24 March 2000
for immediate release
Eventures appoints technical, financial expertise
eVentures New Zealand appointed two key senior executive staff, taking a further step towards becoming New Zealand's
leading electronic commerce company.
Tim Mew has been appointed Chief Technical Officer and Craig Manning as Chief Financial Officer.
eVentures Chief Executive Cindy Mitchener said Mr Mew and Mr Manning each brought impressive credentials, experience and
skill sets to their positions.
"Tim and Craig's immense knowledge and wealth of experience in their respective fields will be invaluable to
establishing a solid infrastructure for eVentures in New Zealand," says Ms Mitchener. "We are delighted to have secured
two executives of such high calibre for these critical positions."
eVentures will launch top international e-commerce brands into New Zealand, offering competitive pricing and ease of
access to sophisticated e-commerce products. It will also provide investment and incubation services for both new and
established internet businesses in New Zealand.
"We are an online enabler - an internet accelerator company. Our primary goal is to help top e-commerce businesses get
started in New Zealand by providing them with venture capital, guidance and resources," says Ms Mitchener.
"Tim and Craig will have a key role in determining which businesses eVentures will launch in New Zealand. They will
consider such factors as the degree of customisation required to offer the businesses' products and services to the New
Zealand marketplace and the synergies with eVentures' existing technical infrastructure and development."
Mr Mew has extensive experience in the telecommunications and new technologies area. His most recent position was as
Telecommunications Manager for Internet Group Ltd (iHug), a major Australasian internet service provider, where he had
responsibility for designing, planning and deploying new IP-based communication technologies.
He was previously Senior Engineer at Clear Communications. His overall work experience includes broadband services
planning and engineering of software, telecommunications and data communications. Mr Mew's qualifications include a BE
(Hons) in Communications and Computer Systems from the University of New South Wales. He achieved academic distinction
for his thesis on multimedia on networks.
Since 1992 Mr Manning, a chartered accountant, was Finance and Administration Partner for Killik & Co, a private client stockbroking firm offering advisory stockbroking and financial services in the London area. In
this role he oversaw an increase in the company's turnover from £1.7 million to in excess of £20 million in 2000, an
increase in client numbers from 4,500 to 28,000 and employee numbers from 22 to 150, and an increase in assets
management from £70 million to £1.5 billion.
The New Zealand arm of eVentures was launched in October 1999 by Executive Chairman, Craig Heatley. Mr Heatley pioneered
pay television in New Zealand through Sky Television. He has a 20% shareholding in eVentures.
eVentures is backed by blue-chip international shareholders with a global track record of success. The company is a
joint venture between Mr Heatley, SOFTBANK Corporation, the world's leading internet investor founded in 1981 by new
media entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, and epartners, an investment vehicle and subsidiary of News Corporation. epartners is
headed by Mark Booth, formerly Chief Executive of the world's largest pay television operator British Sky Broadcasting
Group.
eVentures New Zealand's first internet business, E-LOAN Inc, will be launched in the next few months. Launched in the
United States in 1997, E-LOAN is an online lending service which provides a wide range of personal and commercial
financing options.
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For further information contact:
Cindy Mitchener, Chief Executive, on 0-9-358 4103 cindym@eventures.co.nz
Annemarie Browne, Marketing Officer, on 0-9-358 4103 annemarieb@eventures.co.nz
Rachel Catanach on 0-4-499 9111 rachel@svl.co.nz
PHOTOS OF TIM MEW AND CRAIG MANNING ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
B A C K G R O U N D E R
Tim Mew
New Zealander Tim Mew has a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Communications and Computer Systems from the University of
New South Wales in Sydney. He studied under an AIDAB EMMS scholarship awarded by the Australian Government, achieving
academic distinction for his thesis on multimedia on networks, attaining the highest thesis score on MPEG (hardware
implementation and modelling) over current data networks.
Tim's technical work experience includes broadband services planning and engineering experience in telecommunications
and data communications as well as software engineering.
He has worked as a software engineer for Voice Link Ltd, where he was involved in software design and implementation, in
addition to access network configuration of IVR systems development for key national systems in New Zealand.
Between 1995 and 1998, Tim held a variety of roles at Clear Communications including Analyst/Programmer, Engineer and
Senior Engineer. As Senior Engineer his responsibilities included ATM Broadband switching, for which he assumed sole
responsibility for CLEAR's Cisco Stratcom BPX/AXIS/IGX core public ATM network. He was involved in setting up ClearNet
and also produced Clear's capital plan and business cases for software upgrades and Network augments.
After moving to Australia, Tim was employed on short-term contracts with AT Easylink Services Australia Ltd as a team leader in the Network Operations Department and with One.Tel Ltd as a
Voice/Data Architect. In the latter role, he was responsible for the design and architecture of One.Tel's voice/data
integrated network and the hands-on design and implementation of ATM voice/data trunking backbone.
Since late 1998 he has been Manager of Telecommunications for the Internet Group LTd (iHug). In this role he had
responsibility for designing and planning the deployment and development of new IP-based communication technologies.
Craig Manning
Craig Manning graduated from Massey University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Business Studies with majors in Accounting and
Finance.
After working as an auditor with the New Zealand Audit Office, he pursued his career in the United Kingdom where he
worked as a Management Accountant for British Gas. In this role he managed three projects with a total value in excess
of £118 million and undertook investment appraisal and extensive scenario analysis of major projects.
Before joining Killik & Co in 1992, Mr Manning was employed by Tantus Software as Chief Accountant/Company Secretary. His responsibilities
included preparation of statutory accounts, bank liaison, cashflow forecasting and cash management, annual budgeting and
project accounting.
As Finance and Administration Partner at Killik & Co, Mr Manning's responsibilities included accounting (annual budgeting for 20 branches/divisions with monthly budget
variance reporting), finance, strategy (formulation and production of the firm's annual and three-year rolling strategic
plan), statutory requirements (preparation of annual financial statements and all audit requirements), relationship
management, contracts and facilities management.
Killik & Co has become one of the top 15 private client stockbrokers in the United Kingdom and the company has undergone
significant expansion from a central London base to a number of locations throughout the greater London region. Its
company turnover has increased from £1.7 million to in excess of £20 million, client numbers from 4,500 to 28,000, the
number of employees from 22 to 150, and the assets under management from £70 million to £1.5 billion.
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