Advantage Make Wilkinson Chief Operating Officer

Advantage Group Limited (NZSE: ADV) today announced the appointment of Andy Wilkinson as Chief Operating Office, reporting directly to CEO Greg Cross. Previously General Manager, Point of Sale Equipment, Wilkinson will assume responsibility for day to day operations of Advantage’s three operating units.

Advantage CEO Greg Cross will focus on advancing the company’s strategic goals, including development of new e-commerce ventures with local and international partners.

“Advantage has grown substantially in the past twelve months, from just sixty people to now over three hundred,” says Cross. “We now require a greater focus on day-to-day operations. In particular we need to get the maximum synergy between the company’s operating units, point of sale equipment, retail solutions and business-to-business e-commerce. At the same time our involvement in emerging e-commerce ventures, like our relationship with FlyingPig.co.nz and project Venice, the e-commerce portal, requires greater attention.

“Andy’s international experience in sales, marketing and operations management make him ideally suited to this role. With more than twenty years in IT, in both hardware and software, and a solid understanding of intellectual property, Andy will maximise value for this fast growing company.

“I will continue to focus on growing the business and seeking opportunities for investment with partners in New Zealand and offshore. Andy will be responsible for ensuring the tight integration of the three operating units, and the continuing realignment of these to deliver powerful e-commerce solutions.”
“The company has outstanding resources in term of people and intellectual assets,” says Wilkinson. “My role is to ensure we deploy them where we will realise the best return.”

“The three operating units within Advantage share a common set of intellectual assets centred around e-commerce and transaction processing. We target three markets: retailers, the international oil industry, and business-to-business e-commerce. We e-enable commerce applications for all of them, and support them with transaction switching and Internet-based authorisations. My goal is simple: to ensure that, in each of these markets, Advantage delivers the maximum value to its customers.”

Wilkinson’s has previously held senior positions with Lotus Development, where he was Director of Marketing Asia Pacific, and IBM. He holds a masters degree in marketing management.

Background

Advantage Group Limited, an NZSE listed company, is a leading supplier of e-commerce and transaction processing solutions in New Zealand, Australia and throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The company has three business units: business-to-business e-commerce, retail solutions and point-of-sale equipment. It provides web development capabilities, software development, transaction processing and funds transfer capabilities to enable end-to-end e-commerce solutions.

ENDS

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