People news 8 September 2016
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (2 September to 8 September 2016)
Revealed: Ladbrokes Coral senior management team
EGR learns of combined firm’s 20 senior appointments with former Betfair man Ian Chuter handed digital COO role
The soon-to-be merged Ladbrokes Coral has made a raft of senior appointments as its chief executive Jim Mullen begins to form his new-look management team.
In an email circulated to staff this week, seen by EGR, Mullen revealed 20 new appointments â 17 selected from current Ladbrokes and Coral staff and three external hires.
Among the external appointments is former William Hill and Betfair director, and current Playtech non-executive director, Ian Chuter, who will become the enlarged firm’s digital chief operating officer.
Other appointments include Ladbrokes chief marketing officer Kristof Fahy, who will take on the new role of chief customer officer, while Ladbrokes group communications director Donal McCabe will become director of corporate affairs for the combined entity.
PokerStars senior VP Dominic Mansour resigns
PokerStars senior vice-president for Southern Europe, Dominic Mansour, has resigned and left the company, eGaming Review has learned.
Mansour, who was previously MD of Full Tilt Poker, was appointed to the SVP role when Full Tilt was migrated onto the PokerStars platform back in May.
However, Mansour left the firm last month and is currently serving out a period of gardening leave, although he is understood to be exploring new opportunities within the online gaming sector.
Seven days in people news:
Rank freshens-up top team as Pugh takes Grosvenor post
Rank Group has appointed two new managing directors with Mecca MD Martin Pugh moving across to oversee the Grosvenor Casinos business and former Spirit Pub Company COO Alan Morgan hired to take on the Mecca role.
In a note to staff, seen by EGR, Rank chief executive Henry Birch said Pugh, who assumes the role vacated by Mark Jones in May, had been tasked to improve Grosvenor’s retail performance while simultaneously building upon its recent digital growth.
“Following the successful turnaround of the Mecca retail business Martin will now spearhead a drive within Grosvenor to grow the retail performance and to continue the exceptional growth in the digital channel,” Birch said.
Intertain to rebrand as Jackpotjoy
Intertain will be renamed as Jackpotjoy Inc following its planned relocation to London, the bingo operator has announced.
The firm also announced the conclusion of its CFO search, saying that Keith Laslop will continue as CFO of Intertain and will become Jackpotjoy’s CFO despite his recent appointment as president of Intertain Bahamas.
“The Board feels Keith is undoubtedly the person for the job,” Goulden said.
“In the short period I have worked with him, I have come to appreciate his deep understanding of our business and industry, his skills and his unwavering commitment to the success of our business.
Former Gamesys managing director Noel Hayden will also step down from the board and instead act as a special advisor to Jackpotjoy.
Paysafe bolsters portfolio with Income Access acquisition
Payment solutions provider Paysafe has expanded its product portfolio with the acquisition of egaming affiliate marketing firm Income Access for CA$40m (£23m), it was announced last week.
The deal will see Paysafe acquire Income Access from EcomAccess, IA Digital Marketing and their shareholders for $28m (£16.2m) in cash, as well as a deferred consideration balance of $12m (£7m) payable over an 18-month period.
“Our technology and global affiliate network, combined with Paysafe’s comprehensive payments offering, creates a winning combination for the benefit of our existing and new partners,” Income Access founder and CEO, Nicky Senyard, said.
Senyard will also remain with the business as managing director following the deal.