14 November 2006

Multimap.com, the leading European internet mapping company, today announced the deployment of its Storefinder (where’s my nearest?) and Travel Directions mapping services on www.oddbins.com. The new services enable Oddbins’ customers to search for their nearest store, view an interactive map pinpointing its precise location, and get step-by-step directions to it, in a matter of seconds. Oddbins selected Multimap on the basis of its proven record of success as regards implementation times, data accuracy and the reliability of its services.

Commenting on the deal, Bob Smyllie, Head of IT, Oddbins, said, “When it came to selecting a mapping partner for www.oddbins.com, Multimap was the clear winner. With its proven track record of quick and smooth implementations, coupled with transparent costings, GIS expertise and excellent support infrastructure, it was the obvious choice. Feedback from our customers about the usefulness of its mapping services, and from our shop managers about the impact on footfall, has been positive, and we are very satisfied with the results.”

Visitors to www.oddbins.com access a list of their nearest Oddbins stores in two steps. They simply click on the ‘Store finder’ tab at the top of the screen, and enter their town and/or postcode (or click on an overview map). Multimap delivers a list of the top ten nearest stores plus an interactive overview map showing their respective locations. To access a street-level map, with zoom in/out functionality, indicating the location of a store of interest with a logo, visitors simply click on the relevant listing. And, for those wishing to get directions, they simply proceed to click on the ‘Directions’ tab, fill in their journey start point, and Multimap delivers a map highlighting the route with numbered icons, plus a list of text directions. Customers can click on a particular icon or direction to view a more detailed map. They can also flick between maps of particular steps, and of the start and end steps of the journey easily.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Multimap, said, “It’s clear that successful retail websites need to offer reliable, accurate and robust location-based and mapping services as part of their marketing strategy, to drive more people through to their outlets. Moreover, retail websites that don’t offer high-quality mapping services disappoint an evermore demanding customer; once disappointed, they’ll simply go elsewhere. That’s why over 1,000 business clients across the globe, many of which are in the retail sector, have chosen Multimap as their mapping partner. We are delighted to welcome Oddbins on board!”

About Multimap

Multimap is Europe's leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 10 million unique users, registers more than 190 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK.

Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors. In 2006, it featured in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league of fastest-growing unquoted UK technology companies for the fourth year running. Also in 2006, Multimap won the Innovation category of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. In 2005, Red Herring named Multimap as one of the top 100 private companies in Europe, and the company featured in Deloitte Touche’s Technology Fast 50 league for London and Southern England.

About Oddbins

Oddbins, from its very early days, has occupied a unique position in British drinks retailing. Founded in 1963 by entrepreneur Ahmed Pochee, Oddbins was originally a small business delivering ‘ bin-ends’ and oddments of wine to the restaurants and clubs of London's West End. It has now grown into the country's pre-eminent wine retailer with 255 branches giving national coverage from Inverness to Truro. Customer influence has always been key to the siting of Oddbins shops and the very positive and significant purchase in October 2005 of 45 Wine Cellar stores situated in the North East, North West and the Midlands, mark a constant move to meet our customers’ demands.

The secret of Oddbins' phenomenal success lies in two key areas: product range and in-store service. Oddbins' innovative approach, its pioneering spirit and wine-buying expertise have allowed the company to consistently remain one step ahead of the competition. Customer service is a crucial ingredient in the Oddbins ethic and a particularly relevant aspect in an increasingly competitive market place. There is no argument that Oddbins employs the best staff within the specialists on Britain's High Streets. We are determined to maintain this position and therefore continue to put considerable effort and expenditure into staff training and the promulgation of product knowledge at all levels in our stores.

Supporting these key elements is an idiosyncratic image and visual style, which strongly asserts itself on the High Street. From the revolutionary works by world famous cartoonist, Ralph Steadman during the 1990’s to the graphics found in the latest Oddbins price list, humorous imagery has dovetailed perfectly with Oddbins' stated aim of demystifying and democratising wine and debunking the wine trade.