Tomizone has appointed Geoffrey Wanless as Chief Executive Officer in a move designed to position the company for a phase of accelerated growth as the board strengthens its focus on global expansion.
With the appointment effective immediately, departing CEO Steve Simms will remain an executive of Tomizone until 18 December 2015 to facilitate a smooth transition to Wanless.
After this date, Simms will continue as a Non-Executive Director of Tomizone and will work closely with the board as a Tomizone Ambassador, as well as continuing to be a supportive major shareholder of the company.
Wanless has over 30 years of successful experience bringing emerging disruptive technologies to market, holding several CEO, CTO and senior executive roles within multinationals including Philips, Bosch and Sanmina‐SCI Corporation.
Wanless has worked extensively in Europe, Asia and the USA in building strategic alliances and B2B/B2C channels, with experience in strategy development and the commercialisation of high growth technology companies.
“After an extensive international search the board is delighted to appoint Geoff to the role of CEO,” says Tarun Kanji, Chairman, Tomizone.
“With his global expertise and deep knowledge of the global technology sector, we are excited about the next phase of growth for Tomizone under Geoff’s leadership.
“Geoff’s global outlook and insights will greatly benefit Tomizone at its current stage of development.
“With an experienced board, Global Advisory Committee and senior executive team led by Geoff, we have the right skills in place to deliver on our global growth strategy.
“Having successfully grown companies in the global technology space to a considerable size, we look forward to Geoff replicating that success with Tomizone.”
Wanless also has strong credentials in leading publicly listed companies, with Kanji believing that such exposure to multiple international markets will be “particularly beneficial” as Tomizone expands globally.
As CEO of Philips Special Lighting Electronics, the culmination of a 10 year career at the company, Wanless lead the €100 million revenue business across global multi-sites spanning sales, marketing, R&D and manufacturing.
“I am honoured to have been selected, and excited about the prospect of leading Tomizone through its planned global expansion,” Wanless adds.
“The business has a unique product set and a great team of people, and I look forward to working as part of that team to grow shareholder value.
“My focus will be on driving international growth by leveraging Tomizone’s scalable platform with its unique combination of personalised content delivery and leading analytics.
“In addition to our current core offerings, the rapid proliferation of Internet of Things connected devices will create opportunities for new compelling services, many of which will be delivered through managed WiFi connections.
“Tomizone is well positioned to leverage these exciting new opportunities and drive growth.”
Looking ahead, Wanless says Tomizone is well placed to rollout the next phase of its global growth strategy, having executed partnership agreements in key territories and new vertical markets in recent months.