our major oil clients illustrates the benefits of ournew management, systems and structure and we expect to announce further similaragreements with a number of other oil majors. We are also pleased to welcomesenior staff of Richard's calibre and experience. Richard's arrival confirms ourcommitment to accelerating HTEC's growth and cements our position as a global,industry-leading online managed services provider." -ends- For further information please contact: Universe Group plc Charles Stanley Tavistock Securities Communications Nominated Adviser & Broker Paul Cooper, Chief Russell Cook John WestExecutiveJohn Scholes, Chairman Carl Holmes Andrew Dunn Tel: 02380 689510 Tel: 020 7149 6000 Tel: 020 7920 3150 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange