Mecca's digital chief Claire Osborne departs

Mecca Bingo’s digital operations director Claire Osborne has left after more than 11 years at The Rank Group following a restructuring of the bingo brand’s online team, eGaming Review can reveal.

Osborne officially vacated her role on 19 August, according to a company email sent to staff on Friday, and EGR understands her responsibilities have been distributed among other staffers as part of an ongoing reorganisation.

During her 11-year tenure at Rank, Osborne led Mecca Bingo’s digital arm for approximately four years after she originally joined the business as a product manager in 2005.

In 2010 she was named head of bingo and games and later promoted to head up Mecca’s digital operations, during which time she helped found the firm’s Gibraltar-based team.

“We can confirm that Claire Osborne recently left the business,” Martin Pugh, managing director of Mecca Bingo, told EGR.

“We would like to thank Claire for her crucial role in establishing our Gibraltar operations and the development of our digital business, and for her important contribution as a member of the Mecca management team. We wish her all the very best for the future.”

News of Osborne’s departure follows a major revamp of Rank’s digital operations, including the migration of Mecca and Grosvenor to the Bede Gaming platform earlier this year.

However, in Rank’s latest financial results, the operator described Mecca’s recent digital performance as “disappointing”, which it largely attributed to stability issues from the new Bede Gaming platform.

Revenues for Mecca Bingo’s online arm reported a small increase from £65.2m to £66.2m in 2015-16 but operating profit slumped from £14.1m to £8.6m.