People news 8 May 2014
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (2 May to 8 May 2014)
William Hill Australia CEO Sullivan departs
Hills’ group director of operations James Henderson takes temporary charge as former Sportingbet Australia boss departs
William Hill is on the hunt for a new Australia CEO after its current boss Michael Sullivan agreed to leave the firm.
Speculation regarding the former Sportingbet Australia CEO’s departure circulated last week when the operator confirmed talks over the “future leadership” of its operations in the country were taking place.
Reports also suggested Australia COO Anthony Waller could be also be on his way out of the business, however Hills has not confirmed the move.
The operator’s group director of operations James Henderson has taken temporary charge while it recruits for a new Australia CEO.
Betfair hands McDermott product director role
Betfair has promoted its head of mobile Sylvie McDermott to the newly created role of product management director.
McDermott, who joined the operator earlier this year from Paddy Power, will now assume responsibility for product development across all of its divisions, including its desktop business.
She will report directly to Betfair’s new chief operating officer Mark Brooker, who took on the COO role in April having previously served as the operator’s sportsbook managing director and corporate development director.
Seven days in people news:
Jens Bader leaves Paysafecard for Secure Trading
Paysafecard’s former chief commercial officer Jens Bader has left the firm to join rival payments supplier Secure Trading.
A payments industry veteran, Bader joined Paysafecard in October 2010 and was responsible for the commercial strategy of the group for almost four years until his departure.
He joins Secure Trading in a similar role as the company plots significant expansion across Europe and the US, including the recruitment of dozens of new staff.
Ladbrokes general counsel Adelman stands down
Ladbrokes general counsel and company secretary Jonathan Adelman has stood down from his roles after five years at the firm.
Adelman joined Ladbrokes in August 2008 having previously served as group legal counsel and senior counsel at hospitality giant Hilton Worldwide. Adelman left the firm last week and is not expected to take on a new role until after this summer.
He led an overhaul of Ladbrokes’ external legal counsels in January last year, cutting the number of firms on the operator’s legal panel from 50 to 22 and appointed several gaming specialists such as Harris Hagan and DLA Piper.
Fortuna reports online growth as chairman stands down
Czech betting firm Fortuna Entertainment posted 19% growth in online gross win for the first three months of the year after revealing chairman Wilf Walsh is to stand down early next month.
Industry veteran Walsh first joined Fortuna in April 2009 and has served as the firm’s chairman since then, combining the role with his duties as an operating partner at leisure consultancy firm Global Leisure Partners.
Walsh spent more than seven years at Gala Coral as managing director, and still stands on the group’s board as a non-executive director.