Board Succession

RNS Number : 7361E

Gattaca PLC

15 March 2022

 

15 March 2022

Gattaca plc

("Gattaca" or the "Group")

Board Succession

Gattaca plc, the specialist Engineering and Technology recruitment solutions business, announces that Kevin Freeguard will be stepping down from the Board at the end of March this year and retire from Gattaca at the end of April 2022. Having joined the Group in October 2018, it was Kevin's original intention to leave at the end of this year but he felt, and the Board agreed, that given the scale of further improvement required in the business, an earlier change of leadership was in the Group's interest.

Having been with the Group since June 2017 and serving under two CEOs, Salar Farzad has also agreed that he will leave Gattaca at the same time, stepping down from the Board at the end of March and leaving Gattaca at the end of April 2022. He and the Board believe that the business will be best served by a CFO who can partner with the new CEO for the long term.

In line with the Group's succession plan, Matt Wragg, currently Chief Customer Officer, is appointed to succeed Kevin as Chief Executive Officer. Matt will join the Board as CEO with effect from 1 April 2022. Matt has been with Gattaca for 20 years and has substantial knowledge of the recruitment industry and a deep understanding of Gattaca. He has been a member of the Management Board since 2016.

As part of that succession plan, Oliver Whittaker will succeed Salar as CFO, subject to the successful completion of due diligence by the Group's Nominated Advisor ('Nomad'). Oliver joined Gattaca in 2017 as Group Director of Financial Planning where he has actively supported the Board and works closely with Matt. Oliver was previously UK Finance Director for Fitness First, has held roles with Serco and IBM, and is an ACA qualified accountant.

Patrick Shanley, Chairman, said:

"The Board would like to thank Kevin and Salar for their leadership over the last 4/5 years, including the challenges during the pandemic.  They have been instrumental to the significant reduction in net debt, the establishment of our new operating model and implementing an integrated global technology platform. Thanks to their enormous contribution, the Group is significantly stronger than it was 5 years ago.

Whilst Gattaca has been growing, we recognise that this growth is not in line with that of our market. Matt and Oliver have a thorough understanding of the business and have worked together for several years. They are well-positioned to deliver the necessary short-term improvement and develop the business over the long term."

Matthew Howard Wragg, 42, is currently a director of, or during the past five years has been a director of, the following companies:

Current directorships/partnerships	Past directorships/partnerships
Cappo Inc	Gattaca Solutions Limited
Gattaca Information Technology Services SL	Matchtech Group (UK) Limited
Networkers Inc
Networkers International (Canada) Inc.
NWI de Mexico de RL de CV

Matt is currently holding 30,497 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, equivalent to 0.09 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital. Save as set out in this announcement, there are no further details required to be disclosed pursuant to AIM Rule 17 or Schedule 2(g) to the AIM Rules in respect of Matt Wragg.

For further information please contact:

Gattaca plc	[phone]
Kevin Freeguard, Chief Executive Officer Salar Farzad, Chief Financial Officer
Liberum Capital Limited (Nomad and Broker)	[phone]
Lauren Kettle Robert Morton
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Jos Bieneman Lucy Eyles	[phone]

 

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