AGM Statement

27 Apr 2006 11:55

Dowlis Corporate Solutions plc27 April 2006 Date: 27 April 2006 On behalf of: Dowlis Corporate Solutions plc ("Dowlis" or "the Company") For immediate release Dowlis Corporate Solutions plcAGM Statement At its Annual General Meeting today, at which all resolutions were duly passed,Colin Cooke, Chairman of Dowlis Corporate Solutions plc, made the followingstatement: "Following the announcement of the Group's maiden set of results on 20 March, Iwould like to take this opportunity to update the market on recent trading andevents. "The Group has made significant progress towards developing a profitable groupwith a clear focus to provide services to a wide network utilising our systemsand processes. "I am comfortable with progress and encouraged by the many new opportunities theteam is working on. We continue to focus on driving organic growth across theGroup's marketing, logistics and information solutions divisions whilstreviewing opportunities for synergistic acquisitions. Our two new acquisitionsare performing in line with our expectations and we look forward to theremainder of the year with confidence." - ENDS - Enquiries: Dowlis Corporate Solutions plc www.dowlis.comMartin Varley (Chief Executive) 0870 224 6677David Gray (Finance Director) Redleaf CommunicationsEmma Kane/Miranda Good 020 7955 1410 Corporate Synergy PLCRhodri Cruwys 020 7448 4400 Zeus CapitalAlex Clarkson 0161 831 1512 Notes to Editors: • Publication quality photographs are available via Redleaf. • Dowlis has an experienced Board which comprises: Colin Cooke, Chairman, who has 21 years' experience as a public company director; Martin Varley, Chief Executive Officer, who has 17 years' experience in the promotional merchandise industry and has gained an extensive knowledge of the supply and distribution sectors of the market; David Gray, Finance Director, formerly finance director of Gowrings PLC for 10 years; and, Keith Willis, Non Executive Director, who recently received a lifetime achievement award from PROMOTA in recognition of his 30 years' contribution to the industry. • It is estimated that the annual UK market for promotional merchandise is £1 billion (source: PROMOTA), which comprises approximately 2,000 distributors supported by 600 UK based suppliers of a wide range of products and services. • The Group currently has four primary sales channels: Promotional Products - the Directors believe Dowlis is the second largestdistributor of promotional products in the UK. It sources products from aroundthe World which are then personalised in accordance with the client's brand anddesign guidelines in support of their wider marketing campaigns. Trade OnlyTM - suppliers to independent distributors via an annual catalogue,exhibition and website. Trade OnlyTM receives orders from approximately 25 percent of the UK's distributors who access the Trade OnlyTM range which features600 products all of which are branded to the distributors' specification. TradeOnlyTM has entered into a letter of intent with Technologo to provide Trade OnlyTM and its distributor customers with the opportunity to show their clientsbranded products on screen before they order. Information Services - a bespoke, industry specific website that containsdetailed information on over 1,000 products including full details of thesupplier and also detailed product information. Revenue is generated fromsuppliers wishing to be featured on the website. Dowlis Communications - a design agency based in Manchester, providing a rangeof services which cover all aspects of design and marketing, including print andbrochure production, media planning and buying. It is expected that DowlisCommunications will provide the platform for a number of potential additionalservices that can be added to the Group's offering as the strategy to focus onmarketing services is developed. The Group's offering is underpinned by its investment in software andinformation technology. Its bespoke sales order processing system and productdatabase was carefully designed to complement the strategy of the Group. TheDirectors believe that it will provide the Group with a competitive advantageover others in the industry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange