MITIE Millions 'Start-Up' Pitching Event
28th May 2012

MITIE plc, the FTSE 250 listed strategic outsourcing services company, made its first investment in a start-up company at the MITIE Millions "Dragons Den" style pitching event on 28th May 2012 held at the National Theatre in London. Profinda, an internal talent and knowledge matching platform to help companies find key professionals for projects, was voted the winner and scooped £300,000 worth of investment capital from the panel of three judges including Ruby McGregor Smith CBE, CEO of MITIE; Suzanne Baxter, Group Finance Director of MITIE and Chairman of Small Business Banking at RBS, Peter Ibbetson. Pitches were compered by Oli Barrett, connector, speed-networker, creator of 'Tenner' and director at StartUp Britain. Investment sought varied from £100,000 to nearly £1 million.

The 5 short-listed pitches, selected from 60 business plans received included: Profinda - an enterprise match-making service; a legionnaire's disease risk assessment app pitched by MITIE employee Paul Abbott; Clear Returns - retail intelligence software to help predict apparel returns; a retro-fit conversion kit for office lighting, pitched my MITIE employee Mike Bond and Frame Medical Services offering a diabetes patient education service.

Earlier this year, MITIE had announced its intention to back entrepreneurial start-ups in facilities management, energy and property sectors with a £10 million fund and Executive Board Director support; Head Office help in the form of management expertise, equity, working capital, back office and administrative infrastructure; business plan development and 51% investment in the start-up. £5 million has already been invested with Profinda securing the funding to help lead the outsourcing company into new markets.

"We're looking to start businesses that expand the range of services we offer to our existing clients, or that will lead us into new markets. Our range of services is incredibly broad and we're open to any idea that fits with MITIE's strategy. At the moment we are particularly excited about the market opportunities in energy services, healthcare and technology. They are rapidly growing markets that have huge potential for outsourcers to provide new and innovative solutions" said Ruby McGregor-Smith, CEO of MITIE.

About Profinda

ProFinda was founded by Roger Gorman, a 37 year old digital innovation expert, after he left his job at Draftcb in 2011 to pursue his dream of launching ProFinda to solve a problem he faced every day in his job and running his own business. It is an internal talent matching system that helps mid-large companies to mobilise their workforces to help them win more and larger business, retain top talent, motivate staff, and access powerful data.

About MITIE

MITIE which stands for 'Management Incentive Through Investment Equity' has been partnering with entrepreneurs to grow businesses since it started 25 years ago. The 'MITIE Model' is for entrepreneurial management teams who have an idea for growing a business as a part of MITIE. It's structured so that the management team takes an equity stake of up to 49% in a business which they grow over a five to ten-year period, and is eventually acquired by MITIE in full. MITIE has supported over 100 start-up businesses to grow using the MITIE model, with a 95% success rate.

Further info about 'MITIE Millions' can be found at www.mitie.com/entrepreneurs.

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