Board of directors

Mike O'Leary, Non-executive Chairman (59)

Mike O Leary, Non-executive Chairman (age 58) Mike was appointed to the board of EMIS in March 2011.

He has twenty years of main board experience in a public company environment, including both FTSE100 and FTSE250. He has broad experience of running global operations, and a strong background in the IT industry as well as intimate association with the UK and international healthcare sectors.

Mike is currently a non-executive director of Headlam Group plc, Psion plc and he is also Chairman of Digital Healthcare Limited (a Cambridge based supplier of software to the UK Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme).

He was formerly Chief Executive of Marlborough Stirling plc, Chief Executive of Huon Corporation and an executive director of Misys plc. At Misys, amongst other things, Mike ran the group’s US healthcare division in North Carolina which supplied software and services to over 70,000 primary care physicians in North America. He was also responsible for their UK based healthcare business which sold PAS and pathology departmental systems.

Sean Riddell, Chief Executive Officer (age 47)

Sean Riddell, Chief Executive Officer Sean has 20 years’ experience of IT within the healthcare sector, all gained with the Group. Sean joined EMIS in 1989 as a Field Support Manager responsible for software demonstration and installation, as well as on-site training of EMIS software users within GP practices. Sean’s initial role then developed into a broader sales and marketing role for the Group.

Sean has had significant involvement in the Group’s pioneering initiatives, such as enabling GP appointments to be booked via the internet, digital television or mobile phone, the secure viewing of a patient’s medical records over the internet and the growth of www.patient.co.uk into one of the most frequently visited health portals in the UK. Sean is also one of the contributing authors to Patient Confidentiality, a medico-legal publication.

Sean was initially appointed to the EMIS board in 1999 and became Managing Director of EMIS in September 2006. He was then appointed Managing Director of EMIS Group upon its incorporation in April 2008.

Sean worked for Provident Financial Group as a Business Information Analyst prior to joining EMIS and has a degree in Psychology.

Sean is also a Non-executive director of Pharmacy2U and the Spa Retreat Limited, a charitable organisation providing spa and complementary treatments to women and children with life limiting conditions.

Phillip Woodrow, Finance Director (age 64)

Phillip Woodrow, Finance Director Phillip has overall responsibility for financial aspects of the Group’s strategy and operations. He joined EMIS Group as Finance Director in April 2008 on completion of the management buy-out.

Prior to joining EMIS, Phillip was a partner in Baker Tilly advising corporate clients in relation to business planning and acting on company acquisitions, sales and reorganisations. From 1988 to 1993, Phillip acted as Secretary to the Inspectors in relation to a major DTI investigation.

Phillip joined Smith & Hayward, a predecessor firm of Baker Tilly, in 1965 qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1970 and becoming a partner of that firm in 1972.

Phillip is also a non-executive director of Bradford City Challenge Foundation Limited, a charitable organisation providing funding to local charities in the Bradford area.

Phillip is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Dr David Stables, Director of Strategic Development (age 54)

Dr David Stables, Director of Strategic Development David is responsible for the Group’s future product strategy, including specification of software functionality, software design and architecture. Other responsibilities include clinical research using EMIS IT and technical research for next generation technologies relevant to healthcare.

David has over 25 years’ experience in healthcare IT. His involvement in software development started in 1984 when David and fellow EMIS founder, Dr Peter Sowerby, developed an electronic medical record system to alert GPs to potential prescribing errors and to help with diagnosis. In 1987, they developed the first EMIS system that managed patient records within a GP practice and David was appointed Medical Director of EMIS in the same year. He went on to lead the EMIS software development team, with responsibility for software requirements, design, technology and clinical assurance, including the current EMIS Web system. In 2009, David was appointed Director of Strategic Development.

David qualified in Medicine at Dundee University in 1981, entered general practice in 1984 at Egton Surgery and was a partner in that practice from 1987 to 1991.

Robin Taylor, Non-executive Director (age 61)

Robin Taylor, Non-executive Director Robin joined EMIS Group as an independent Non-executive Director on 1 March 2010 as part of the preparations for flotation, and brings many years’ experience as a plc director. He was formerly Finance Director of Intec Telecom Systems plc (“Intec”), a main market publicly listed company. Robin joined Intec as Finance Director on 1 March 2007 from YFD Ltd, a provider of financial director services. During 2005 and 2006, Robin worked as an independent consultant on a number of projects. From 2000 to 2005, Robin was Group Finance Director of ITNET plc, a publicly listed IT managed services business sold to Serco in 2005, and previously he was Chief Financial Officer and Director of Business Development of JBA Holdings plc. Prior to that, Robin held a variety of financial and general management roles in both Europe and North America.