COMPANY DIRECTORS

Philip Walker (44) is the Group’s Chief Executive Officer. He joined Pennant in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer, being promoted to CEO in February 2017. Mr Walker is a chartered accountant and qualified corporate finance professional.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr Walker worked for Grant Thornton UK LLP and Barclays Bank Plc. At Grant Thornton, he led numerous corporate finance transactions (both buy side and sell side) and developed and implemented strategic plans for a number of businesses. While at Barclays, Mr Walker worked with businesses with a turnover of between £5 million and £50 million, focusing on debt structuring, including working capital, investment, trade finance and the restructuring of facilities. He provided structuring advice on various types of corporate transactions.

Since joining Pennant, Mr Walker has brought this experience to bear in driving the review, renewal and implementation of Group strategy while successfully leading two equity fund-raisings and the acquisition of Absolute Data Group.

Mr Walker is responsible for the day-to-day running of all Group businesses and the execution of Group strategy. He is a member of the Strategy Committee.

Mr Walker was appointed to the Board on 3 November 2014.

David Clements (44) is the Commercial & Risk Director. He joined the Group in June 2017 and was appointed to the Board on 11 October 2017.

He is a practising solicitor with extensive experience in corporate and commercial law and practice, gained advising AIM-quoted and private companies particularly in the engineering, manufacturing and software sectors. Prior to joining Pennant, he was with the law firm Charles Russell Speechlys.

As Commercial & Risk Director, Mr Clements is responsible for commercial, risk management, administrative and information systems functions across the Group, seeking to ensure the Group’s legal and commercial position is appropriately protected.

Mr Clements also acts as Company Secretary to all Group companies, advising the Chairman on corporate governance matters and being available as a ‘sounding board’ for other Directors. Mr Clements works closely with the Company’s nominated adviser to ensure proper management of investor relations, company law and AIM compliance. He is experienced on public company regulatory compliance and Takeover Code matters.

Jon Kempster (61) is an independent Non-Executive Director and chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. He is also a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Mr Kempster is a chartered accountant (FCA) who trained with Price Waterhouse and holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies. He has over 25 years in the Boardroom of industry-leading FTSE-listed plcs, including Linden Homes, Low & Bonar, Wincanton, and Frasers Group.

Jon is currently a Non-Executive Director of AIM quoted Norman Broadbent plc and Synetics Plc. He is also a Director of Delta Pension Nominees Limited.

Mr Kempster appointment to the Board is with effect from 18th July 2024.

Deborah Wilkinson (49) is an independent Non-Executive Director and chair of the Remuneration Committee. She is also a member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Ms Wilkinson is a chartered accountant (FCA) who trained with Deloitte and holds a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering. She has held various financial and commercial leadership roles with a range of businesses and has extensive experience in the defence aviation sector with Airborne Systems Group and IrvinGQ Limited.

Deborah is currently a non-executive director of Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult Limited.

Ms Wilkinson appointment to the Board is with effect from 1st February 2023.

Ian Dighé (68) is an independent Non-Executive Director (Chair Designate).  Ian will assume the Chair role immediately following the Company’s next Annual General Meeting, which is expected to be held in May 2024. Ian was appointed to the Board on 7th February 2024.

 Ian has significant listed company and City experience, gained throughout his executive career with a particular focus on the investment banking, corporate broking, asset management and closed-end funds sectors. In addition, he is experienced in developing boards and senior management teams.

 Ian was a co-founder of Bridgewell Group plc and Chairman of Miton Group plc from February 2011, overseeing the successful refinancing and subsequent growth of the group, before he retired from the Miton board in December 2017.

 He is currently Chairman of The Investment Company plc and an independent director of Seneca Growth Capital VCT plc. He is also a director of a number of private companies and charities.

Klaas van der Leest is an independent Non-Executive Director. Mr van der Leest is currently Chief Executive Officer of Intercede Group PLC, an AIM-quoted cybersecurity business which has seen revenue growth of 100% since his appointment in 2018. Prior to Intercede, he was Managing Director at Intelecom UK Ltd., an independent private equity-backed communications SaaS business, leading the organisation’s transformation, and trebling subscription licence sales over a three-year period.

Mr Van der Leest has held various other senior executive positions for UK technology businesses with a focus on product development and sales strategies.

Mr van der Leest appointment to the Board is effective from 3rd September 2024.

Directors’ interests in the Company