CEO Dismissal and Commencement of Litigation
31 March 2025
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Big Technologies plc
("Big Technologies" or "the Company", together with its subsidiaries the "Group")
CEO Dismissal,
Commencement of Litigation and
Update on Timing of Full Year Results
Big Technologies plc (AIM: BIG), the UK-based remote people monitoring technology company, announces that, further to its previous announcements of 18 and 21 March 2025, it has today:
- dismissed Sara Murray from her role as Chief Executive Officer, terminated her employment contract with the Company, and removed her as a director, in each case with immediate effect; and
- issued proceedings accompanied by an application for a freezing order against Sara Murray, the Relevant Entities (as defined below) and others in the High Court.
Based on information which has come to light through work undertaken by the Company and its legal advisers, the Company has concluded that Sara Murray:
- has or had a previously undisclosed interest in, or relationship with, Zinc Limited, Monitoring Partners Limited, RCP Limited and Romelle Limited (the "Relevant Entities") which, at the time of the Company's Admission to AIM on 28 July 2021, together held approximately 17.7% of the Company's issued share capital, which represents a holding of approximately 17.3% now;
- failed to disclose her interests in, and relationship with, the Relevant Entities in the context of the Company's admission to AIM and its initial public offering;
- in the context of the Litigation (as defined in the 18 March Announcement), provided untrue information to the Company and its lawyers (and the court in providing statements of truth in filed documents) in relation to her interests in, and relationship with the Relevant Entities; and
- improperly diverted or extracted significant sums of money from the Company and/or members of its Group (principally Buddi Limited prior to 2019) to herself or persons connected with her, including the Relevant Entities.
Sara Murray has yet to provide any substantive response to the Company's requests to her for information, including in relation to the matters above.
As noted in the previous announcement on 21 March 2025, the 17.3% aggregate shareholding of the Relevant Entities is in addition to shares in the Company held by Sara Murray directly, which are currently understood to represent approximately 26.8% of the current issued share capital of the Company.
Publication of preliminary results and audited financial statements
As a result of the above, the publication of both the Company's preliminary results and its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 will be delayed. The delay is a direct result of issues associated with Sara Murray's actions and additional time is required for the appropriate consideration of contingencies, legal provisioning and disclosures in relation to post-balance sheet events. The work on the audit is well advanced and the Company will continue to work closely with its auditors, Crowe, to ensure the publication of the audited results as soon as possible and, in any event, by no later than mid-June 2025.
The Board expects the underlying performance of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2024 to be in line with previous guidance and market expectations.
Trading update
Unaudited monthly revenue for February 2025 was £4.2 million and cash at bank as at 28 February 2025 was £101.1 million.
Further announcements will be made as appropriate.
Enquiries
| Big Technologies plc |
+44 (0) 19 2360 1910 |
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| Alexander Brennan (Interim Chairman) |
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| Daren Morris (Interim Chief Executive Officer) |
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| Zeus (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker) |
+44 (0) 203 829 5000 |
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| Dan Bate / Kieran Russell (Investment Banking) |
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| Benjamin Robertson (Equity Capital Markets) |
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