Company plans stock market flotation but says the timing of this remains uncertain due to market conditions
ClinPhone has appointed the Steven Kent as its new financial director.
Kent, from Cambridge, will be responsible for the overall financial strategy of the company as it continues to grow and develop its market share in the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Flotation is a long-term goal, but Kent believes his immediate role is to ensure the company makes all of the right moves to maximise its attractiveness to investors. "The company would like to go for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) on the stock market, but the timing of this is not clear cut and we all have to work towards the right moment," he explained.
"The share price of any business immediately after the initial public offering is about 80% to do with the market conditions and 20% to do with the company.
Clearly in the current climate, it's not an option - but we are examining the situation all of the time and when the trading conditions become more favourable, we aim to be ready." ClinPhone provides electronic clinical trial management solutions, including its market-leading Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services and unique web-based solutions designed to increase efficiency in the drug development process and accelerate the process of bringing new drugs to market.
It employs more than 325 people worldwide and has offices in Chicago, Princeton, and Palo Alto in the USA in addition to European facilities in Brussels and Heidelberg supporting the global headquarters in Nottingham. Kent (40) qualified as an accountant with Rhone-Poulenc, working with the company for four and a half years.
After a short time at Dunhill he joined Sherwood Computers in 1988 and became financial controller of the company.
In May 1991 he joined a subsidiary of ICL as finance director and led a management buyout of the subsidiary, Workplace Technologies in 1995.
The company grew rapidly and was floated in 1997.
He then steered the company through an acquisition of computer network rival Lanbase, and the acquisition of the combined company by NTL in 1999.
Looking ahead to the future, he concluded: "Coming from an IT and accountancy background, it's exciting to see where ClinPhone is right now.
I believe it has enormous potential.
"It has successfully solved issues in the pharmaceutical industry using solutions from the IT industry and is consequently a world leader already.
There is much more to come and I am very much looking forward to being a key player in driving ClinPhone forward successfully towards its medium and long-term objectives."
