News > Press Release:Strengthened Business Development Team

2005-11-24
Press Release - 2005-11-24

Strengthened Buiness Development Team
Freeplay Energy plc ("Freeplay", "the Group" or "the Company"), the sustainable energy company that captures, stores and delivers electric power to self-powered devices such as radios, torches and mobile phone chargers, continues to strengthen its Business Development team with the appointment of three, sector specialist Business Development Leaders who have all come from customer focused, multinational businesses.

David Floyd joins Freeplay on 1 January 2006, where he will be Business Development Manager for the United States and Europe, including the United Kingdom. He will have direct responsibility for managing and building on Freeplay's existing relationships with its key distributors, Dixie Sales Company in North America and Tango in the United Kingdom. In addition, he will have a significant role in creating relationships with new distributors and, consequently, enable the Group to expand further into continental Europe. Prior to joining Freeplay, David spent 15 years with Motorola, most recently as Director of Wireless Enterprise Solutions Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Sameer Hajee, who has a degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from INSEAD - The Wharton School, joins the Group on 1 December 2005 as a Business Development Manager. He will work closely with Rory Stear, Executive Chairman, looking at new market opportunities and advising on new product development, particularly medical instruments and telecommunication products. His experience of advising both domestic and multinational corporations on how to trade in the developing world will be invaluable to Freeplay as it seeks to expand sales into new markets, such as India. Prior to joining Freeplay, Sameer was with the United Nations Development Programme in Kenya where he specialised in growing sustainable businesses in the region.

Lawrie Golding will also join Freeplay on 1 January 2006 as Business Development Manager for the Freecharge products - the mobile phone charger and portable energy source - across all markets. Prior to joining Freeplay, Lawrie was with Vmobile in Africa, where he successfully handled the repositioning of Vmobile as an aspirational brand in Nigeria. Prior to that he was at Vodacom, where he was reputed for making Vodacom the distant number one GSM brand in South Africa and introducing it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. The huge growth of mobile phones in the developing world, together with Lawrie,s experiences and the success of Freeplay's range of hand and foot-powered chargers, will create significant business opportunities to strengthen the Freeplay brand in both the developed and developing world.

Rory Stear, Chairman and Chief Executive commented:
"Since flotation in March, Freeplay has focussed on building and expanding its product range and we now feel that the time has come to enhance the management structure to take the ten new products launched this year through to the next phase. The strengthening of our Business Development team will allow Freeplay to have a pro-active approach towards the expansion and identification of new opportunities for our products and business for the future, cementing our place as the world's leader in sustainable energy products.I am particularly excited about the calibre of our recent appointments as each of the individuals has top class experience and will help develop our operations worldwide, including Africa, India, and the rest of the developing world. It is a great compliment to the Group that they have decided to join Freeplay"

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:
Freeplay Energy plc                                                     020 7851 2630
Rory Stear, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Weber Shandwick Square Mile                                    020 7067 0700
Susan Ellis, Nick Oborne, Rachel Taylor

Charles Stanley & Co                                                   020 7739 8200
Mark Taylor, Freddy Crossley

Notes to Editors: Freeplay Energyís core technology revolves around the efficient conversion and storage of applied human energy, and the delivery of this energy on demand as electricity to create self-powered electronic devices. Initial applications include radios (both consumer and humanitarian), torches, mobile phone chargers and standalone foot chargers and the Company has a new product development plan which anticipates broadening the application of its technology into new product categories. Freeplay believes it was first to market and commercialise self-powered technology and that it is recognised as a leading brand in this market for such products.

Established in 1994, the Company today has offices in both London and Cape Town and floated on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange plc in March 2005. Further information about Freeplay Energy and its products can be found at www.freeplayenergy.com.

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