People news 19 February 2015
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (13 February to 19 February 2015)
Mr Green names Per Norman as CEO
Norman to take the reins from Mikael Pawlo in April having advised the group since 2012
Mr Green has appointed Per Norman to succeed Mikael Pawlo as its chief executive when the latter formally stands down from the position in April.
Norman will assume the role at Mr Green’s annual general meeting on 23 April having advised the firm since 2012, including on its listing on Sweden’s AktieTorget exchange in June 2013.
Current chief executive and co-founder Pawlo announced his departure in December but is to stay on at the firm and will be proposed as a new board member at the AGM.
Norman takes the role having previously served as chief executive at Swedish subscription television service Boxer for two-and-a-half years and also spent just under three years at telecommunications firm SES SIRIUS.
BoyleSports shuts London office
BoyleSports has decided to close its London office little more than a year-and-a-half after first opening the marketing-focused operation with head of trading Jonathan Wright to leave the firm.
The closure of the Bayswater base, which will take place over the next few months, comes after eGaming Review in November reported the Irish firm had placed the office under review having previously announced plans to open an operational hub in Gibraltar.
“After considerable deliberation BoyleSports has decided to close its London office,” the firm said in a statement. “The move follows a lengthy review and comes at a time when the company is establishing a UK base in Gibraltar,” it added.
Seven days in people news:
GTECH mobile director Shaz Mirza joins PokerStars
GTECH director of mobile Shaz Mirza has left the supplier after almost three years in order to head-up to PokerStars’ mobile development team.
Mirza has assumed the newly created role of director of mobile services and will be based out of the operator’s London offices, where he will be leading the teams working on PokerStars’ mobile products.
“He brings more than a decade of experience working on mobile gaming products as we look to improve our customer experience,” a spokesperson for PokerStars told eGaming Review.
Bede Gaming plots Rank-fuelled expansion
Bede Gaming has revealed it plans to increase its headcount by almost two-thirds after recently securing a major platform supply deal with Rank Group.
The deal, which was announced last month, is expected to double the number of daily transactions Bede handles from three million to six million within 18 months while turnover is also projected to increase from £3.5m in 2014 to £8m this year.
Due to this extra demand, the Newcastle-based supplier is looking to add to its current 120-strong team with the hire of 75 new staff and will relocate from its current headquarters in Gosforth to a larger premises at Great Park.
GTECH has appointed former SciGames executive Michael Chambrello as the CEO of its North America Lottery business, the firm announced this week.
Chambrello will take up the role on 23 March, and will be responsible for overseeing the development of all lottery technology solutions globally, as well as the strategy and management of its lotto business in the US and Canada.
He will also be responsible for GTECH’s global instant ticket printing business.