People news 9 January 2014
The latest people moves from the egaming industry in the last seven days (2 January to 9 January 2014)
Ladbrokes reshuffles European management team
Ian Catchick takes on digital director role for Belgium left by Alexis Murphy, with Anders Kjong set to replace him as Sportium digital director
Ladbrokes has reshuffled its European online management team following Alan Smith’s departure as director of the operator’s Belgian business.
eGaming Review previously revealed that Smith, who oversaw the operator’s Belgian retail arm for more than 30 years, was being replaced by Alexis Murphy as of 1 January 2014. Murphy’s previous role as digital director for Belgium is now being assumed by Ian Catchick.
Catchick has been appointed territory launch director and interim digital director for Ladbrokes Belgium, reporting into Murphy, having spent eight months as the digital director of the operator’s Spanish-facing business Sportium arm.
He will be responsible for establishing the operator’s launches into new international territories, paying particular attention to its online offering in Belgium which has been slated to launch later this year.
William Hill’s head of poker Shaham departs
William Hill Online’s head of poker Roy Shaham has left the UK operator as part of a number of changes at the Israel-based division of the firm, eGaming Review can reveal.
The departure of Shaham comes as William Hill’s head of casino Alon Arad has also changed positions within the company to, according to the company, focus on a new role encompassing special projects.
Both Shaham and Arad have been replaced by head of business planning and mobile group Meir Deutsche who has took up the role of head of casino and poker on an interim basis in December.
Seven days in people news:
Paddy Power departures continue as Fell leaves
Paddy Power’s live casino operations manager Robert Fell has left the company to join the Irish bookie’s former head of bingo Oonagh Flanagan at rival operator Gala Coral.
He joins Gala Coral as its new product and operations manager and will report to Kasper Trier-Poulsen, Gala Coral’s director of casino and games.
Fell left his position after more than two years at Paddy Power having joined the operator in July 2011 where he worked on its bingo products and most recently on its live casino offering.
Unibet creates head of innovation role
Swedish-listed operator Unibet has appointed Jo Noirit to the newly created role of head of innovation research and delivery, eGaming Review has learned.
Noirit takes up the new role at the end of January and joins the firm from corporate growth consultants Inzenka where she worked as a senior project lead assisting clients including Unilever and Royal Mail on innovation projects.
In her new role Noirit will work closely with the strategy office teams to build on existing innovation projects, as well as leading the innovation team to develop new innovation for Unibet’s B2C brands.
Gamesys appoints global director of brands
Gamesys has appointed former O2 Telefonica and Moneysupermarket director Paul Troy as its global director of brands, as it looks to develop an international marketing strategy for its broad gaming portfolio.
Troy will oversee Gamesys’ entire range of brands, including Jackpotjoy, Heart Bingo, CaesarsCasino.com and Virgin Games.
He joins the London-based operator after a year at telecoms firm O2 where he was responsible for leading marketing and consumer strategy teams across brand and commercial, which included the recent ‘Be More’ campaign.
BetVictor marketing director Riley departs
BetVictor director of marketing Karl Riley has left the Gibraltar-licensed operator.
Riley, who played an integral role in the bookmaker’s rebrand from previous guise Victor Chandler to BetVictor in late 2011, worked his final day on 19 December after spending three years with the firm.
He also masterminded the current BetVictor ‘Maurice and Victor’ television advertisements starring comedian and actor Paul Kaye and the operator’s chairman Victor Chandler.