Pocket App appoints Hugh Griffiths as Interim Chief Executive Officer

App development specialist brings in industry heavyweight to lead ambitious growth plans and current CEO, Paul Swaddle, moves to the role of Chairman

London, 14th July 2016 – Pocket App, the UK’s largest independent app developer, is delighted to announce that Hugh Griffiths, a former Director of Mobile Services at Microsoft, has been appointed as Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Industry figurehead, Griffiths, will be a significant addition to the Pocket App board and will bring a host of experience through his extensive background in building mobile businesses. Paul Swaddle, the incumbent CEO, has taken up the position of Chairman and will continue to drive innovation and development, marketing and product marketing.

Prior to his appointment at Pocket App, Over the last 15 years Griffiths has grown, largely from scratch, the digital content and application businesses of Independent News and Media, O2/Telefonica and Microsoft in the UK. He has also managed Mobile Advertising businesses and launched a mobile adtech business, 5th Tier (now Smartpipesolutions.com) and acted as an industry consultant. Griffiths is also a NED for the Association of Online Publishers and Interests me.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Pocket App successfully closing its funding round. . Likewise, the appointment continues recent strong momentum, which has seen Pocket App announce a partnership with Progress Software, a global software company that simplifies the development, deployment and management of business applications on premise or in the cloud.

Griffiths, who joined the organisation as a Non-Executive Director in August 2015, has extensive expertise spanning digital in converging technologies. He is also experienced in building business through a strategic approach and pragmatic implementation, and has a strong track record of monetising new technologies in both enterprise and consumer markets. He will lead the business, driving profitable revenues and leading the development of more strategic relationships.

Paul Swaddle, Chairman, Pocket App comments, “This is an incredibly exciting time for the organisation. We have moved offices to enable increased collaboration with our partners and customers, have won a host of awards, successfully closed our funding round and have now made this strategic appointment to enable us to grow our commercial relationships and meet our targets for 2016 and beyond. Hugh’s mandate will be to lead our sales and operations forward as the organisation continues on this fast growth path, which will allow me to focus on evangelism, marketing and product development. Hugh’s track record speaks for itself and he will bring an abundance of commercial and strategic acumen to the organisation, and I am excited about the prospect of working closely with him.”

Hugh Griffiths comments, “I am delighted to take on the role at Pocket App, which is an organisation with significant potential. As the company continues on its growth trajectory, it needs more robust processes and structure, which I can bring, along with experience in developing long term partnerships. Recently we have seen a number of Pocket App’s competitors being acquired for sizeable sums of money which demonstrates the demand in the market for great app developers like Pocket App.”

To find out more about Pocket App as the business expands its products, services and team, please visit www.pocketapp.co.uk.

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Notes to editors:

About Pocket App

Pocket App is the UK’s largest independent app developer designing, developing and distributing award-winning mobile apps. Founded in 2011, Pocket App’s senior executives collectively have over 30 years’ experience in the mobile industry having worked in partnership to deliver projects for large telcos, as well as a vast array of leading brands and marketing agencies. Pocket App is a recognised specialist multi-platform application provider, designing mobile apps and mobile solutions. For further information please visit www.pocketapp.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @PocketApp.

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Michael Bartley
C8 Consulting
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Tom Hindle
C8 Consulting
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