The CEO of Sorted Group Holdings plc has stepped down three months after overseeing its sale for just £66.73.
Carmen Carey joined the Manchester-headquartered delivery tech firm as a non-executive director in 2019 and was named CEO in 2021. Sorted was acquired by Location Sciences in a reverse takeover in February after running into financial difficulties.
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since that date, its share price tumbled from 144p to below 80p. It dropped even further to 70p following notice of Carey’s impending exit following a three-month notice period.
The group plans to appoint a new CEO and says chairman Simon Wilkinson will assume executive responsibilities in the intervening period for a daily consultancy rate of £1,750. He will work a maximum of three days per week.
The former CEO of Mobica and Myriad Group AG, Wilkinson is also the chairman of Location Sciences. He has invested in Sorted, alongside Mahmud Kamani, the founder of Boohoo Group, and Richard Hughes, the founder of Zeus Capital.
Sorted said it would also draw on the significant experience of its other existing board members to oversee the operations of the business, including the distribution and logistics expertise of non-executive director Petar Cvetkovic, formerly the CEO of DX (Group) Plc.
The global software company was launched in 2010 by David Grimes but ran into financial difficulties after raising nearly $100m in investment. As part of the acquisition deal, Location Sciences assumed Sorted’s debts of £4m plus interest and invested £3m of capital.
Sorted reported a loss before tax of £28.6m in the year to September 2022, compared to losses of £14.1m in the previous year.
The company’s customers include M&S, Asda and Boohoo.