People news 16 April 2015
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (10 April to 16 April 2015)
Ladbrokes hands digital director role to mobile chief Bagguley
New CEO Jim Mullen promotes director of mobile to head up Ladbrokes’ online business amid a number of senior appointments
Ladbrokes chief executive Jim Mullen has kicked-off a major revamp of the company’s senior management team by promoting mobile chief Andrew Bagguley (pictured) to lead the operator’s digital business, eGaming Review has learned.
Bagguley, who joined Ladbrokes as director of mobile from German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom in late 2013, will succeed Mullen as director of digital, a position the new chief exec had held until he took the reins from Richard Glynn at the start of April.
The appointment of Bagguley forms part of a series of top table promotions with retail operations director Lee Drabwell handed the retail director role, a position previously held by Nick Rust until he left at the end of 2014 to become chairman of the British Horseracing Authority.
In addition, the operator has made a number of changes to its executive committee, one of which being the inclusion of director of trading Andy Wright while it is also set to promote HR director of reward and resourcing Sara Matthews to the overarching group HR director position in order to replace the soon-to-be retired Andrew Harley.
Sporting Index buyer revealed as new Pinnacle Sports owner
The man behind the ongoing acquisition of Sporting Index is the same entrepreneur who recently secured a majority stake in Pinnacle Sports, eGaming Review can reveal.
Magnus Hedman, the owner of Malta-based B2B risk management and pricing supplier firm Touchbet, is set to shake-up the gaming industry with a double acquisition thought to be worth around £200m.
The Marbella-based Swede, who has a history in financial markets, acquired a majority stake in Pinnacle Sports last August although an official announcement of the deal, in which Hedman’s identity wasn’t revealed, wasn’t made until February.
Paddys’ head of special projects leaves for Uber
Paddy Power’s head of special projects Nick Abrahams has left to join mobile taxi booking business Uber, bringing to an end his four-and-a-half year tenure at the Irish operator.
Abrahams joined Paddy Power back in 2011 from Betfair where he had been head of commercial strategy and insight for two years, and previously strategy manager for Betfair’s gaming team.
He had been an integral part of Paddy Power’s mobile product drive, including the launch of standalone mobile and tablet casino app Roller.
Rational appoints new COO amid wider changes
Rational Group has appointed Israel Rosenthal to the role of chief operating officer as the business continues its reorganisation following last year’s acquisition by Amaya Gaming.
Rosenthal has taken the COO reins from Rafi Ashkenazi, who is set to assume a new role at Amaya. Rosenthal had previously worked for Rational in several senior operations roles.
Ashkenazi, formerly head of operations at Playtech, had previously served as Full Tilt’s acting managing director until the appointment of Dominic Mansour last April.
EveryMatrix hires Nordic sales manager
EveryMatrix has strengthdn its presence in the Nordic egaming market after announcing the appointment of Richardt Funch as its new Nordic Sales Manager.
With over 17 years’ experience in the online gaming industry, Funch brings extensive knowledge of the Nordic egaming markets to the EveryMatrix team. He has been actively involved in starting up and managing some of the biggest online gambling companies in the Danish and Scandinavian markets, including Sportingbet, Ladbrokes and Betsson.
“EveryMatrix already has a strong Nordic presence, with current clients such as Thrills, SuperLenny, Buck & Butler and Casinofloor. We are working on increasing our focus in this region and are in the process of applying for a license in the regulated market in Denmark. We are therefore pleased to welcome Richardt on board, who will help secure and strengthen EveryMatrix’ position in the Nordic market,” commented Ebbe Groes, Chief Executive Officer of EveryMatrix.
Ladbrokes hires bet365 in-play chief
Ladbrokes has moved to strengthen its sportsbook trading team after hiring bet365’s head of trading in-play analysis (TIPA) Glynn Carroll, eGaming Review has learned.
Carroll has moved to the London-based operator to become director of trading operations, where he will report into Ladbrokes director of trading Andy Wright.
As head of TIPA, Carroll was responsible for the bet365 in-play trading teams across multiple jurisdictions where he also monitored in-play trading patterns.
Danish gambling body appoints Betsson MD as chairman
The Danish Online Gambling Association (DOGA) has appointed Betsson managing director Peter Weinreich Johansen (pictured) as the trade organisation’s new chair, replacing the outgoing Martin Thorvaldsson.
Johansen was voted in last week at DOGA’s annual general meeting following the organisation’s membership previously stating it needed a Danish chair to replace Swede Thorvaldsson, who is general counsel at Betsson.
Johansen will hold the position of chairman until at least next year, when he can be re-elected.
Rational appoints Zynga senior director as social head
Rational Group has appointed Zynga’s senior director of social casino Lloyd Melnick as its new director of social gaming, where he will lead a team tasked with replicating PokerStars’ real money success in social gaming.
Announcing his move in a blog post, Melnick said the PokerStars and Full Tilt parent company was clearly focused on creating the best player experience on the market, rather than using “short-term tricks” to boost revenues.
He also said the firm wouldn’t be constrained to social poker, with other opportunities currently under consideration.