Diligent (NZX:DIL), provider of the Diligent Boardbooks® solution – the world’s most widely-used board portal – today announced that more than 400 companies across Europe, Middle East and Africa now use its solution to produce, distribute and communicate confidential company information to their boards, management teams and committees. Included in this total are 100 FTSE 350 companies in the UK and more than 50 percent of AEX Index companies in the Netherlands. From the smallest charities to the largest listed companies, organizations are making the transition from traditional, paper-based board packs, to using Diligent’s secure, digital board portal.
One of Diligent’s customers is Randstad Holding, the second-largest HR services company in the world. The company, which is headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands, provides work for more than half a million people around the world each day. Its executive board meets every two weeks while the supervisory group convenes seven to eight times a year. Jelle Miedema, Company Secretary for Randstad, said: “Adopting the Diligent approach puts your mind at ease. For everything from the ability to archive thousands of pages of reports and have them at your fingertips, to knowing you have secure, up-to-date information powering better decisions.”
Another Diligent customer, Intu Properties, is a major FTSE 100 property company with assets of £8.8 billion. The company owns and operates shopping centres in prime locations across the UK, including 10 of the country’s top 25 centres. Intu Properties has a main board and four board committees, with a total of 25 different board and committee members. Susan Marsden, Intu Properties’ Company Secretary, estimates that the company has saved 50 percent of time in the production of board materials by using the Diligent Boardbooks solution. She said: “We even use the app to distribute press cuttings, update calendars and send secure documentation.”
Diligent is committed to, and investing in, the growth of its EMEA market. In July 2014, the company invested more than €1.7 million to offer clients data hosting in Frankfurt, Germany, with a data disaster recovery site in Düsseldorf.
“Information security is paramount for all companies, no matter how big or small, which is one of the main reasons they choose to use the Diligent Boardbooks solution,” said Charlie Horrell, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Diligent. “A board portal is a much safer way of distributing information than using paper or email, as well as being far more efficient in terms of time and resource. It means the company retains control of how the information is accessed and treated.”
About Diligent
Over 87,000 individual directors, executives and board teams worldwide rely on Diligent (NZX:DIL) to speed and simplify how board materials are produced, delivered, reviewed and voted on. Providing the world´s most widely used board portal via iPad, Windows devices and browsers, Diligent has pioneered ease of use, stringent security, and superior training and support since 2001. The Diligent Boardbooks solution provides directors and management with immediate access to their most time-sensitive and confidential information along with the tools to review, discuss and collaborate on it. It also helps administrative staff accelerate production and delivery, and corporate executives streamline board communications and decisions. For more information, visit www.boardbooks.com.
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Statements made in this press release that state Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.’s or management´s intentions, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results. All forward-looking statements are only as of the date of this press release and Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise them. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. For example, if we do not successfully develop or introduce new product offerings, or enhancements to our existing Diligent Boardbooks offerings, or keep pace with technological changes that impact the use of our product offerings, or suffer security breaches or service delays or interruptions, we may lose existing customers or fail to attract new customers and our financial performance and revenue growth may suffer. Factors which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements include, without limitation, economic, competitive, regulatory and technological factors affecting Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.’s operations, markets, products, services, and other factors set forth in Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.’s updated Risk Factors filed as Item 1A to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 6, 2014 for further information.