15 June 2009

Stewart Hefferman appointed chief executive officer of UK biometrics company OmniPerception

OmniPerception has appointed Dr Stewart Hefferman as its CEO to help continue to drive efforts to establish the company as a world leader in biometric technology.

Stewart joins the company after four years as COO at TSSI Systems where he led the strategic development of the company and was responsible for exploring new markets and revenue opportunities.

His tenure as COO saw him negotiate and sign a five-year agreement to supply biometric products to a major UK PLC; negotiate a £750k tender to supply software services to the UK’s Department of Health and plan, structure and incorporate two joint venture companies to develop the Asia market.

With over ten years experience in the biometrics market, Stewart will focus on driving the aggressive growth of OmniPerception through increased direct sales activity and the development of strategic partnerships with complimentary businesses.

This will include continuing to establish the company as a leading provider of custody management solutions for the UK police service.

He also joins the company at a time when it is working alongside BAE Systems on a cutting edge research project to develop next generation face recognition technology.

Stewart succeeds David McIntosh who has retired as CEO after six years in which he has established OmniPerception as a major force in biometrics. He will remain a non-executive director with the company.

"I am delighted to be joining OmniPerception at such an exciting time for the company which sees it involved in a number of cutting edge projects in the security and law enforcement market," said Stewart.

"The full potential of biometrics as an identity management tool has yet to be realised both in the UK and on the international stage and I look forward to spearheading efforts to promote the technology to a range of key markets in the coming years."