People news 10 September 2015
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (4 September to 10 September 2015)
Sky Betting and Gaming axes social gaming division
Head of social games Bruce Bale leaves the operator following decision to close the division last week
Sky Betting and Gaming has closed its social games division after only two years in operation following a strategic business review of its performance.
The Leeds-based operator axed its social arm late last week with its head of social games Bruce Bale leaving the firm as a result of the closure.
“Following a recent review of our business operations we have taken the decision to close down our social games business with immediate effect as it did not form part of our core business,” a spokesperson for Sky Betting and Gaming told eGR.
Bale originally joined Sky Betting and Gaming in October 2013 from Facebook where he worked for two years as Europe, Middle East and Africa manager for social gaming.
Ladbrokes Belgium digital director departs
Ladbrokes is looking for a new digital director for its Belgian operations following the departure of Gildas Tanguy.
Tanguy, who previously held roles with Unibet France, PokerStars and Betclic, was named as the operator’s first permanent boss of its Belgium-facing site just six months ago.
However a recent review of his role led to Tanguy exiting the business and his responsibilities will be picked up by international digital director Ian Catchick while the firm recruits for his replacement.
Seven days in people news:
Colossus Bets brings tech in-house for website overhaul
Colossus Bets has ended its partnership with platform provider i-Neda after developing its first in-house built website, as the pools betting operator also prepares to launch a new free-to-play product.
The London-based firm overhauled its desktop and mobile website to coincide with the start of the new football season and features a complete redesign and the integration of more technically complex but player-friendly consolation prizes, adding to its partial cash-out feature.
Approximately 10 new members of staff were hired to help build the website after Colossus Bets decided a propriety product would be more economically efficient than a third-party and speed-up future product developments.
Bulgaria-based supplier EGT Interactive has announced the appointment of Gregg Rathbone as the company’s new head of sportsbook.
Rathbone has previously held roles at BetVictor, VivaroBet and Favbet, and will be responsible with driving the company’s expansion into sportsbook solutions.
“Gregg brings over 20 years of experience in sports betting and he will be an important addition for implementing and developing what is a new venture for us,” EGT head of online, Todor Zahariev, said.
Social sports betting operator Favourit has named former Sportingbet IT director Gary Harris as its new chief executive officer.
Harris, who joined the Australian firm last month, also previously worked at Paddy Power and in his new role replaces co-founder Toby Simmons as Favourit CEO.
“I am delighted to join the Favourit team at this stage of its development as it proves up its highly differentiated social user experience,” said Harris.
“Toby and his brother as co-founders have built a global and scalable platform that in my view shows tremendous promise as one of the few really differentiated platforms in the market today,” he added.