Appointment of Finance Director

RNS Number : 4825I

Versarien PLC

03 July 2013

 



3 July 2013

Versarien plc

("Versarien" or the "Group")

Appointment of Finance Director

Versarien plc (AIM: VRS), the advanced engineering materials group, announces today that Christopher Michael Leigh, aged 53, has been appointed Finance Director and Company Secretary with immediate effect.  Stephen Humphries, the Group's current interim Finance Director, who joined the Board on a temporary basis to assist with Versarien's recent AIM listing, will be stepping down from the Board and as a director of the Group with immediate effect.

Mr Leigh is an experienced Finance Director with a significant track record in the manufacturing and engineering sector.  His expertise covers corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, post acquisition integration, organisational restructuring and change management.  He is currently Chief Financial Officer at a leading medical recruitment agency ProMedical Personnel Limited, a position he has held since October 2011.  Prior to this, Christopher was Group Finance Director of AIM-listed Elektron Technology Plc for eighteen years between 1992 and 2010.  Christopher will initially be working part time at Versarien and will transition to a full time position in line with the requirements of the role but remain an advisor to ProMedical

Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer of Versarien plc, said: "I am delighted to welcome Chris to the Board of Versarien at this pivotal time.  The move to AIM and acquisition of Total Carbide means there is a significant need within Versarien for the skills that Chris has.  His experience within M&A and post-acquisition integration, specifically within the engineering sector, will be important as the Group integrates the processes and infrastructure of Versarien and Total Carbide.

"I would like to thank Stephen Humphries, our interim Finance Director who has provided invaluable support to Versarien throughout the listing process.  He leaves with our very best wishes."

Commenting on his appointment, Christopher Leigh said: "I am delighted to be joining Versarien at this exciting point in the Group's development.  My previous position as Group Finance Director at Elektron Technology provides me with valuable knowledge of Versarien's newly acquired operating subsidiary Total Carbide.  I very much look forward to utilising my AIM experience as part of an excellent management team."

This announcement sets out the disclosures required pursuant to Schedule 2, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

Current directorships/partnerships	Previous directorships/partnerships within the past 5 years
Thorndon Park Golf Club Limited	Advanced Electronic Technologies Limited
	Arcolectric 59 Limited
	Arcolectric 61 Limited
	Arcolectric Switches (Hong Kong) Limited
	Elektron Components (Shenzhen) Limited
	Arcolectric Tunisie Sarl
	Aviation Career Associates Limited
	Blackbushe School of Flying Limited
	Bulgin Components Limited
	Bulgin Power Sources plc
	C Helis Limited
	C Schools Limited
	Cabair College Of Air Training Limited
	The Cabair Group Limited
	Cabair Holdings Limited
	Cabair International (Overseas) Limited
	Cabair International (UK) Limited
	Cabair International Aviation Limited
	Cabair International Limited
	Cabair Limited
	Cabair Maintenance Limited
	Cirkit Holdings Limited
	Denham Aircraft Maintenance Limited
	Denham School of Flying Limited
	Digitron Instrumentation Limited
	Elektron Component Corporation
	Elektron Instruments Limited
	Elektron IP Limited
	Elektron Limited
	Elektron Technology plc
	Elektron Technology UK Limited
	Elektron Trustees Limited
	Elektron Tunisie Sarl
	Escape To Limited
	European Pilot Training Academy Limited
	Heli London Limited
	Helitech (Luton) Limited
	Helitech Limited
	London Aviation Limited
	The London School of Flying Limited
	Over The Pond Limited
	Phoenix Rising From The Ashes Limited
	Plane Talking Limited
	Queensgate Instruments Limited
	Southern Flight Training Limited
	Sport Aviation Limited
	Titman Tip Tools Limited
	Total Carbide Limited
	World Aviation Holdings Limited
	Wycombe Air Centre Engineering Limited
	Wycombe Air Centre Limited

Mr Leigh was a director of of Cabair International Aviation Limited ("CIAL") and its subsidiaries for a period of one month.  On 23 June 2011, Mr Leigh resigned as a director of Cabair International Aviation Limited ("CIAL") and its subsidiaries Cabair International (UK) Limited, Cabair College of Air Training Limited, Cabair Maintenance Limited, Cabair International (Overseas) Limited, Cabair Holdings Limited, the Cabair Group Limited, Cabair International Limited, Cabair Limited, C Schools Limited, Escape To Limited, Wycombe Air Centre Limited, Aviation Career Associates Limited, European Pilot Training Academy Limited, C Helis Limited, Plane Talking Limited, World Aviation Holdings Limited, Blackbushe School of Flying Limited, Denham Aircraft Maintenance Limited, Heli London Limited, Helitech (Luton) Limited, Helitech Limited, London Aviation Limited, Southern Flight Training Limited, Sport Aviation Limited, The London School of Flying Limited, Wycombe Air Centre Engineering Limited and Over The Pond Limited.  On 20 October 2011 an administrator was appointed to the CIAL group following several years of poor trading with a deficiency to creditors of approximately £958,700.

Mr Leigh does not currently hold any interest in the share capital of the Company.

- Ends -

For further information:

Versarien Limited
Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
	www.versarien.com

Northland Capital Partners Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
William Vandyk / Lauren Kettle	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.northlandcp.co.uk
Westhouse Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
Tom Griffiths / Rob Sanders	Tel: [phone]
	www.westhousesecurities.com

Media enquiries:

Abchurch Communications Limited
Henry Harrison-Topham / Jamie Hooper	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

Notes to Editors

Versarien develops advanced micro-porous metals for thermal management. The open celled metallic foams produced by the Group at its manufacturing factory in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, are 'biomimetic' - that is they mimic the sponge like structures of biological materials, e.g. bone and coral.

Versarien's porous metals have an exceptionally high surface area relative to volume which means they are ideally suited to any function where surface area is important, for example heat transfer, heat exchange, catalysis and energy storage.  Versarien is initially targeting the thermal management industry due to the material's superb heat transfer properties.  The thermal management market is expected to reach US$S11.1 billion during 2013 (Source: BCC Research).

The Group's lead product is VersarienCu, a micro-porous copper. When incorporated into liquid cooling systems, VersarienCu can improve efficiency by up to ten times. Versarien's key market is cooling systems for central processing units (CPUs), hardware that is found in high performance workstations (engineering, science, CGI, animation), computer clusters, supercomputing infrastructure and data centres. VersarienCu can be retrofitted into 'cold plates' within existing infrastructure and the Group also intends to produce complete cooling systems containing VersarienCu.

 

END

 

 

BOALIFERDRIVIIV