12 Mar 2021 07:00
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
12 March 2021
AIM: UNG.L
Universe Group plc
("Universe", the "Company" or the "Group")
Appointment of CEO
Universe Group plc (AIM: UNG.L), a leading developer and supplier of retail management solutions, payment and loyalty systems, is pleased to announce the appointment of Neil Radley as the Company's new Chief Executive Officer. Neil will formally join the Group on 1 May 2021.
As a technology focused CEO, Neil also brings considerable experience in growing international businesses, with a particular focus on retail and commercial financial services that is highly complementary to the Group's product and customer portfolio. Most recently, Neil led Jaja Finance Limited, a fintech lending business, raising funds and making a £530m acquisition within a year of launch. He has acted as director and adviser to a range of private equity backed businesses and served in a range of senior management roles across Barclaycard, HBOS plc and Bank One International both in the UK and mainland Europe. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse.
Andrew Blayze, Executive Chairman, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Neil to the team and look forward to the growth of the Company under his leadership. He brings tremendous strategic, M&A and finance experience from a range of positions across our markets, particularly the highly regulated and technically complex payments space, that will develop on the foundations that have been built in recent years."
Neil Andrew Radley, aged 57, is currently a director of Jaja Finance Limited, Jaja Finance (Holding) Limited, Dragonpay Limited, Jaja Finance (Investco) Limited (he will resign as a director of each of these companies prior to taking up his role at Universe) and of Lakeside NAR Limited. He has previously in the last five years been a director Jaja Finance Holdings AS, Iliad Payment Systems Limited, and Invapay Payment Solutions Limited. There is no other information to disclose regarding Mr Radley pursuant to Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
For further information:
Universe Group plc Andrew Blazye, Executive Chairman Jeremy Lewis, Chief Executive Officer Carmel Warren, Chief Financial Officer
finnCap Henrik Persson (Corporate Finance) Matthew Radley (Corporate Finance) Richard Chambers (ECM)
IFC Advisory Tim Metcalfe Graham Herring Florence Chandler | Tel: +44 2380 689 510
Tel: +44 20 7220 0500
Tel: +44 20 3934 6630
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About Universe Group plc:
Universe provides some of the world's leading retailers with retail management solutions, payment and loyalty systems. The Group's solutions are based on its own proprietary software and are offered out of the cloud on a software as a service model processing over 20 billion transactions every year. For further information, please see www.universe-group.co.uk