2 March 2015
Cohort plc
("Cohort" or "the Group")
Appointment of new Managing Director at SCS
Cohort, the independent technology group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Christian Cullinane as the new Managing Director of its subsidiary SCS, effective 11 June 2015, replacing Bill Bird who will be retiring on 26 June 2015.
Christian Cullinane joins the Group with over 15 years strong commercial experience and has held senior positions in defence and telecommunications businesses. Christian is currently Commercial Director at Airbus Defence and Space where he is involved in a major telecommunications project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was previously Commercial and Performance Director for QinetiQ Technical Information Services. Christian has also undertaken senior business management roles with Deloitte Consulting, BT Global Services and GPT (Marconi).
Bill will support Christian's transition into his new role at SCS, ensuring an orderly handover of responsibilities, and will remain available to the business following 26 June on a consultancy basis.
Bill joined SCS in 2010 and has overseen a period of significant change and consolidation at the business which has been impacted by several years of tight MOD spending. SCS is now growing profitably and has a strong platform on which to develop further, including world class capabilities in defence training exercise delivery and safety evaluation of military aircraft.
During Bill's time at SCS, the Company has successfully provided specialist support to a number of projects, including the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, airworthiness certification for the UK MOD's F35B (Lightning II) and Air Seeker aircraft, major exercise support for the UK Joint Forces Command, and the setting up of Oman's National Defence College.
Andrew Thomis, Chief Executive Officer of Cohort, said:
"On behalf of the Board I welcome Christian and the wealth of experience he brings to the SCS team. I would also like to thank Bill for steering SCS successfully through a difficult period and wish him well in his retirement.
"SCS is in a much improved position to develop under Christian's leadership"
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Cohort plc |
0118 909 0390 |
Andy Thomis, Chief Executive |
|
Simon Walther, Finance Director |
|
Investec Bank plc |
020 7597 5970 |
Keith Anderson / Daniel Adams |
|
MHP Communications Limited |
020 3128 8100 |
Reg Hoare / Vicky Watkins |
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Cohort plc
Cohort is an independent technology group working primarily for defence (air, land and sea), wider government and industry clients, through four market-facing subsidiary companies:
MASS - a specialist systems house with considerable experience in the defence market and a focus on electronic warfare operational support and secure information systems. Based in Cambridgeshire, MASS was acquired by Cohort in August 2006;
MCL - an expert in sourcing, design and integration of electronic and surveillance technology, as well as field support and training for a range of specialist UK end users including the MOD and other governmental agencies. Based in Surrey, MCL has been part of the Group since July 2014;
SCS - a defence technical advisory business, combining technical expertise with practical experience and domain knowledge. Owned by Cohort since flotation in March 2006;
SEA - an advanced surveillance systems and software house with hardware development capability operating in the defence, transport and offshore energy market sectors. Acquired by Cohort in October 2007.
Cohort was admitted to London's Alternative Investment Market in March 2006. It has its headquarters in Berkshire and employs in total around 600 core staff there and at its other operating company sites in Bristol, Cambridgeshire, Devon, Lincolnshire, Somerset, Surrey and Scotland.
