Keeping it in the family
Jonathan Flint, co-founder of executive search agency Flint Hyde, on how egaming executives tend to be picked from a select group within the industry.
Gabi Campos’ recent appointment from Dragonfish managing director to chief executive at PokerStars is yet another senior hire from within the sector. Rarely do senior managers from outside of gaming secure one of the top jobs, in contrast to other industries, which tend to be more adventurous when choosing new chief executives or managing directors.
Richard Glynn’s recent appointment from Sporting Index chairman to Ladbrokes chief executive, although an excellent hire, is yet another example, as is the announcement that Nick Rust, managing director at Coral, is soon to rejoin Ladbrokes to lead their retail operations.
A glance at the industry’s leading chief executives also shows loyalty to existing executives who have been ‘groomed’ for succession to the top job: Ralph Topping at William Hill, Dominic Harrison at Gala Coral, Gigi Levi at 888 and Andrew McIver at Sportingbet. Rank Interactive is one of the few which has bucked that trend with the appointment of Mark Jones as managing director, who hails from an online travel background.
The gaming sector is not, however, blind to introducing new talent. Many non-board-level positions are filled from outside of gaming, with most companies proactively searching within general ‘ecommerce’ for high-calibre talent. It is only with the top jobs where it seems lip-service is paid to ‘industry novice’ executives.
But when it comes to hiring chief executives or managing directors in the gaming/betting sector, industry knowledge remains the priority, and boards are reluctant to look further afield than their management team or the sector’s ‘who’s who’. This strategy leads to a very finite pool of talent from which to search, which in turn, reduces options. But this merry-go-round cannot continue forever – as the sector matures, more external appointments to the top jobs are surely around the corner.
Now it’s been announced that Dominic Harrison will leave Gala in October as the company ‘needs fresh blood’, it will be interesting to see what the board’s replacement strategy will be as well as their interpretation of ‘new blood’.