Question & Answer: Ed Ware, chief executive, 32Red

EGR: What was the driving force behind setting up 32Red?

EW: The online casino market consisted of two types of operators when we started out: UK bookmakers using their casinos as a way of driving additional revenue from their online sports betting business; and US casinos with gimmicky themes, unable to offer the level of service and transparency that we do. There was a space for a serious, player-centric casino business aimed at the UK player. Our idea was to provide a connoisseur’s casino with excellent service with something distinctive and distinguished about it.

EGR: You’ve always been strong advocates of being open and transparent with players, is this because the industry has not been that good at it historically?

EW: Our competitors are improving their level of transparency, but still too many online gaming businesses have ownership, and management, shrouded in secrecy. Our philosophy has always been that as we need to gather a good deal of KYC about our players, isn’t it only right that the players should be able to undertake some research into who is involved in the company with whom they are about to share a lot of personal data? Many see trading on the internet as an excuse to stay in the shadows ““ we believe in the exact opposite; because we are in a remote business we need to overcompensate for this factor.

EGR: Much has also changed from 32Red’s perspective in the past three years and the acquisition of Betdirect. What did you learn from that experience?

EW: Lots of people say to me that most businesses in our position would not have survived the nightmare that was Betdirect. That’s really the only positive from the experience, other than should we be ever interested in buying a business again, we’d be even more cautious! It has been a long road to recovery from the financial losses we suffered and a salutary lesson for everyone.

EGR: You signed up to provide PayPal as a payment option recently, do you feel this is a reflection of the maturity and progress 32Red has made?

EW: We are delighted to be one of a select band of operators able to offer our players PayPal as a payment option. (Operations director) Pat Harrison is already on record as saying that the due diligence required of us was as stringent as any 32Red has been through. Our acceptance by PayPal further underlines our view that we have built a good business model that allows us to compete with much larger rivals.

EGR: What are your plans for the next year?

EW: We have a lot of work in progress on our various platforms and properties, both back office and player-facing. Some of this will come to fruition soon and we believe will greatly assist us in growing the business further. We intend to ensure our valuable and hard-earned intellectual property and reputation are protected and to continue to improve our profile in the UK, particularly with our television advertising campaigns. We have already taken steps to ensure that we are prepared to meet the challenges of the ongoing economic environment and we will continue to keep that factor in focus.

This Q&A first appeared in the August edition of eGaming Review.