REG - ConnectingExcellence - Appointment of Chief Performance & Growth Officer

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RNS Number : 5065Y  Connecting Excellence Group PLC  30 March 2026

30 March 2026

 

Connecting Excellence Group Plc

 

("Connecting Excellence Group", "XCE", the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Appointment of Chief Performance & Growth Officer

 

Carlos Benito-Garcia joins as XCE looks to accelerate growth of flagship
recruiter Spencer Riley

 

Connecting Excellence Group Plc (AQSE: XCE / OTCQB: XCELF), the international
executive recruitment group with a long-term, ambitious and disciplined
Bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy, is pleased to announce the appointment of
Carlos Benito-Garcia as Chief Performance & Growth Officer to strengthen
the senior management team (non-board).

Carlos brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across the executive
recruitment industry and global pharmaceutical sector, with a proven track
record in driving commercial performance, organisational development and
business scaling.

Prior to the most recent 10 years in executive recruitment, Carlos spent 20
years in senior commercial roles at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies, including GSK, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and IQVIA. At IQVIA, he built a
high-performance culture across a 2,500-employee organisation, driving
improvements in commercial and operational effectiveness.

Over the past decade, Carlos has held senior leadership roles within executive
search, advising businesses and leadership teams on performance optimisation,
talent strategy and growth execution. His executive recruitment track record
includes:

·   Key member of the strategic leadership team that scaled a Leeds-based
executive search firm from inception to over 70 office heads and consultants
within three years, instrumental in the building and development of a
high-performance recruitment operation from the ground up; and

·  Held an international leadership role at Antal International, driving
expansion, revenue growth and profitability across a multi-disciplinary
franchise network of over 120 satellite offices spanning 30 countries, with
global recruiters operating under a proven franchise model.

At XCE, Carlos will play a central role in driving Spencer Riley's next phase
of growth, leading a talent attraction and hiring strategy, while shaping the
Group's acquisition strategy to identify and integrate complementary bolt-on
businesses. Alongside this, Carlos will spearhead performance and growth
initiatives at Spencer Riley, ensuring it is optimised for sustained success,
while also leading the development and commercial scaling of new operating
subsidiaries and diversified revenue streams across the Group. Through his
multifaceted remit, Carlos will support the continued growth of XCE's
platform, strengthening its market position and supporting its long-term
growth ambitions.

Carlos has also been active in Bitcoin since 2017, with a particular interest
in companies adopting a Bitcoin treasury strategy since 2020. His appointment
reflects XCE's commitment to combining executive search expertise with
innovative Bitcoin-backed growth.

Carlos Benito-Garcia, Chief Performance & Growth Officer of Connecting
Excellence Group, said: "I am delighted to join XCE at such an exciting stage
of its development. The opportunity to combine executive search excellence
with an innovative Bitcoin treasury strategy represents a compelling and
differentiated market proposition. Having spent my career building
high-performance cultures and scaling ambitious organisations, I recognise the
opportunity XCE has to capitalise on what remains a highly fragmented
recruitment market and attract the right talent for expansion."

Scott Ellam, Chief Executive Officer of Connecting Excellence Group,
commented: "We are building Connecting Excellence Group to be a
high-performance, globally scalable talent platform, differentiated by both
execution and strategy. Carlos brings a powerful combination of deep
commercial leadership, operational discipline, and a proven ability to scale
recruitment businesses at pace.

"His appointment continues to strengthen our ability to accelerate the growth
of Spencer Riley while also developing new revenue platforms across the Group.
Crucially, Carlos is closely aligned with our long-term thinking, including
our Bitcoin treasury strategy and focus on disciplined capital allocation. We
believe the opportunity in front of us is significant, and with the right
leadership in place, we are increasingly well-positioned to execute at speed
and deliver compounding shareholder value."

About Connecting Excellence Group Plc ("XCE"):

 

XCE is an international executive recruitment group with a long term,
ambitious and disciplined Bitcoin treasury strategy. The flagship recruitment
company, Spencer Riley, places senior executives with clients globally across
a number of high growth markets including professional services, business
advisory and consultancy, engineering, logistics, life sciences, automation
and AI intelligent data solutions.

 

The Bitcoin treasury strategy sets the foundation for the Company's scalable
recruitment business to attract and retain high performing talent with
individual performance linked share option incentives to increase revenue,
profit and cashflows. In the future, XCE can also expand market share through
strategic acquisitions, at very little cash cost, using performance-based
equity incentives to provide immediate and ongoing shareholder value. XCE is
also building a dedicated Bitcoin executive recruitment division, enabling
executives to find their role within either Bitcoin businesses or traditional
businesses looking for Bitcoin talent worldwide and accelerating corporate
education, integration and adoption of Bitcoin.

 

Website: xce.io (https://xce.io)

Follow on X: XCE - Connecting Excellence Group (https://x.com/XCEofficial)

Follow on Linkedin: XCE - Connecting Excellence Group
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/108888128/admin/dashboard/)

 

 Connecting Excellence Group ("XCE")                      contact@xce.io (mailto:contact@xce.io)

 Scott Ellam, Chief Executive Officer                     Tel: +44(0) 113 390 8623

 Angus Gladish, Chief Financial Officer

 AlbR Capital (Aquis Corporate Adviser and Joint Broker)  Tel: +44(0) 20 7469 0930

 Allenby Capital (Joint Broker)                           Tel: +44(0) 20 3328 5656

 Matt Butlin (Head of Equities)

 Nick Harriss

 Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR)                          xce@yellowjerseypr.com (mailto:xce@yellowjerseypr.com)

 Charles Goodwin, Annabelle Wills                         Tel: +44(0) 20 3004 9512

 

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this
announcement.

 

 

Important Notice:

 

Connecting Excellence Group PLC holds treasury reserves and surplus cash in
Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a type of digital asset. Whilst the Board of Directors of
the Company considers holding Bitcoin to be in the best interests of the
Company, the Board remains aware that the financial regulator in the UK (the
Financial Conduct Authority or FCA) considers investment in Bitcoin to be high
risk.

 

At the outset, it is important to note that an investment in the Company is
not an investment in Bitcoin, either directly or by proxy. However, the Board
of Directors of the Company consider Bitcoin to be an appropriate store of
value and growth for the Company's reserves and, accordingly, the Company is
materially exposed to Bitcoin. Such an approach is innovative, and the Board
of Directors of the Company wish to be clear and transparent with prospective
and actual investors in the Company on the Company's position in this regard.

 

The Company is neither authorised nor regulated by the FCA. And Bitcoin is
unregulated in the UK. As with most other investments, the value of Bitcoin
can go down as well as up, and therefore the value of the Company's Bitcoin
holdings can fluctuate. The Company may not be able to realise its Bitcoin
exposure for the same value as it paid in the first place or even for the
value the Company ascribes to its Bitcoin positions due to these market
movements. And because Bitcoin is unregulated, the Company is not protected by
the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation
Scheme.

 

However, Bitcoin is formally recognised as personal property in the UK under
the new Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on
December 2, 2025. This legislation has removed previous legal uncertainty by
establishing a new, third category of personal property to accommodate digital
assets that do not fit traditional definitions.

 

The Board of Directors of the Company with a history of a Bitcoin treasury
prior to becoming a public company, has taken the decision to invest in
Bitcoin, and in doing so is mindful of the special risks Bitcoin presents to
the Company's financial position. These risks include (but are not limited
to): (i) the value of Bitcoin can be highly volatile, with value dropping as
quickly as it can rise; (ii) the Bitcoin market is largely unregulated - there
is a risk of losing money due to risks such as cyber-attacks, financial crime
and counterparty failure; (iii) the Company may not be able to sell its
Bitcoin at will - the ability to sell Bitcoin depends on various factors,
including the supply and demand in the market at the relevant time, with
operational failings such as technology outages, cyber-attacks and comingling
of funds potentially causing unwanted delay. The Board of Directors of the
Company does not subscribe to such a negative view, and therefore ascribes to
the 'Bitcoin, not crypto' mantra and has a 'Bitcoin only ethos'. However,
prospective investors in the Company are encouraged to do their own research
and verify before investing.

 

 

 

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