Directors
John Standen
Non-Executive Chairman
John joined the board in April 2007 as non-executive chairman. John is also chairman of Stanelco plc, and a senior non-executive director of Lavendon Group plc. He is also chairman of council at the University of Hull.
John was previously non-executive chairman of Reg Vardy plc until its sale in 2006. He spent his career in corporate finance and was Chief Executive of BZW Corporate Finance before retiring from Barclays Bank PLC in 1998.
John is a member of both the Audit and Remuneration Committees.
Richard Ramsay
Non-Executive Director
Richard joined the board in July 2007 as a non-executive director. Richard is also a non-executive Director of Artemis, the AiM VCT and a Director of Intelli Corporate Finance, a corporate finance house specialising in the investment manager and closed end funds sectors. Richard has a long career in investment banking and was Chief Operating Officer of the Corporate Finance Division of Barclays de Zoete Wedd plc, the investment banking arm of the Barclays Group and before that a Director of Corporate Finance at Hill Samuel & Co plc, where he worked for almost 10 years.
Subsequently he moved into fund management as a Director of Ivory & Sime plc. He has previously been a non-executive Director of The Edinburgh Inca Trust, a trust run by Edinburgh Fund Managers investing in Latin America, and the Independent Investment Company, a development and venture capital trust, management by Ivory & Sime. Richard started his career as an accountant at Price Waterhouse & Co.
More recently, Richard spent two years between 2001 and 2003 as Managing Director of Regulation and Financial Affairs at OFGEM, the regulatory authority for the gas and electricity industries. Prior to this he was Director and Company Secretary for Aberdeen Football Club plc between 1997 and 2000.
Richard is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.
Ian Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Ian joined the board in April 2003. A highly experienced IT and communications industry developer of new business, Ian has held senior sales positions with Dataworkforce, Cisco Systems, Olympic Worldlink and Cable & Wireless.
Whilst CEO of Xploite, Ian has been responsible for the buy, build and sell strategy that has seen 26 corporate transactions, including 2 substantial disposals and the creation and return of £20m of cash to the company’s shareholders.
Tony Weaver
Chief Operating Officer
Tony joined the board in November 2003. Tony has an IT and communications services background that started in the mid 1980’s. Tony founded his first IT business in 1988 and is a founder of a number of other successful IT companies and has a very well established background in sales and business management.
Whilst COO of Xploite, Tony has been responsible for the management of the acquired businesses including defining and running the integration of those businesses into single company entities that were sold as part of the group’s buy, build and sell strategy.
Robert Arrowsmith
Chief Financial Officer
Robert joined the board in February 2007. Robert has significant experience in both mergers and acquisitions and the technology sector, having previously been Chief Executive of AIM-listed Mettoni plc.
Prior to this Robert had a number of senior roles including COO of DCS Group Plc, the software group, Finance Director of Systems Union Group plc and Finance Director of Xansa Plc. Robert qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Baker Tilly.