Michael Byrne leaves William Hill

William Hill’s head of mobile Michael Byrne has stepped down from his role after almost four years, eGaming Review has learned.

Byrne was instrumental in building mobile into a profitable channel for William Hill after joining in October 2008 from Zero36 Mobile Casino, looking after the Playtech-powered mobile offering. He then took charge of the mobile sportsbook offering and oversaw the expansion of the operator’s mobile team from one person to three development teams, launching successful products including the Racing Post and Shake-a-Bet apps.

Commenting on his departure, Byrne explained that he will work as a consultant until he finds the right role: “I am very proud of my time at Hills but I felt it was the right time to move on. I am open minded about the year to come and generally very excited by the prospects.”

The mobile sector still has massive potential for growth according to Byrne, as few operators have developed a strong mobile product:

“In terms of the existing operators there are a few standouts like Paddy Power, but many of the others are now starting to develop their offering. The mobile market be more competitive for sure. The traffic on the internet is shifting to mobile, and companies will try to move with that trend. Those that don’t will have to do some catching up or risk being marginalised.”

Byrne also believes that there is potential for new operators to move into the space and take a market-leading position, due to companies not putting enough focus on mobile development: “Mobile isn’t getting the same focus at many companies that online received to get them to where they are now. That will leave the door open to new dedicated companies to emerge, as it did for Bet365 when the high street bookies first entered the online space.”

William Hill, which launched its new Mobenga-powered mobile last July, is yet to announce Byrne’s replacement.