Directorate Change

RNS Number : 8231S

Toople PLC

28 June 2018

 

Toople PLC

("Toople" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

Toople PLC (LSE: TOOP), a provider of bespoke telecom services to UK SMEs, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Lawrence, aged 54, as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. 

Kevin originally qualified as a chartered accountant with PWC before joining Grant Thornton in 1997.  In 2000, he joined Lighthouse Group plc as Group Finance Director and subsequently joined Cybit Holdings plc ("Cybit") as Group Finance Director in 2002, a role he held until 2010.  At Cybit he worked closely with the CEO to grow the business from a shell company to a UK market leader with 20% market share and 150 employees in under 7 years.  He was instrumental in delivering both organic and acquisitive growth over this period, with the primary responsibility to secure third party leasing and banking relationships to fund rapid growth.

During his time at Cybit, Kevin took overall responsibility for completing six acquisitions with responsibility for financial and legal due diligence; raising acquisition funding from the group's bankers; and liaising with the group's nominated advisers, the Stock Exchange and brokers as part of each process.  In January 2010, he oversaw a transaction which saw the group taken private by US Private Equity firm Francisco Partners delivering a 105% premium to shareholders on the prevailing market price.  Subsequent to the take private transaction, working with Francisco Partners, he was involved with the acquisition of a major international competitor to the business which effectively quadrupled the size of the business in one transaction.

In 2012 he joined Atego Group Limited, a private equity backed business specialising in Model-based Systems Engineering Software Tools used principally in the military and aviation sectors, and latterly the automotive industries. Kevin worked with the CEO and the then Chairman of Atego Richard Horsman, (the current Chairman of Toople) to overhaul business strategy and completed an $8 million acquisition from IBM to support the new strategy. Subsequently the business was sold to NASDAQ listed PTC Inc at an exit enterprise value significantly above shareholder expectations.

Most recently, Kevin is the Chief Finance Officer at Gardien Group, a private equity backed business specialising in the testing of PCB boards that are fabricated for clients supplying the automotive, defense, telecommunications, aerospace, medical and computer markets worldwide.  The business has approximately 500 staff and revenues of US$40m per annum with operations in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, US, Canada, Germany and Belgium.  He is responsible for leading finance teams across locations in Asia, North America and Europe.

Commenting on his appointment Richard Horsman, Chairman of Toople said:

"As the Company grows and we look to implement our plan to develop new revenue streams, both organically and through acquisition, it is important that we have the right Board with complementary skills, market knowledge and proven capability to execute on our strategy.  We operate in a sector, which is highly fragmented and will increasingly look to use our capital market platform to identify earnings enhancing consolidation opportunities. I am delighted that we have recruited a CFO who shares this vision, ambition and has the relevant experience.  I have worked with Kevin previously and he has a wealth of skills and practical knowledge relevant to scaling businesses quickly.  He has proven execution capability in acquisitions and understands the plc environment.  We are very pleased to have appointed him and look forward to working together with the aim of creating sustainable long term shareholder value."

Kevin Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer, added:

"There is the potential to deploy capital to accelerate growth organically of revenues streams and margins, while also acquiring products and/ or businesses that are aligned with the Company's growth strategy.  I'm excited by the opportunity that this role brings and look forward to working with my colleagues to help scale the business accordingly."

-Ends-

For further information please visit www.toople.com or contact:

Toople PLC	Tel: [phone]
Andy Hollingworth, Chief Executive Officer
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP David Coffman / Richard Nash	Tel: [phone]
Novum Securities Limited Colin Rowbury	Tel: [phone]
Turner Pope Investments Limited Andy Thacker	Tel: [phone]
Belvedere Communications John West	Tel: [phone]

About Toople PLC

Toople Plc, a company incorporated in the UK provides a range of telecoms services primarily targeted at the UK SME market. Services offered by the Group include business broadband, fibre, EFM and Ethernet data services, business mobile phones, cloud PBX and SIP Trunking and Traditional Services (calls and lines) all of which are delivered and managed through Merlin, the Group's proprietary software platform.

The Group is differentiated by its focus on creating business broadband solutions, with robust and reliable packages that will enhance our customers company's. In addition, our vision is based on trust and transparency, with no hidden fees within our pricing policy providing customers with a clear understanding of cost.

Toople Plc has a strong and highly experienced Board and management team who are focused on growing the business both organically and by identifying earnings enhancing strategic acquisition opportunities.

 

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