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27 April, 2006 - City of London based investment and advisory firm Ariadne Capital has appointed John O’Connell, the founder of software company Staffware plc, as its new Chairman. O’Connell, who built up Staffware into the world’s leading business process management (BPM) systems house over 20 years, is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs and company builders. He sold Staffware plc to Tibco Software Inc for $240 million (£123 million) in 2004. Julie Meyer, Ariadne Capital’s founder and chief executive, who started Ariadne Capital after founding and then selling internet networking group First Tuesday, said of O’Connell’s appointment: ‘One of my proudest achievements at Ariadne has been attracting John to become our Chairman. John is one of the world’s finest entrepreneurs and has a phenomenal track record of being able to inspire others to share his vision and to help build it. Ariadne is a group of entrepreneurs who build companies, so it’s very relevant to have a great company builder as our Chairman.’ O’Connell commented, ‘I took up Julie’s invitation to chair her Board because I believe Ariadne Capital encapsulates in a corporate vehicle what I have been doing as a private individual since December 2004, which is to assist companies that have potentially world-beating technology to achieve their potential.’ Richard Holway, a director of Ovum plc and a well-known commentator on the UK IT industry, said: ‘I’ve known John for over a decade. I’ve observed the growth of Staffware under John’s stewardship since before its IPO in 1996 all the way through to its sale to Tibco in 2004 for over £120m. I’ve also worked with John on the founding of the Prince’s Trust Technology Leadership Group. John is one of a rare breed of UK entrepreneurs who as well as being personally successful has ensured his talents are used to help others on the road to success. That’s a pretty powerful combination.’ O’Connell is also Chairman of two AIM-listed companies, Portrait Software and Clarity Commerce. In 2006 he co-authored the Cambridge University Press book Mastering Your Organization’s Processes – a plain guide to BPM. In 2005 O’Connell was awarded in New York the Carl E. Nelson Award for ‘leadership in expanding utilisation of workflow and business management technology.’ He holds a Master of Information Technology from the Washington DC based Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM International) which is the global authority on Enterprise Content Management. He is also a member of their Company of Fellows. O’Connell is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants (FCCA). Amongst his other interests he is Vice Chairman of London Wasps Rugby Club and was the founding co-Chairman of the Technology Leadership Group of the Prince’s Trust
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