McIlraith to go as Lads completes restructuring

Ladbrokes online head Gary McIlraith is to depart after less than a year in the job as CEO Richard Glynn completes his restructuring of the group away from having separate business divisions for retail, online and telephone betting.

A Ladbrokes spokesman told eGaming Review: “We are moving away from being run as separate business divisions for digital, telephone betting and retail to a structure that will allow us to put the customer at the heart of what Ladbrokes offers.”

This would involve reorganising the group around three new areas of product, channels and customers, confirmed the spokesman. eGR understands that current MD of UK and Ireland Retail, Richard Ames, will oversee product, retail MD Nick Rust will bear responsibility for channels, while current director of customer experience Stephen Vowles will take charge of the customer brief.

McIlraith joined the bookmaker as director of digital channels, international and strategy from Alix Partners, the firm of consultants that came in to advise on CEO Richard Glynn’s Project Galvanise operational review launched in August last year, three months after Glynn joined from Sporting Index.

Previous MD of remote gaming and betting and Ladbrokes veteran of 18 years John O’Reilly became the first casualty in August last year of Glynn’s overhaul of the business, followed in November by MD of egaming Ed Andrewes and most recently head of international and mobile Alex Kovach, who departed in March this year for a board position with UK lottery operator Camelot.

The spokesman added that Ladbrokes hoped to make a formal announcement on the senior management changes and business reorganisation next week.