Directors

Board of Directors

The Board of Sanderson Group plc consists of two executive and three non-executive directors.  All executive directors are subject to election by shareholders at the first opportunity after their appointment and to re-election at regular intervals thereafter.

The Board meets on a monthly basis and retains full and effective control of the Group.  Additional meetings are arranged as appropriate to consider Group strategy, acquisition and disposal strategies, internal controls and risk analysis, and the annual budget.

Day to day management of the Group's activities is undertaken by an operating board comprising four senior directors together with the executive directors.

Directors:

Christopher Winn, Executive Chairman

Educated at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale and Nottingham University, Christopher worked for British Olivetti until 1974 when he joined the ACT Group  - ACT Group became the second UK IT company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1979. He served on the Group plc Board between 1983 and 1994, undertaking a number of senior roles and in 1995, he joined the former Sanderson Group, becoming Group Chief Executive later in that year. In 1999, he led a management buyout or 'take private' of the former Sanderson Group with the support and backing of the Alchemy Plan. Following restructuring and the demerger of the original Group, the business which was focused primarily on UK commercial markets and which retained the Sanderson Group name, gained admission to the London Stock Exchange AIM market in December 2004.

Adrian Frost, Finance Director

A graduate of Sheffield University, Adrian qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst working for RSM Robson Rhodes. In 1996, he joined Hadley Industries plc as Group Financial Controller.  Adrian joined Sanderson in 2000, shortly after the management buyout, and worked closely with the Board in restructuring the former Group into three separate businesses – Sanderson, Civica and Talgentra.  Adrian was appointed Finance Director of Talgentra following the formal demerger of the Group, and rejoined Sanderson Group plc in May 2005.

David Gutteridge, Non-Executive Director

David Gutteridge is the senior independent Non-Executive Director of Sanderson Group plc. He is the Chairman of Tinglobal Limited, an IT infrastructure and support solutions provider, and was, until recently, a Non-Executive Director at AIM listed Cyan Technoloigy plc, a fabless semiconductor company developing configurable low power microcontrollers. David has also acted as an independent consultant involved in strategic business development and corporate transactions. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He was co-founder of Financial Objects plc in 1995 and, as Finance Director and then Chief Operating Officer, led several acquisitions and the full listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. Prior to this he held a number of senior financial and commercial roles at ACT Group plc, Seiko Epson Ltd and Logica plc.

Philip Kelly, Non-Executive Director

Philip Kelly is a Non-Executive Director of Radius Solutions (UK) Limited (formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Radius plc, which was taken private with funding from the Alchemy Plan in 1998). He is also a Non-Executive Director of Coalition Holdings Limited, a provider of technical and desktop services. He has over 20 years' experience as the Chief Executive of private and publicly quoted software companies supplying the commercial and public sectors in the UK, Europe and the USA. Philip had previously worked for Digital Equipment and 3i Consultants. Philip was nominated for appointment to the Board by Alchemy Partners.

John Paterson, Non-Executive Director

John Paterson has extensive City experience as an investment analyst. He was Managing Director of Albert E Sharp Securities stockbrokers from 1993 until the acquisition of Albert E Sharp by Old Mutual in 1998, and he was instrumental in setting up Arden Partners in 2002 where he was a Director until November 2004.

Operating Board:

David Mahoney, Managing Director Sanderson RBS

David has over 20 years' experience in software and IT services, focused mainly on retail solutions. He joined RBS in 1997, having spent the previous 10 years with Dixons Stores Group (DSG). Early roles concentrated on improving professional services offerings and he was promoted to Operations Director in 2002, having previously held the roles of Development Director and Support Director. His focus during this phase was to define the managed service strategy, to refine the company's structure and to ensure that the organisation was optimised to meet customer expectations. David was appointed Managing Director in 2008 and continues to promote the managed service offering and reinforce our position as a top tier solution provider.

Ian Newcombe, Managing Director Multi-Channel Solutions

Ian has over 30 years' experience in software and IT services. Beginning his career in electronics, he moved into the computer industry in 1979 when he joined ACT Group plc, where as a local board member, he helped establish an international IT support and software services business. In 1996, Ian joined Mitsubishi Electric of Japan at UK board level. As International Project Director, he was instrumental in the formation of an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and online financial services business, successfully launching a range of innovative products in the UK and Europe. In 1999, he was appointed Consulting Director of Talgentra Ltd, now an Experian plc company, where he developed a new consulting services business which rapidly expanded overseas. In 2005, Ian became Managing Director of what is now the enlarged multi-channel sales division of Sanderson.

Steve Watson, Deputy Chairman Sanderson Retail Division

After graduating from the University of Bristol with a degree in modern languages, Steve qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse. He subsequently spent 10 years working for Swiss Bank Corporation in London, where he was an executive director in the bank's investment banking division, specialising in the field of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the financial services industry. In 1992, he became one of the founder directors of what is now Sanderson RBS. During the 15 year period prior to the acquisition of this company by Sanderson Group plc, Steve held a number of senior roles at Sanderson RBS including Finance Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive. Steve was appointed Deputy Chairman of the retail division of Sanderson in October 2008.

David O’Byrne, Group Projects Director

David has over 35 years' experience in the software and IT services sector. His early career was spent in a number of senior technical and managerial roles in commercial and software companies. He joined the former Sanderson Group in 1986 to form their local government business, was appointed Managing Director of the public sector business in 1994 and managed the rapid growth of this business prior to his appointment as Managing Director of Sanderson in April 2002. David stepped down from the main board in 2009 to focus on group projects.