12 December 2000 - Phoenix Technology Group is targeting the growth of e-business and customer service by investing in the UK and has selected Bristol as the site of its UK headquarters. With a blue-chip customer portfolio which includes AXA Sun Life, Scottish Widows, CGNU, Colonial Financial Services and Royal & Sun Alliance, Phoenix is rapidly becoming a leading provider of end-to-end contact and e-service solutions for the retail financial services. Dublin-based Phoenix has international coverage spanning Northern Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region.

As Phoenix's recently appointed UK Sales and Marketing Manager, Mark Stonham, explains, "Bristol represents an excellent proposition for IT-based companies, not least with its rich source of IT skills, and the region is currently attracting a number of key, high-tech businesses."

Mark who is 41, has three children, and has been working in the Bristol area for 18 years, for IBM, Orange and Admiral Computing. "What attracted me to Phoenix was the solution and product line-up, the culture and working philosophy and the success achieved with existing blue chip customers. Phoenix has the buzz and excitement of a dotcom company together with the track record and delivery capability of an established 'bricks and mortar' company. This is a very exciting area of the market to be working in."

In addition to the recent appointment of Mark Stonham, the company also announces the appointment of two Business Development Managers, Geoff Bray and Darren Beal. Geoff who is 50 has previously been a major account manager with Rebus Software, MISYS and Pegasus, and worked for London Life in Bristol for many years. Geoff is married with two children and has been working in I.T. since 1975.

As Geoff explains, "This is an exciting time for Phoenix. Most of the software on the market looks the same these days, and the only real differentiator is the way companies manage their customer relationships. Since Phoenix's offerings help manage customer relationships and service, I believe that the company is in an enviable position."

Darren Beal, 33, who also joins Phoenix as a Business Development Manager was previously developing new business in the project resource management market, with the ABT Corporation and Advanced Management Solutions. Adds Darren, "I look forward to building upon Phoenix's UK business, and to developing a more direct approach to our sales to the retail financial services sector."

About Phoenix Technology Group:
With offices in Dublin and London Phoenix was founded in 1997. Phoenix delivers enterprise content management and e-process solutions to global retail financial institutions. Phoenix is a leading provider of web-enabled solutions for multifunctional contact and service centres empowering organisations to manage complex service processes and high-volume transaction relationships with customers, brokers and suppliers regardless of the source media (paper, e-mail, e-form, voice).

Customers include AXA Sun Life, CGNU, Royal Sun Alliance, and Scottish Widows/Lloyds TSB. For more information, please visit www.phoenix.ie