London, United Kingdom - August 3, 2015, London, United Kingdom - Clear Leisure, a hotel, resorts and theme park operator, appoints Francesco Gardin as CEO and chairman and Reginald Eccles as non-executive director.
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In 1983, Mr. Gardin founded AISoftw@re SpA to develop and distribute Artificial Intelligence systems within Italy, which he took public which on NASDAQ Europe in 1999 and Milan Stock Exchange in 2000. He sold the company in 2005 through a merger and agreed to remain as non executive Chairman until March 2008. The company is now called Exprivia.
In February 2002 Mr. Gardin became Chairman of the Company and although he resigned he resigned from the Board in February 2011. He has continued to provide advice to the Board without payment for his servoices.
Since 2006 Mr. Gardin has also worked extensively in China, and in March 2007 became CEO of China IPO Group plc, wholly owned by Brainspark plc, focusing on investments in China. In March 2008 he became a Board Member of IPO Beijing Investment Consulting Company Ltd., the China IPO Group plc Chinese subsidiary, with offices in Beijing and Xi'an.
On December 18, 2008 Mr. Gardin was appointed executive Director of London Asia Capital plc. On October 2, 2013 he was appointed on the board of Pan European Terminals and resigned in July 2014. In December 2014 he founded, together with a business partner, First IPO Capital.
During the last twenty years, Mr. Gardin has been Director of almost fifty companies in Italy, UK, USA, Israel, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Mauritius and Jersey.
Mr. Gardin graduated in Theoretical Physics at Padova University in 1979, before undertaking a UK Government research project at Exeter University (UK) from 1980 to 1982. In 1983 he was employed by the Italian National Research Council and from 1984 to 1985 he worked at the European Union Research Centre in Ispra, Italy as Co-ordinator of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Since 1984 to 2014, Mr. Gardin has been Research Associate Professor at Udine, Milano and Siena University lecturing Artificial Intelligence, Theory and Application of Computation, and Virtual Reality. His academic papers include more than 50 individual and joint publications and three books on the subject of Artificial Intelligence as editor.
Mr. Eccles, previously named Reginald George Eykelbosch, has sat on the boards of a number of public and private companies over the past four decades, including most recently, Toledo Mining Corporation plc where he acted as Chairman and Pan European Terminals plc as Senior Independent Director.
Mr. Ecclesbegan his career at Anglo American Corporation of South Africa as a business analyst, deputy Chief Economist and finally, Corporate and Financial Planning Director based in Johannesburg. In 1979, he co-founded Claspbourne Ltd, a consultancy and publishing company, which he sold in 1988. ■