Senior Holland Casino exec leaves as restructuring begins
Casino industry veteran Ron Goudsmit will leave Dutch operator as head office roles are cut from 300 to 200
Holland Casino has announced the departure of one of its longest-serving senior executives as part of a head office restructure.
Ron Goudsmit joined the operator back in 1976 as a dealer and moved up to the position of vice-president of international development, responsible for all international business of Holland Casino, setting up casino projects across Europe and in Canada.
He has also served as the chairman of the European Casino Association since 2006 and will continue in this position till the end of his term in January 2015.
A spokesperson for Holland Casino said his departure was part of a cost-cutting drive which will see head office jobs slashed from 300 to 200.
The operator was put under direct supervision of national banks in October amid mounting debts and falling revenues, and reportedly faces growing debts of more than 60m.
“Ron has always been a pioneer with Holland Casino and we thank him sincerely for all the good work he has done for our company and the international casino industry over the past 37 years,” Willem-Jan van den Dijssel, CEO of Holland Casino, said.
His departure comes less than a week after the operator announced it had selected Playtech as its online gaming supplier as part of plans to launch as soon as Dutch regulation permits.
Playtech will develop a platform for Holland Casino, which will include roulette, blackjack, slot machines, bingo and poker.
Regulation in the country is still to be confirmed, however the government has committed to discussing the finer details of the law in H1 2014 and claimed it remains on track for a 1 January 2015 market launch.