Ladbrokes cuts trading roles in automation move
Long-serving head of greyhound racing Richard Harkness among a small number of traders to have taken voluntary redundancy
Ladbrokes has completed a redundancy round which has resulted in a small number of departures from the firm’s London base, eGaming Review has learned.
The redundancies, which Ladbrokes said were all voluntary, are understood to have affected a single-digit number of traders at the firm’s Rayners Lane headquarters, including long-serving head of greyhound racing Richard Harkness, who joined the bookmaker in 1991.
According to the firm, the redundancy packages were offered as part of “ongoing IT and infrastructure improvements” within its trading division.
The departures have been staggered over the course of the past few weeks.
The news comes after Ladbrokes in June called time on its international team, a move which saw its managing director Damian Cope depart and nine other roles placed at risk of redundancy.
And earlier this month eGR revealed Ladbrokes’ prospective merger partner Gala Coral had also made changes to its trading unit – restructuring its Coral trading division in order to better align its retail and online divisions.
The change saw head of sports Sam Foulkes relocate from Coral’s Stratford base to its Gibraltar office in order to take on the new role of head of trading for Coral Interactive.
While terms of the Ladbrokes Gala Coral merger have been agreed, the operators must wait for regulatory approval from by the UK Competition and Markets Authority following a process which is expected to be completed no later than June.