Directorate Change
Sarantel Group PLC
06 June 2005
Embargoed until 7:00 6 June 2005
Sarantel Group PLC ('Sarantel' or 'the Group')
John Uttley appointed Non-Executive Director
Sarantel, the leading manufacturer of revolutionary filtering antennas for
wireless devices which began trading on AIM on 2 March 2005, is pleased to
announce the appointment of John Uttley as Non-Executive Director and Chairman
of the Audit Committee, with immediate effect.
Mr Uttley, aged 60, is currently Chairman of First Security Group Ltd, Misys
Group Pension Trustees and Templecare Ltd, and is a Non-Executive Director on
the Board of Newtel Holdings, a Jersey/Guernsey telecoms company.
John has held numerous roles as Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Finance
Director over the years, in a range of small to large corporations, from
start-ups to established listed companies. He has served as Non-Executive
Director and Chairman of the Risk and Audit Committees at Misys Independent
Financial Advisory Services, which became Sesame plc, Non-Executive Director of
Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, and an Advisory Board Member of
Strategic Partnership. John was Chairman of Stentor Communications plc, the AIM
listed Irish telecoms group, which was later sold for £40m, at a fourfold
profit. He was Finance Director for seven years at National Grid Group, whereby
his responsibilities included Company Secretary, Public Affairs, Information
Systems, Procurement and Chairmanship of the Pumped Storage and Interconnections
businesses, as well as his financial responsibilities. Between 1993-7 he was
Non-Executive Director of Energis plc and also Chairman of Electricity Pool
Funds Administration Ltd. From 1990-7 Mr Uttley was Chairman of National Grid
Pension Trustees, Project Director for Electricity Settlements System from
1998-90 and Finance Director of Central Electricity Generating Board from
1984-90.
Save as disclosed above, there are no further disclosures to be made in
accordance with Rule 15 and Schedule Two (f) of the AIM Rules.
Commenting on the appointment, David Wither, Chief Executive Officer, said:
'The appointment of John is in line with our intention stated at the time of our
AIM IPO in March 2005, to strengthen the Board with the appointment of a further
Non-Executive Director.
'John brings with him a wealth of experience in advisory roles in a range of
companies, and thus his public company experience, in-depth business and
strategic capabilities coupled with his sector knowledge, will be invaluable to
the Group as we progress our growth plans.'
For further information please contact:
Sarantel Group PLC www.sarantel.com
David Wither, CEO/Sitkow Yeung, CFO 01933 670560
Smithfield 020 7360 4900
Sara Musgrave / Sarah Richardson
Pictures are available for the media to view and download from
www.vismedia.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
About Sarantel
Sarantel designs, manufactures and sells patented, ceramic, filtering antennas
for use in portable wireless devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs),
laptops and Third Generation (3G) mobile devices. Its current focus is on
producing antennas for the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) market which allow
a clearer signal than conventional antennas whilst reducing the amount of energy
absorbed by the body by approximately 90 per cent. The antennas simplify system
design, thus allowing design standardisation and reduced time to market and cost
for manufacturers.
As well as GPS, Sarantel's antenna technology is capable of servicing multiple
emerging high volume markets such as Wi-Fi, 3G, Satellite Radio and Bluetooth.
These markets are expected to be key in the future success of mobile network
operators and device manufacturers. Sarantel's antennas significantly improve
the performance of wireless systems by increasing the range and effective
bandwidth. Sarantel is planning to commence high volume delivery of its antennas
into the satellite radio market within the next 12 months.
Sarantel listed on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, on 2nd
March 2005 at an issue price of 82p. Sarantel is included in the IT Hardware
sector (93) within the Telecommunications equipment sub-sector (938) and has a
RIC code of SLG.L
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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