OPAP starts strategic overhaul with former Ladbrokes duo
CEO Damian Cope hires former colleagues Ian Catchick and Michele Fusella after negative H1
OPAP chief executive Damian Cope has appointed two former Ladbrokes colleagues to his senior management team as he aims to overhaul the Greek monopoly operator’s product and digital capabilities.
Cope, who himself was appointed back in May, this week announced that Ian Catchick has joined the company as chief product officer and Michele Fusella as chief technology officer.
Both Catchick and Fusella have worked with Cope in the past during his spells at Ladbrokes, as well as Gala Coral and Sportium. All three were members of the Ladbrokes International team, which was axed in June last year.
Catchick most recently worked at Ladbrokes for four years, including the past 15 months as the international digital director. Before that he spent three years at Gala Coral and seven years at Camelot.
His primary task on joining will be to conduct a full review of the entire product portfolio.
Fusella joins from Sportium, where he spent three years as IT director, preceded by a year as head of international IT at Ladbrokes.
He will be tasked with driving “an improved digital experience with mobile-centric approach for all services”.
The hires were announced as part of a strategic review of the OPAP business by Cope on Wednesday.
The chief exec outlined eight long term priorities for the business after it posted a 2.6% drop in H1 revenues to 678.8m and a 13.4% drop in EBITDA to 161.5m.
Cope’s priorities included strengthening and modernising its product portfolio, particularly the digital platforms, and reinforcing a focus on the customer.
The former Ladbrokes man said the strategic overhaul was needed to combat a challenging economic and tax environment which was “likely to persist and even intensify going forward”.
He added: “However, by continuously enriching OPAP’s core games, decisively improving customer focus and strengthening our relationship with our network, we plan to maintain our strong cashflows and the generation of attractive returns for all of our stakeholders.”