Board succession

RNS Number : 8050V

D4T4 Solutions PLC

19 April 2021

 

19 April 2021

D4t4 Solutions Plc

Board Succession

D4t4 Solutions Plc  (AIM: D4t4, "the Group" or "D4t4") , the AIM listed data solutions provider, announces that after 36 years with the Company, Peter Kear has indicated to the Board his wish to retire as Chief Executive Officer by the 30 June 2022.

The Nomination Committee and Board have run an extensive process (involving both internal and external candidates) with a view to identifying a suitable individual to replace Peter and have concluded that Bill Bruno, the current Vice President of D4t4's US business is ideally suited to succeed him.

Bill has had an active role in shaping the future strategy at D4t4 since he joined the Group in 2018 and is well-positioned to drive D4t4's next phase of growth.  Bill has an in-depth understanding of the digital data industry having started his career in 2004 with Stratigent, a leader in digital marketing analytics, where he rose to become president and CEO in 2009.  Following Stratigent's acquisition by Ebiquity Plc in 2013, he continued to serve as its CEO until 2015 when he was promoted to become CEO (North America) for Ebiquity until 2018.

Bill's role at D4t4 has been heavily client facing and he has been at the forefront of many of the Group's most significant client wins in North America, D4t4's single most important market. Bill is well-known in the industry, and highly respected by senior managers and staff alike; his excellent track record in the digital data market and in growing an international digital media, analytics and intelligence business will be of great benefit to D4t4 as it moves into the next phase of its development.

There now begins a transition period through to Peter's retirement during which Bill's role will expand and during which he will work closely with Peter and the rest of the Board to effect a seamless and orderly transition. Bill's appointment to the board of D4t4 will become effective at the end of this transition period during which he will attend Board meetings of D4t4. Bill resides in the United States and will continue to do so once his appointment as CEO becomes effective. He will be spending at least one month a quarter in the UK moving forwards.

Further information on Bill Bruno is set out below.

Peter Simmonds , Non Executive Chairman, commented:

"Replacing a CEO is one of the most critical decisions a Board will make. I am delighted that after an exhaustive search process the Nomination Committee have whole heartedly endorsed the appointment of Bill Bruno into the role of CEO-designate. Bill brings passion, insight and a wealth of industry knowledge, he is well known in our industry and has a big following amongst clients and staff. I am confident that under Bill's leadership the business will continue to thrive and develop a host of new global opportunities.

"I would like to thank Peter Kear for his proactive involvement in finding his successor. Peter is a hard act to follow and I have every confidence that his support and mentoring over the coming months will ensure a smooth transition and give Bill the best possible launchpad into the role.

"I am delighted to have worked with Peter for the last six years and his energy, leadership skills and strength of personality have seen the business thrive since he became CEO in 2016.  It has been a pleasure to be part of the success story and I am looking forward to the journey continuing on an upward trajectory under Bill's leadership."

Peter Kear, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"From a small warehouse unit in Twickenham employing five people, D4t4 has grown to become a multi-national business with offices in the UK, India, North America and Australia supplying some of the world's largest companies with our software. I couldn't be prouder of what we have achieved together, though at the same time I am stunned by how quickly the time has gone by!

"D4t4 is very well positioned - with a strong management team confidently executing a growth strategy based around some fantastic products, including some new releases due imminently, I feel the time is right to begin an orderly executive management succession.

"Having worked with Bill since 2018 I can vouch for both his abilities and his contribution to the development of D4t4 and his passion for our business and products.  I look forward to working with him during the transition phase and I have no doubt that under his leadership the business will continue to go from strength to strength."

Enquiries

D4t4 Solutions Plc Peter Kear, Chief Executive Officer Peter Simmonds, Non Executive Chairman	[phone] [e-mail]
finnCap (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Julian Blunt / Emily Watts, Corporate Finance Alice Lane, ECM	[phone]
Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker) Simon Bridges / Andrew Potts	[phone]
Instinctif Partners Kay Larsen / Rozi Morris / Hannah Campbell	[phone] [e-mail]

Further information on Mr Guerino ("Bill") Luigi Bruno III (aged 39) is set out below:

Active Directorship:

Wolfe Woods Homeowners Association Ltd

Previous Directorships in past 5 years:

Ebiquity Inc.

Ebiquity Holdings Inc.

Ebiquity US Holdings, LLC

Stratigent, LLC

FirmDecisions ASJP LLC

Open Heart Magic

As at the date of this announcement Bill Bruno is not beneficially interested in any Ordinary Shares in the Company.

There is no further information disclosable in respect of Bill Bruno pursuant to Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM rules for companies.

About D4t4 Solutions plc

D4t4 Solutions plc (www.d4t4solutions.com) provides data solutions through its Celebrus suite of products and services, which is comprised of two distinct complementary offerings - its proprietary Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Customer Data Management (CDM) solution. The Celebrus family of products offer data capture, data migration, data synchronization, data management and data monitoring.

Celebrus CDP is an enterprise software product which captures customer behaviour in real time across digital channels to enable a range of applications including customer analytics, personalised marketing, risk, fraud detection and compliance.

Celebrus CDM is an integrated platform that automates the ingestion, integration, transformation, and delivery of customer data from streaming, persisted or historical sources, whether as an appliance

on-premises or in the cloud, to deliver real-time, unified, and trusted multidimensional views of customer data for personalisation, risk, fraud, analytics, and recommendation applications.

The Group has offices in the UK, USA, Australia and India with employees across the UK, US, Europe, Australia and India.  D4t4's blue chip global customers are largely within the financial services, retail and consumer sectors.

Celebrus is fully compliant with all major data privacy regulations and the Group is accredited to ISO27001: Information Security Management.

 

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