Warwick Warp Ltd, a UK-based developer of novel fingerprint recognition technology is pleased to announce the appointment of Stewart Hefferman as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. 

A successful identity management and biometrics professional, Stewart joins Warwick Warp from Omniperception, where he was appointed CEO in 2009 to lead the Company to its next phase of commercial development. Omniperception, an industry leader in the design and development of facial recognition video and image processing systems is part of the Visimetrics group which was then sold to Digital Barriers plc, a company that provides advanced surveillance technologies to the homeland security and defence markets. Stewart successfully led the sale of Omniperception to Visimetrics in April 2012 and its subsequent sale to Digital Barriers plc in January 2013. 

Prior to joining Omniperception, Stewart was COO of TSSI Systems where he successfully negotiated an agreement to supply biometrics products to a major UK plc as well as securing new revenue streams for the Company. With a MBA from Cranfield University and a PhD in solid state physics from the University of Glasgow, Stewart's strong biometrics background and experience of successfully building and selling businesses makes him a valuable addition to the Warwick Warp team.

Commenting on Stewart’s appointment, Terry Swainbank, Investment Director of Synergis Technologies, part of the Porton Capital Group, the lead investor into Warwick Warp said “I am delighted that Stewart has joined Warwick Warp. With his experience as CEO of a highly successful biometrics business, Stewart has demonstrated his capability both as a successful entrepreneur and a strong business leader. His impressive commercial background together with his extensive knowledge of the biometrics and identity management space will make him a valuable addition to the Warwick Warp team as the Company enters the next commercial phase”.

Stewart Hefferman stated “I am delighted to be joining Warwick Warp at such an exciting time and hope that my experience, in particular my background in biometrics will contribute significantly to the company as it seeks to ramp up its commercial activities”.

Warwick Warp Ltd, a spinout company from the University of Warwick, has developed a novel fingerprint recognition technology that significantly improves the level of accuracy of identifying individuals over current competitor systems. Warwick Warp has developed a range of novel algorithms that improve both the matching accuracy and speed of the fingerprint recognition process. The design of the company’s software algorithms is based on the shortcomings of current systems such as their inability to deal with poor quality fingerprints