People news 30 July 2015
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (24 July to 30 July 2015)
BetBright names Noel Hayes as new sportsbook director
Hayes was previously commercial director at Tote Ireland and head of sportsbook at Boylesports
Irish operator BetBright has named Tote Ireland’s former commercial director Noel Hayes as its new director of sportsbook.
Hayes officially joined BetBright in May after more than two years’ leading the commercial team at Tote Ireland and has assumed overall responsibility for BetBright’s core online sportsbook product. He reports directly to CEO Marcus Brennan.
He landed the new role after BetBright’s Cristiano Blanco switched from head of gaming and sportsbook to director of casino and gaming the previous month.
Prior to his tenure at the Ireland Racing subsidiary, Hayes was head of sportsbook at Dublin-based bookmaker Boylesports for more than two years and previously held roles in Paddy Power’s poker team over a period of five years.
Paddy Power gets new head of Italy
Paddy Power has appointed a new country manager for its Italian business following the departure of managing director of Paddy Power Italia Giovanna D’Esposito.
Marcello Magaletti, previously head of business and customer strategy for the Italy-facing arm, was moved up into the top job last month.
He joined Paddy Power in September 2014, having worked at Goldman Sachs in London for five years in senior commodity investment roles.
Seven days in people news:
OpenBet names former Betway exec as new COO
OpenBet has boosted its senior management team with the appointment of former Betway chief technology officer (CTO) Tod Martin as its new chief operating officer and Nektan’s product director Dominic Le Garsmeur as casino vice president.
Martin joins the omni-channel supplier from Betway, where he worked as CTO for 18 months until April, and assumes the position previously vacated by OpenBet’s current CEO Jeremy Thompson-Hill.
Prior to working at Betway, Martin was CTO at PartyGaming for three years and later for bwin.party where he led the integration of bwin and PartyGaming products and technology teams across Europe and Asia following the merger in 2011.
Mullen to head-up merged Ladbrokes-Gala Coral
Ladbrokes chief executive Jim Mullen is to lead a merged Ladbrokes and Gala Coral entity once the proposed reverse takeover is complete
Former William Hill Online COO Mullen, who joined Ladbrokes in 2013 before replacing Richard Glynn as CEO in April, will assume the chief executive position.
Gala Coral Group chief executive Carl Leaver will be handed a prominent role in overseeing the integration process after which time he is expected to leave the firm.
Gamesys recruits head of business development from Amaya
Gamesys has appointed former Amaya Gaming executive Nick Wright to its senior management team as head of business development.
Wright will be tasked with overseeing Gamesys’ global corporate and business development initiatives, and joins from Amaya Gaming where he was director of sales, marketing and operations for its B2B arm.
Prior to his two years at Amaya, which recently divested its entire B2B business, Wright spent six years at Playtech as sales director.
Scientific Games’ general counsel Katie Lever departs
Scientific Games’ general counsel Katie Lever will leave the gaming giant at the end of next month to pursue other professional interests.
Lever will remain at Scientific Games until 31 August and will facilitate the handover of duties to David Smail, who joins from the Morgans Hotel Group where he served as legal counsel.
Isaacs said that Smail’s 20 years of experience in international business and the legal profession made him an “excellent addition” to Scientific Games and would further “strengthen and complement” its senior management team.
Betsson has appointed Tom Hutchinson as head of casino of its NordicBet brand following the promotion of Asko Heiskanen within the Group earlier this year.
Hutchinson was previously casino manager of NordicBet Casino and in his new role will report directly NordicBet’s managing director Ronni Hartvig.
Prior to joining Betsson in July 2014, Hutchinson worked at Betfred where he served as games & casino product administrator and later deputy games manager.