Shareholding Sets Up Plan-B For Vigorous Growth

New Shareholding Sets Up Plan-B For Vigorous Growth

Plan-b, New Zealand’s leading business continuity provider, has gained new investors with high-profile entrepreneur Andrew Bagnall taking up a shareholding in the company. Mr Bagnall is the founder of Gullivers Travel, which he exited some years ago, and is the majority shareholder of NZX listed Life Pharmacy.

A further shareholding has been acquired by Mark Hardie and Stuart Alexander through their investment company Bearing Trustees. Bearing has interests in technology, one of which, Value Added Distributors (VAD), was recently acquired by Ingram Micro (NZ).

Mr Bagnall takes up a position on the board, with Mr Alexander also due to join the board. Mr Hardie currently has a senior management role in Plan-B as General Manager Sales and Marketing.

Plan-b founding director Gray Mathias, who has been involved with the company for over ten years, retains the majority shareholding and will continue as chairman.

Plan-b Managing Director Ian Forrester says the new shareholding cements and raises the level of expertise at board level. Mr Bagnall brings a wealth of business experience which will be invaluable to the future development of the company. The Bearing Investments shareholders have extensive hands-on expertise in the technology sector that supports Plan-b’s total business offering.

“The new investment positions Plan-b to grow to the next level,” says Mr Forrester. “It helps to develop our business offerings and increase our national coverage. We’re intent on making business continuity services accessible and affordable to organisations throughout New Zealand.”

Plan-b has been growing strongly over the last year, expanding from its base in Auckland to Hamilton and Wellington, as well as introducing new industry-leading products. Plan-b also has plans to expand its core service offering offshore, following the rapid expansion of its Advisory Service which already services customers in Australia, Asia and the Middle East.

Commenting on his new involvement with Plan-b, Mr Bagnall said the company’s staff and shareholders can be proud of what they have achieved. “We came into Plan-b based on the strength of the customer proposition, the smart management team and the great potential of the business.”

About Plan-b

Plan-b is New Zealand’s largest dedicated business continuity company, providing contingency services to over 500 organisations in New Zealand and Australia. This includes managing backup media and online backup, providing standby recovery facilities, server replication, server recovery and an online crisis response guide. Their Advisory Service works with clients to review their business continuity management programme and make sure that effective procedures are in place, as well as run simulated exercises to ensure staff are well prepared when a crisis strikes. Plan-b has customer facilities and offices in three Auckland locations, in Hamilton and in Wellington, with plans in place for a Christchurch facility. In addition, their two mobile business recovery units can provide an effective temporary office. Plan-b’s sole aim is to ensure that, should crisis strike, their clients can be back up and running with little interruption and minimal loss, preserving goodwill and reputation. Visit www.plan-b.co.nz

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