People news 3 March 2016
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (26 February to 3 March 2016)
William Hill parts ways with Jamie Hart
Hills stalwart and former sportsbook director Hart departs as James Curwen turns down Gamesys move to stay at firm
William Hill director of customer experience and insight Jamie Hart (pictured) has left the firm, with the recently-departed James Curwen performing a U-turn to re-join as online gaming director.
Hart’s departure, which took place last month, brings to an end his second long stint at the operator, having been part of the team which formed William Hill’s online division back in 1998.
Gibraltar-based Hart, who re-joined Hills in 2008 following a five-year spell as trading director at Gala Coral, is believed to be in favour a move back to the UK.
Hart previously had long spells as ops director and sportsbook director, and was credited for much of the William Hill’s early success in the online space under former chief exec Ralph Topping.
Sporting Index CEO Murphy resigns
Sporting Index Group chief executive Warren Murphy has resigned from his post and will leave the firm in the coming months.
Murphy, who recently led Sporting Index through a sale process and handover to new owner Magnus Hedman, tendered his resignation last month after more than 12 years at the group, which included seven as chief executive.
When contacted by EGR, Murphy confirmed he would be leaving the London-headquartered firm, reasoning it was the “logical time” to move on following the change in ownership.
Seven days in people news:
888 names Itai Frieberger as CEO
888 has named Itai Frieberger as its new CEO in a long-awaited shake-up which sees former boss Brian Mattingley move into a non-exec chairman role.
Frieberger became COO in 2011 and has been effectively in charge of the day-to-day running of the business since former Mattingley stepped down in May last year.
Mattingley said Frieberger had played a “vital part” in 888’s success to date and has a “unique market insight” and the experience to lead the firm into its next chapter.
BoyleSports CMO Garfield departs
BoyleSports chief marketing officer Neill Garfield has left the firm after just one year at the Irish bookmaker.
Garfield, who joined BoyleSports in January 2014, was brought in to succeed James Arnold and played a leading role in establishing the operator’s nascent Gibraltar-based operation.
However, the marketing specialist left BoyleSports just a few weeks ago to become a consultant across a number of different industries, including online gambling.
Former bwin bosses seek to dismiss bribery charges
Former bwin bosses Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger have said charges of bribery and alleged breach of trust brought against them by an Austrian court are “completely unfounded” and have moved to appeal the accusations.
The charges relate to bwin’s 2007 application for a sports betting licence in Turkey, with the court alleging the Austrian operator effectively paid a ?2.25m bribe to the Turkish government.
But bwin, which later merged with Party Gaming to form bwin.party in March 2011, said it had been the victim of a “highly connected and international criminal network”.
Intralot names new financial chief
Intralot has announced the appointment of Georgios Koliastasis as the company’s new chief financial officer (CFO).
Koliastasis joined the firm on 1 March, according to Reuters, as a replacement for former CFO Diomidis Vasileiou.
“I am happy to welcome George Koliastasis in our team and look forward to working with him in pursuing Intralot’s strategic plans as a business leader around the globe,” Antonios Kerastaris, Intralot group chief executive, said.