TIDMHUI
RNS Number : 8887J
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
21 August 2023
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21 August 2023
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
(the "Company" or " HUI")
Board Changes
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC, a company specialising in
turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other
carbon-free fuels, new materials or distributed renewable heat, is
pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Francis Mann as
non-executive Chairman of the Company with immediate effect. Guy
Peters, who was executive Chairman of the Company, remains an
executive Director of the Board.
Simon Francis Mann has over 10 years of military experience with
the British Army and a further 10 years as a contractor with
different Private Military Companies ("PMC").
Simon joined the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1970 and
was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1972. From 1978 - 1981,
Simon was an officer in the Special Air Service. Simon has served
in a variety of deployments during his time with the British Army
including in Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and the
Middle East. Simon left the British Army with qualifications in
programming and systems analysis & design.
Simon's key PMC assignments took place between 1992 - 1998 and
were in Angola and Sierra Leone. In Angola, Simon worked with a
South African PMC, known as Executive Outcomes ("Executive
Outcomes") and hired by the Angolan government to defeat l'Unione
Nazionale per l'Indipendenza Totale dell' Angola ("UNITA"). Simon
played a key role in the Battle of Soyo, in which Executive
Outcomes defeated UNITA and recaptured the offshore oil industry
operating base of Soyo. It was Simon who initially won the Angola
contract for Executive Outcomes. Thereafter, he was the key
salesman for the contracts which followed.
In Sierra Leone, Simon was involved in the civil war between the
Sierra Leone Government and the Revolutionary United Front ("RUF").
Simon again worked with Executive Outcomes and a UK PMC, known as
Sandline International and hired by the Sierra Leone Government to
help defeat the RUF. Simon was instrumental in the defence of
Freetown, when the RUF were pushed back from the capital city.
From the 80s onwards, on occasion and predominantly in the oil
and mining sector, Simon applied his military skills to corporate
roles and consultancy assignments. A key achievement was the roll
out of a large investment programme for a Canadian diamond mining
company - DiamondWorks Ltd - for the restoration of closed mines
and the building of new ones in Angola and Sierra Leone in the mid
to late 90s. In 2013, Simon led a defense and security audit and
report for the Somaliland government. This followed the withdrawal
of a large UK company quoted on the UK stock exchange which had
declared force majeure and then precipitously withdrawn from their
oil exploration programme and commitments in Somaliland.
Simon also has experience with fundraising for start-ups. In the
80s, Simon was involved in raising funds for 2 UK companies Simon
co-founded. The companies were involved in the sale of
microcomputers to the security and defense industry and in security
consultancy, respectively.
The Company also announces that it has granted options over 2
million ordinary shares of the Company to Simon under the terms of
the Company's share option scheme. The options have an exercise
price of GBP0.05 per share and will vest over a period of 2
years.
The Board is confident that Simon Francis Mann's leadership,
resilience, communication, and teamwork skills gained in the
military and applied to corporate roles at large, small and
start-up companies in different industries will make him a valuable
addition to the Board.
Aleksandra Binkowska, CEO, commented: "I believe I am fighting a
war. A war against plastic waste which is venomous to our planet
and a war against latency and inefficiency. I have promised our
shareholders who believe in HUI and its technology to win this
battle and I'm intending to do what it takes to deliver. With Simon
Mann's contacts and willpower, I believe doors will open in places
I could have never accessed myself. His energy and determination
for HUI's mission are striking."
Simon Francis Mann, Chairman, commented: "Turning plastic waste
into hydrogen has to be the most useful business sector in which I
could apply my energy and ability. HUI are at the forefront of
their sector, and I am very excited by the future prospects of the
company. Having had experience in the extractive industries of
mining and oil and gas it may seem surprising that I am now turned
green. However, what HUI is about is part of that same cycle: waste
plastics - with which the world is awash - come from oil in the
first place, while HUI turns that waste plastic back into usable
fuel."
The following information is disclosed in accordance with
Listing Rule 9.6.13:
Simon Francis Mann does not currently hold nor has Simon Francis
Mann held any directorships in a publicly quoted company in the
past five years.
Simon Francis Mann served four out of a five-year sentence in
Zimbabwe and less than two out of a thirty four year sentence in
Equatorial Guinea for his involvement in a failed coup d'Etat in
2004. He received a presidential pardon from President Obiang, of
Equatorial Guinea, in November 2009.
HUI confirms that there is no further information to be
disclosed under the requirements of Listing Rule 9.6.13 in relation
to the appointment of Simon Francis Mann.
For further information, please contact:
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
Aleksandra Binkowska
+44 20 3811 8770
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Limited (LSE Corporate
Adviser)
Nick Michaels/Maya Klein Wassink
+44 20 3772 0021
Novum Securities Limited (Broker)
Jon Belliss/Colin Rowbury
+44 20 7399 9400
About Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
HUI aims to become one of the leading new European companies
specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into
hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels, new materials or distributed
renewable heat.
A HUI facility uses non-recyclable mixed waste plastic as
feedstock and turns it into syngas from which new products and
energy can be produced. HUI anticipates that its revenues will be
derived from a variety of sources, dependent upon location and
configuration of the HUI facilities, including the sale of syngas,
hydrogen and other gases, electricity and heat sales, and the
payment to it of fees for a given quantity of non-recyclable mixed
waste plastic received at a HUI facility.
HUI will target areas where there is significant private sector
interest or potential, financial backing is accessible and or where
substantial EU and/or government funded sources of grants and loans
are or may be available. The global increase in fossil fuel-based
energy prices reinforces the need for alternative, price
competitive energy sources, which HUI ' s business model can
provide.
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END
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