People news 27 February 2014
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (21 February to 27 February 2014)
Hills appoints new operations director
Director of mobile Juergen Reutter promoted to director of online operations after mobile division is merged with desktop
William Hill has promoted its director of mobile Juergen Reutter to the newly created role of operations director for William Hill Online, eGaming Review has learned.
The move comes after the UK operator took the decision to integrate its mobile division into its existing operations team and combine them with desktop.
Reutter will continue to oversee the mobile business, but he will also be responsible for all areas of desktop operations including sportsbook, gaming and international.
Reutter joined William Hill Online as director of mobile in August 2012 having worked as a managing director for mobile app and service developer Buongiorno for four years.
Speculation over Glynn grows
Ladbrokes’ chief executive Richard Glynn has been given until the summer to save his job with his bonuses linked to the operator’s problem gambling initiatives, according to a number of press reports.
Speculation surrounding Glynn’s position as chief exec resurfaced as The Times reported that the former Sporting Index CEO will “live to fight another day” despite a poor set of financial results.
However, The Telegraph said Glynn was drinking in the last chance saloon with his future dependent on how the digital arm of the company emerges from this summer’s football World Cup.
Seven days in people news:
Ladbrokes poaches Hill’s head of bingo
Ladbrokes has bolstered its Israel-based digital team after securing the services of William Hill’s head of bingo Barry Sage.
Sage will take on the role of Ladbrokes’ head of ecommerce, a division formed following the last year’s partnership with software supplier Playtech.
eGR understands Sage has already left William Hill ahead of his planned April start date at his new employers.
Sage joined William Hill in August 2012 and previously held roles at bet365 and BetVictor before spending four-and-a-half years as head of gambling and gaming at News International.
Health Lottery CEO leaves by “mutual consent”
Health Lottery chief executive Dominic Mansour has left the company by “mutual consent”, eGaming Review can reveal
Mansour, who joined the Health Lottery from GTECH in January 2013, left his role earlier this month and is expected to remain within the industry once his period of gardening leave expires.
During his 13 months in charge, Mansour oversaw a period of growth for the company in which it launched an online bingo product as well as a fixed-odds lottery variant through bookie Coral.
New ARJEL president aims to improve conditions for operators
Charles Coppolani has been appointed as the new president of French gambling regulator l’Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL), replacing the outgoing Jean-François Vilotte, with a remit to create “optimal economic conditions” for operators.
His appointment was announced by the regulator earlier this week, by decree of French President François Hollande, after being one of two frontrunners to take up the role following the earlier resignation of Vilotte.
Coppolani joins the ARJEL after working as head of economic and financial control at the Ministry of Finance since 2006, in addition to being president of the Observatory of Games for the last three years.
William Hill appoints former Centrica CEO to board
Former chief executive of UK energy supplier Centrica Sir Roy Gardner is to join the board of William Hill next month as a non-executive director.
Gardner will take up the position on 3 March and will replace the outgoing David Edmonds when he retires at the bookmaker’s Annual General Meeting on 8 May.
Gardner will serve as a member of the audit and risk, remuneration, nomination and corporate responsibility committees.
Gardner served as CEO of Centrica from 1997 to 2006 and was also a senior non-executive director and then chairman of Manchester United from 2000 to 2005.