In a trading update issued yesterday, the software and print systems PLC said that after successfully helming the repositioning of the group over the last 12 months, and following a board review, Grafenia was “very pleased to announce that Gavin will lead the group as CEO going forward”.

Chairman Jan-Hendrik Mohr said: “The board is very pleased with Gavin's leadership over the last year. We started with the idea of becoming the right home for vertical market software companies in the UK and Ireland. Gavin has combined the existing strengths of our rich legacy in Nettl Systems and applied that to our growing group of software companies.”

In the trading update Grafenia said that it expected sales from continuing operations to jump by more than 40% to “in excess of £11.6m” for the year ending 31 March. 

Of this, the Nettl Systems business grew by 16% to around £9.5m. 

Cockerill has just appointed Chris Lowe as managing director of the Nettl Systems business, which includes licensing, trade wing Marqetspace, and the Nettl company stores.

Lowe has worked at the business for 18 years, and has been performance director for the past six years.

Around £2.1m of sales was generated from the four vertical software businesses acquired during the second half of its financial year. 

Regarding the outlook, Grafenia said it was “cautiously optimistic” with a realistic target of EBITDA of 10%-15% of sales. 

The group will release its year end results at the end of July. 

Grafenia exited manufacturing when it sold its Works Manchester operation to Rymack Sign Solutions/PFI Group in a deal that completed on 31 May 2022, with the first of the four large deferred payment instalments agreed as part of the deal due at the end of this month. 

Grafenia’s share price has risen by nearly 81% since the start of the year, and was at 10.40p at the time of writing (52-week high: 11.00p, low: 5.00p).