Tungsten Corporation appoints new chief executive

The AIM-traded firm said Paul Cooper was thus joining the group as CEO with immediate effect.

It said Lemonofides would work with Cooper over the coming weeks, to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.

“It has been a pleasure leading Tungsten in such extraordinary times and working with such talented, dedicated and driven people,” said Andrew Lemonofides.

“I joined in September 2019 to build a solid foundation for growth, which is what as a team we have achieved and so this is the right time for me to hand over the reins for the next chapter in Tungsten's journey.”

The board said Cooper was joining Tungsten from NTT, a European provider of IT services, where he was most recently the regional director for NTT in Europe, with ultimate strategic, operational and financial responsibility for eleven countries generating annual revenues of $900m (£634.68m), encompassing 2,500 employees.

It said he had spent a total of 21 years with Dimension Data and NTT, which merged in 2019, initially joining Dimension Data in 1999 in Australia as a member of the finance team.

Cooper moved to Dimension Data UK in 2004, and was appointed as chief financial officer there in 2006.

In 2011, he assumed the role of chief operating officer for Dimension Data UK, leading the company through various continuous improvement and business transformation programmes.

Cooper was appointed CFO for Dimension Data in Europe in October 2017, before taking his most recent role as NTT regional director of Europe in October 2019.

Tungsten said online technology had been a “cornerstone” of his career.

“On behalf of the board and the whole company, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Paul,” said chairman Tony Bromovsky.

“He arrives with a fantastic track record of execution prowess, strong leadership and an impressive set of relevant skills, and we look forward to working with him on the next stage of Tungsten's journey.”

Bromovsky said Lemonofides had made a “significant contribution” during his time with Tungsten.

“The company has come through a very difficult year with some promising end of year results, which Andrew played a pivotal role in delivering and in transforming the business to establish a firm platform for growth. We wish him every success for the future.”

Paul Cooper holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Australian National University, and also qualified with CPA Australia in 2001.

It was planned for Cooper to join the board in the near future.

“I am really excited about having the opportunity to work with the team and lead Tungsten into the next phase of strategy execution,” said Paul Cooper.

“With digital transformation accelerating through the course of the pandemic, the client value of increased buyer and supplier connections on the proven Tungsten Network is more compelling than ever.”

At 1158 BST, shares in Tungsten Corporation were down 0.31% at 38.38p.