Gladstone Announcements

RNS Number : 0200J Gladstone PLC 27 November 2008  
?

Press Release
27 November 2008

Gladstone plc

("Gladstone" or "the Group")

Gladstone's mobile technology solution "Pocket" 
now supports local Government health targets

Gladstone plc (AIM:GLD), a leading provider of software solutions and services to the Education and Health & Leisure markets, is pleased to announce the further enhancement of Gladstone PocketTM, a mobile technology solution developed to encourage physical activity in children.  

As part of the continuing development of Gladstone's industry-leading membership management solution, Plus2TM, the Group has further developed a mobile technology solution, Gladstone Pocket, which extends Gladstone Health & Leisure's core solution offered to local authority leisure centers and local schools communities.
 
Gladstone's pioneering solution has been developed in conjunction with one of the Group's long-standing customers - North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC).  The council looks after 88,000 people in Coalville and Ashby-de-la-zouch, managing five leisure centres.  Gladstone Pocket has the capacity to be offered to every local authority in the UK with a similar challenge.  NWLDC found an effective solution for meeting the UK government's recently revised target for schools setting a minimum of five hours of sport and physical activity per child each week; targeted at reducing the growing problems of child obesity in the under-16's age group.  A typical incentive for a local child would involve two hours of school activities awarding 20 points or £2, enough for one free swim.   The initiative is being reviewed in detail not only by a number of surrounding local councils, but also by Sport England as a potential nationwide solution.

The user-friendly Plus2 system, currently in use at NWLDC for over five years, has been specially adapted, incorporating bar-coded key-fob leisure cards similar to those provided by supermarket loyalty schemes, to assist school children who wish to exercise. The key fobs are scanned at the end of the lesson or school club by the PE teacher via the electronic PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and subsequently docked at the local leisure centres where the data is then downloaded into Plus2.  

Gladstone's hand-held PDA device can be easily configured and deployed in numerous scenarios.  For example, it might be used to record attendance and payments for exercise classes, ticketed events, golf courses and outdoor education activities.  Gladstone Pocket can be used anywhere to validate membership and complete a transaction if required extending customer interface beyond the reception area.

Dr. Said Ziai, Chairman & Chief Executive of Gladstone plc, said: "We are encouraged by the adaptability and scalability that Plus2, one of our core products, has demonstrated.  As the market leader within the Health & Leisure market, we are very aware of the growing health concerns with regard to under 16's in the UK today and we are delighted with the subsequent development of this new extension of our software. This demonstrates our continued commitment to delivering leading-edge customer-driven solutions which will materially enhance the support we offer our customers.  The Government's drive to improve the efficiency of public services, combined with our involvement with the Building Schools for the Future programme, demonstrates a promising alignment between Gladstone's software and the developments in the education sector."

- Ends -

For further information:
Gladstone plc

Dr. Said Ziai, Chairman and Chief Executive
Tel: +44 (0) 1491 201 010
Nick Montgomery, Finance Director
www.gladstoneplc.com

Financial Adviser and Nominated Adviser

Grant Thornton UK LLP

Charles Cattaneo
 Tel: +44 (0) 7774 276 512  
Ian Stanway
Tel: +44 (0) 121 232 5193
Gerry Beaney
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7728 2589

Broker

Fairfax I.S. PLC

Adam Hart / Laura Littley
Tel: +44 (0)20 7598 5368

Media enquiries: 
Abchurch Communications Limited

Chris Lane / Monique Tsang
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7708
monique.tsang@abchurch-group.com
www.abchurch-group.com

Notes to Editors 

Gladstone plc's innovative software products and services, currently targeted at the global health and leisure and education markets, are used daily by thousands of front line staff, managers, end users and students.

Gladstone is a market leader in the provision of member relationship management solutions for a wide range of health and leisure organisations including trusts, leisure centres, and major private leisure chains and is established as the de facto standard for UK local authorities. The Company enables all its clients in both public and private sectors to utilise central database facilities for central and cross-site on-line bookings, Customer Relationship Management ("CRM") and membership management, centralisation of administration, marketing and reporting.

The Company also provides a wide range of integrated systems and software-based solutions for the rapidly expanding Education Facilities Management Solutions ("EFMS") market across the entire spectrum of educational establishments and is a key supplier to the UK Government's Building Schools for the Future ("BSF") initiative.

Gladstone is focused on extending its solutions capabilities, which enable its clients to maximise resource usage, retain customers and improve operational performance, thereby making cost efficiencies, into new vertical and geographic markets aligned with its growth strategy.

The Company's current solutions include the comprehensive Plus2TM product suite which incorporates advanced functionality including web-based remote booking, advanced analysis and the use of kiosks, as well as Gladstone OnRecordTM which serves the education industry with e-registration, biometric and smart card recognition, cashless payment systems, extensive information portals, libraries usage and access control.

Based in Oxfordshire, the Company has sales offices in Glasgow, Dublin (Ireland) and Sydney (Australia), in addition to development facilities in Sonderborg (Denmark) and Karachi (Pakistan).

For further information, visit www.gladstoneplc.com
This information is provided by RNSThe company news service from the London Stock Exchange  END  MSCILFVRLSLRFIT