People news 16 February 2017
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (10 February to 16 February 2017)
Jamie Hart quits Tabcorp to join ambitious Romanian operator
Superbet also hires former Hills man Peter Morgan along with senior bwin and bet365 staffers as part of major online push
Jamie Hart is leaving Tabcorp to join Romanian operator Superbet, with the ambitious firm also hiring staffers from bet365 and bwin as part of plans to make a major splash in the international online space, EGR Intel has learned.
The former William Hill director will join Superbet as director of ecommerce, where he will be reunited with former William Hill head of development Peter Morgan, who was appointed chief scientific officer earlier this month.
The firm in recent weeks has also hired former bwin director of sportsbook ops Jon Hewlett as director of trading, and bet365 senior sports and financial analyst Ben Gross to oversee its in-play and pre-game sports modelling.
Superbet is major high street player in Romania, with approximately 600 retail stores. The operator has also amassed a large chunk of the regulated online market since debuting its online product in February 2016, shortly after the Romanian market went live.
Kindred hires BetBright’s Blanco as head of casino
Kindred Group has appointed BetBright’s director of casino, Cristiano Blanco, as head of casino for the operator’s entire portfolio of B2C brands, EGR Intel has learned.
Blanco joined the Stockholm-listed operator last week and, reporting into head of gaming Fredrik Kjell, will head up the casino vertical for Unibet, Maria, Stan James, iGame and Bingo.com.
He replaces Kindred Group’s former head of casino, Adam Ruffett, who EGR Intel revealed last year had left the firm to lead Tabcorp’s UK-facing Sun Casino product.
Seven days in people news:
Sky Bet snaps up William Hill’s head of technology
William Hill’s head of technology David Andrade has left his position to take up a similar role at Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G), EGR Technology has learned.
Andrade, who joined Hills back in October 2015, started his new role as head of technology for the SB&G’s bet customer tribe on 6 February.
He will be based at the operator’s Leeds office and report into SB&G technology director Paul McCormick.
Peter Steiner promoted to chairman of Zeal
Zeal has appointed current board member Peter Steiner to be its new chairman, replacing Andreas de Maizière after six years at the helm.
As part of the transition, de Maizière has resigned from the board, with the handover taking effect at the conclusion of the online lottery operator’s AGM in June.
“After heading the supervisory board of Zeal for six years, I have decided to step down from my position,” de Maizière said.
Kindred Group to open a trio of new offices
Kindred Group is set to open three new offices in London, Gibraltar and Malta to aid the operator’s aggressive expansion plans, its CEO Henrik Tjärnström announced this week.
The Stockholm-listed operator will relocate staff from its three current hubs to new office buildings during 2017, with staffers in its Gibraltar base scheduled to be the first to make the move.
The relocation will see Kindred move from the company’s office in Marina Bay Square – which it took over after acquiring Stan James in October 2015 – next door into the new World Trade Center building.
Is Bowcock the last man standing in the William Hill CEO race?
After sacking CEO James Henderson in July, William Hill chairman Gareth Davis warned the search to find a successor could last a while, although few envisaged seven months on the firm would still be operating under an interim boss.
Upon elevating CFO Philip Bowcock into the interim chief exec position last summer, Davis fired the starting gun to find the man or woman who would be tasked with steering the William Hill ship into calmer waters.
Speaking to EGR Intel at the time, the chair said that while hiring someone with gaming experience wouldn’t be the “be all and end all”, a person with digital and international experience at a public company would be sought.