Xaar plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020

Of all the inkjet businesses in the Cambridge area, Xaar was top of the list of companies I’d like to run, so when the opportunity arose, obviously I was delighted. I have always been aware of the fundamental benefits of Xaar’s technology but also some of the limitations. In my previous role at Inca I would never have adopted Xaar technology because the limitations outweighed the benefits for our application. Moving to Xaar has given me the chance to eliminate those limitations and to showcase the compelling benefits of Xaar’s technology, which is very exciting.

A technical background and many years in inkjet companies has certainly been useful to quickly get to grips with the complex nature of Xaar’s products and to see the unique advantages and potential of the technology. My five years as CEO of OEM Inca Digital gave me a great understanding of what our customers need from Xaar in order to drive success in their own businesses. It was clear to me that Xaar’s business model and route to market created confusion, specifically with our OEM customers.

We have now adopted a clear single route to market through our OEM and UDI customers and are already starting to see the impact of the changes made.

The progress made to date has allowed us to regain customer trust which opens new business opportunities. We are starting to gain more interest from User Developer Integrators looking to build print systems for their own specific applications which might fall outside of the typical capabilities of inkjet. UDIs are turning to Xaar’s technology because it goes beyond the typical, offering the widest application window, handling a broader range of fluids, viscosities and printing modes.

We will also progress the roadmap to deliver products that offer real value propositions to our customers, which will in turn enable them to drive the success of their own businesses with our technology.

In addition, we are developing integrated solutions to enable our customers to easily adopt inkjet technology and get to market more quickly and efficiently.

The main thing that attracted me to Xaar was the opportunity and potential of the Company and what Xaar could achieve. Huge potential such as this is really exciting and motivating. In addition, Xaar is an established business and has had such a good reputation for innovation and expertise in its Company and to be involved in shaping a new, better Xaar.

Having spent 17 years in the pharma industry, I bring to Xaar substantial experience gained in successful, well managed and organised businesses. My career has been built across a number of functions, not just finance, and I have a good track record of building successful teams and driving high performance through strong leadership and direction.

Knowing what good looks like and applying best practice gives confidence to know what needs to be done to make the most of Xaar’s potential. Overall, it’s quite a broad leadership background which means I can easily adapt to deliver what the business needs as it develops and grows.

We’re at the start of an exciting opportunity for Xaar. We have a lot of ambition and determination. We will move forward in careful, measured steps, embedding quality process and behaviours across the Company. We will make sure we have the right teams focused on the right goals and that the whole Company is aligned. The result will be a structured, stable and sustainable business. The good news is we are already making steady progress! Over the next year we will continue to build on this, to put in place a stable platform to successfully develop Xaar into the foreseeable future.