Castel Guelfo (BO), May 10, 2007

On May 9 at the Chloride branch in Castel Guelfo, Italy, Chloride launched the birth of the Chloride Academy, the first Corporate University for secure power solutions and the centre of knowledge and competencies for the entire Chloride Group.

The inauguration event was attended by nearly 350 guests, including managers, employees, distinguished guests from local and international institutions, and top Italian and international clients.

Chloride Group PLC. a multinational company registered with the London Stock exchange and leader in secure power solutions for “mission critical” systems (uninterruptible power supply, converters, conditioning systems, etc.), has decided to create in their Italian branch in Castel Guelfo a Corporate University where the educational strategies will be created and developed for all 1,500 employees of the group throughout the world.

Keith Hodgkinson, CEO of the Chloride Group and Lamberto Tassara, President of Chloride UPS Systems, opened the event by thanking all of the people of Chloride, considered to be the greatest asset of the company, and emphasized how the Academy represents an explicit confidence in the competencies of the personnel of the entire group and invests in the spreading of this know-how across the globe through the various branches of the multinational company. They expressed their appreciation towards the participating Italian institutions, in particular Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who sent a personal letter communicating his satisfaction for the creation of such an institution within the Emilia Romagna region.

In a similar tone, the words of European Parliament member Vittorio Prodi highlighted how the Academy is an avant-garde project of great social value for the professional and individual growth of the people of Chloride, focusing on the intangible resources of the company and assisting in the development of a qualified workforce. Furthermore, President of the Bologna Province Beatrice Draghetti recognized the importance of educational initiatives within the territory and specifically within the sector of power protection in order to confront environmental problems.

Alberto Tonielli, full professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Bologna, expressed the importance of acquiring specialist know-how within companies, particularly with strategic cooperations between enterprises and universities in training young professionals to attain solid cultural bases and a specific work methodology. Following suit with this collaboration, Keith Hodgkinson took advantage of the occasion to present the Department of Electronics, Information Technology, and Systems (DEIS) of the University of Bologna with a contribution of 150,000 Euro upon conclusion of the Pritt project.

Roberta Gentile, Director of the Chloride Academy, presented the objectives, structure, and methodology of the Academy, illustrating some of the initial activities.

Closing the event, CEO Keith Hodgkinson invited President Draghetti to join him and Roberta Gentile in the traditional ribbon-cutting to officially open the Academy.