Fitbug Holdings PLC Directorate Change (5457O)

TIDMFITB

RNS Number : 5457O

Fitbug Holdings PLC

08 November 2016

Fitbug Holdings Plc / Epic: FITB.L / Index: AIM / Sector: Leisure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014 (MAR).

FITBUG HOLDINGS PLC ('FITBUG' OR 'THE COMPANY')

BOARD CHANGES

Fitbug Holdings Plc, the AIM quoted technology developer and digital wellness pioneer, is pleased to announce that Heidi Steiger, a seasoned operating executive, has joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect and that Richard Goodlad has joined the board as full time Finance Director.

Heidi has significant experience serving on corporate boards of both public and private companies. Heidi, who earned an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, has held executive management roles in a range of sectors including Financial Services, Media and Investment Management. Until April 2015, she was Eastern Region President of the Private Client Reserve of US Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the USA. Prior to this role, Heidi had been an advisory director at Berkshire Capital Securities, President of Worth Magazine and President of Lowenhaupt Global Advisors, LLC. These roles followed 18 years as Executive Vice President at Neuberger Berman, directly responsible for the wealth management business, having started her career at Fidelity Management Group. During her tenure at Neuberger Berman, she grew the business to 70% of the firm's revenues, leading to the initial public offering of the company in 1999 and its subsequent sale to Lehman in 2003. She also serves, or has served, on the boards of Aviva USA, Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd., CIFG Holding Ltd and Eaton Vance mutual funds.

Richard joined Fitbug as COO in April 2016. He has extensive experience in both CFO and COO roles in high growth businesses. Having started his career at Siemens, Richard was appointed by GE Capital as CFO of Dione Limited, which grew from a turnover of GBP12.2m to GBP40m and was successfully sold to Lipman Electronic Engineering for US$ 120m in 2004. He then became CFO of Blue Hackle Group where he migrated the business to the US following the sale of 48% to a US private equity fund in 2010. Prior to joining Fitbug he had been CFO of Servebase Group Limited and then COO of Miura Systems Limited, which he built from a virtual start-up, with few active clients, into a major global supplier with a turnover exceeding US$ 33m per annum in two years.

Additionally, the Company announces that Tyler Tarr, who joined the Board as part time Finance Director on 29 June 2016, has stepped down from the Board following a successful handover to Richard. Tyler joined Fitbug as an interim CFO in December 2015. Following his thorough review of the Group's operations Tyler contributed considerably to Fitbug's ongoing turnaround strategy and to Fitbug's successful fundraise which completed on 25 July 2016. Having returned to his consulting firm in California, Tyler he will continue to make himself available to the Fitbug on an ad hoc basis.

Fitbug CEO Anna Gudmundson said, "I am excited and proud to welcome both Heidi and Richard to the Fitbug board.

"Richard has been our COO for over six months and has already played a major role in the implementation of our turnaround strategy. We have relied heavily on his experience to execute our cost savings initiatives and to outsource a number of non-core functions so that we can concentrate on the performance of our growth plans. He is also working closely with our sales teams to ensure the smooth rollout of our digital platform with our customers and strategic partners.

"Given her impressive background, resilience and business mind combined with her passion for Fitbug and the Company's development opportunity, I look forward to working with Heidi and the rest of the board to help accelerate the growth of the business. She has a significant network in the US, a key B2B market for our pioneering digital wellness platform, and we are confident that we will benefit from these connections as well as her impressive track record of increasing sales and promoting scale, which mirrors our vision for Fitbug.

I would also like to thank Tyler for his extremely valuable contribution to the Company and look forward to working with him again in the future."

Mr. Richard Goodlad (age 54) holds or has held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the last 5 years:

 
 Current   Past (within the past 
            five years) 
--------  ---------------------------- 
 NIL       Miura Systems Limited 
            Miura Systems Inc. 
            Blue Hackle International 
            Limited 
            Blue Hackle Limited 
            Blue Hackle Group Limited 
            Blue Hackle East Africa 
            Blue Hackle International, 
            UAE 
--------  ---------------------------- 
 

There is no further information on Mr. Goodlad required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

Ms. Heidi Lou Steiger (age 62) (formerly Schwarzbauer, Brine and Schneider) holds or has held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the last 5 years:

 
 Current                       Past (within the past 
                                five years) 
----------------------------  ---------------------- 
 Topridge Associates           Aviva USA Corporation 
  LLC                           CIFG Holding Limited 
  Nuclear Electric Insurance 
  Limited 
----------------------------  ---------------------- 
 

There is no further information on Ms. Steiger required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

**ENDS**

For further information visit www.kiqplan.com or www.fitbugholdings.com contact:

 
 Anna Gudmundson          Fitbug Holdings 
  / Donald Stewart         Plc                      020 7449 1000 
-----------------------  ------------------------  -------------- 
                          Cantor Fitzgerald 
 Marc Milmo/ Catherine     Europe, Nomad 
  Leftley                  and Joint Broker         020 7894 7000 
-----------------------  ------------------------  -------------- 
 Claire Louise Noyce 
  / William Lynne         Hybridan LLP, 
  / Niall Pearson          Joint Broker             020 3764 2341 
-----------------------  ------------------------  -------------- 
 Elisabeth Cowell         St Brides Partners 
  / Charlotte Heap         Ltd, Public Relations    020 7236 1177 
-----------------------  ------------------------  -------------- 
 

Notes

About Fitbug(R)

Fitbug provides digital wellness solutions that empower employers to create a positive culture of health within their organisation. By helping employees to embrace a healthier way of living, Fitbug can help maximise performance, reduce absenteeism, decrease the risk of chronic illness, and lower healthcare costs.

The Company's technological edge allows us to address holistic wellness by engaging both individuals and teams through intelligent, personalised interaction and gamification. This is an opportunity to make incremental behavioural changes that will last a lifetime. The progress of individuals translates to actionable data, meaningful reporting and insights that allow the organisation to monitor the impact of the programme and to refine it in order to achieve success.

Fitbug's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market under ticker FITB.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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November 08, 2016 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)