Advisory Board

Elmar Toime — Former CEO of New Zealand Post and Former Deputy Executive Chairman of Royal Mail

Currently an independent advisor to the postal sector, Elmar has decades of experience as a national-post executive and a track record of innovation in mail-services diversification and entrepreneurship.

Elmar served as chief executive of New Zealand Post from 1993-2003, during which time he successfully diversified its business base and led the establishment of a new, full-service retail bank, Kiwibank Ltd., as a fully-owned subsidiary. He also pioneered a formal franchising operation for posts, including the creation of a joint venture with a major book and stationery retailer.

In March, 2003, he was appointed Executive Deputy Chairman of Royal Mail Group PLC in Great Britain and became chairman of its management board. He left Royal Mail in late 2004 to form his consultancy; in that same year, he received the Industry Leadership Award at the World Mail Awards in Berlin. Elmar also serves on the supervisory board of Deutsche Post World Net, the world's leading logistics group; as a non-executive director of SKYCITY Entertainment Group; as chairman of Postea Inc, a technology innovator, as chairman of the supervisory board of the postal consultancy Message AG; and as a non-executive director of Blackbay Ltd., a market-leading mobile-solutions services company.

Michael Miles, P.E. — Former Chief Technology Officer, Earth Class Mail

Mike brings more than three decades of mechanical engineering expertise to his advisory role. For the prior 16 years before co-founding Earth Class Mail, Mike was a principal of ME-Tech, LLC, a mechanical design engineering consulting firm providing expertise in all areas of product design (involving system architecture, prototype and production planning, detailed part design, system and device thermal management and analysis, EMI issues, design for manufacture and assembly (DFM/A), and tooling approval). Among his extensive roster of clients are Apple Computer, nCube, E.Com, Eclipse Technologies, Fiber Sensys, InFocus Systems, Instromedix, Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS), Intel, Lightware, Sentrol, Planar Systems, Sarif, Warn Industries, Tektronix, and ZIBA. For client Siemens, Mike worked extensively on state-of-the-art postal sorting equipment that processed 40,000 mail pieces per hour.

Prior to founding the firm in 1988, Mike spent eight years as a Mechanical/Electromechanical Project Engineer designing components and systems for Tektronix and, later, AT&E Systems (Seiko Receptor Watch). His combination of strengths in plastic part design, mechanism design, stress analysis of materials, and thermal system design are complimented by an acute awareness of the latest technologies and components in the electronics industry. His mechanical design of a broad spectrum of products ranging from small handheld to rack based systems and consumer products to specialized advanced technology equipment illustrate a few facets of his design abilities. Mike holds eight issued patents, and is a registered Professional Engineer, and a member of ASME, SAE and National Assn of Professional Engineers.