Board Change

Fairpoint Group PLC
06 May 2008


6 May 2008

                                FAIRPOINT GROUP PLC

                                  BOARD CHANGE

Fairpoint Group plc ('Fairpoint' or 'the Group'), a leading provider of advice
and solutions to financially stressed consumers, is pleased to announce the
appointment of Christopher Moat as Chief Executive Officer. Chris will take up
the position on 6 May 2008 when he will join the Board. He succeeds Andrew
Redmond, who will become non-executive Deputy Chairman.

Chris Moat (aged 40) brings a wealth of experience from highly successful
retail-focused, marketing led financial services businesses. Chris has held a
number of senior general management positions and has experience across a wide
range of leading financial services companies. Most recently, Chris held a
variety of general management roles for Royal Bank of Scotland Group. These
included Managing Director of Direct Line, Managing Director of Motoring and
Directorships of Churchill Insurance and Green Flag. Prior to that, Chris was
Managing Director of RBS's Partnerships division, where he helped grow key
partners such as Tesco Insurance and Virgin Money's insurance offering. Chris's
previous roles also include Director of Lending at GUS Home Shopping and Head of
Consumer Direct at GE Capital Bank.

Mike Blackburn, Chairman of Fairpoint, commented: 'As part of Fairpoint's new
strategic direction announced late last year, Andy Redmond and the Board
determined that the next phase of the development of the Group called for the
appointment of a Chief Executive with a wider financial services background. A
rigorous search has produced an outstanding successor. Andy's contribution to
the business that he founded and has lead since 1997 has been exceptional and I
am delighted that he will continue to play an active part within the Group after
ensuring a smooth transition of his responsibilities to Chris. Chris has already
been working alongside Andy in a consulting capacity for several weeks and a
transition plan is well underway.

'Chris's experience and expertise is entirely relevant to Fairpoint as the Group
expands its product offering to become the UK's largest and most respected
provider of financial advice, solutions and services dedicated to financially
stressed consumers.

We expect to continue to strengthen the Board as we ensure the right leadership
is in place to deliver the next phase of the Company's growth.'

Andy Redmond said: 'In Chris Moat I believe we have found the ideal candidate to
take the Group forward. It is the right time for me to step back from day to day
responsibility and I am looking forward to my continuing involvement in a
non-executive capacity.'

Chris Moat commented: 'I'm delighted to be joining the market leader in IVAs and
very much look forward to consolidating that position, and driving the
transition of the business into a broader based financial services business.'

In the previous five years Chris Moat has been a director of the following
companies:

Current Directorships                                Previous Directorships

None                                   RBS Group Insurance Services Limited
                                             RBS Insurance Services Limited
                                               Tracker Network (UK) Limited
                                                    Tracker Network Limited
                                                        Sledgebrook Limited
                                                          Kickshaws Limited
                                                  Direct Line Insurance plc
                                             Direct Line Life Insurance Ltd
                                                Direct Line Unit Trusts Ltd
                                        Churchill Insurance Company Limited
                                               UK Insurance Company Limited
                                                       Green Flag Group Ltd

There is no further information, in relation to Chris Moat's appointment, which
is required to be disclosed pursuant to AIM Rule 17.

Enquiries:

Fairpoint Group plc                                          0845 296 0200
Andy Redmond, Deputy Chairman
Chris Moat, Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Heath, Company Secretary

Numis Securities
Chris Wilkinson                                              020 7260 1000
Lee Aston

Financial Dynamics
Ed Gascoigne-Pees                                            020 7269 7132
Nick Henderson                                               020 7269 7114



Notes

At Fairpoint we develop and operate consumer financial services businesses.

We select markets or opportunities which show certain characteristics:

  • Growing and sustainable consumer demand.
  • Caused by deep-rooted market, regulatory or economic factors.
  • Where innovation and effective channel execution can give sustainable
    differentiation.

As such our customers tend to be going through a period of life to which the
mass financial services market is unable to provide a solution.

We make it our business to understand our customers in depth, to help them
through their short term circumstances, and to continue that relationship, if
they so choose, into the future. The solutions offered range from basic advice,
such as simply destroying credit cards and curbing unnecessary expenditure, to
the following solutions:

•                     consolidation loan
•                     re-mortgage
•                     informal arrangement
•                     individual voluntary arrangement (IVA)
•                     bankruptcy

Fairpoint always seeks (unlike many of its competitors who sell specific
products) to systematically and impartially deliver the best advice to the
consumer and recommend them the most appropriate solution.

Over the last few years we have been very much focused on the over-indebted
market in the UK. Debt Free Direct has pioneered the debt advice and solutions
industry and is a clear leader in the provision of IVAs, while Clear Start's
impartial approach has appealed to a new segment of consumers, and has helped to
take the relationships with the banks into a new era.

Our main objectives are to:

  • introduce to our existing customer base a further range of 'most wanted'
    financial products and solutions;
  • continue to increase our market share, in particular as the market goes
    through a phase of consolidation;
  • address the new growth market of cases where customers are over-extended
    on debt that is secured against their property.

In the meantime we will continue to explore opportunities in markets that fit
our investment criteria.

Fairpoint is based in Chorley, Lancashire, and was admitted to AIM in December
2002.


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