With comings and goings commonplace across the industry, the UK Gambling Commission, Mohegan and Bluberi are among those to have seen changes to their teams recently.
UK Gambling Commission
The UK Gambling Commission announced the newly appointed members of the Industry Forum, which is made up of members from Britain’s gambling industry.
Providing the UKGC with further insight into the views of operators, the commission confirmed in November last year that Nick Rust (OBE), former Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority, would be the first chair of the Industry Forum.
Other members include:
- Tony Boulton – Director of Public Affairs at MERKUR UK
- Kirsty Caldwell – Founder of BetSmart Consultancy
- Charles Cohen – CEO and Founder of DoTrust Compliance
- Ashley Padgett – Director of Compliance at Flutter UK and Ireland
- Mark Pearson – Media Director at Betfred
- Nigel Roddis – Managing Director at Britbet
- Leo Walker – Customer Operations Director at Entain
- Helen Walton – Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of G.Games
- David Williams – Director of Public Affairs at Rank Group
The forum’s first meeting will take place on March 21.
Rust commented: “We had more than 40 applications from across the gambling industry from people wanting to take an active role in the inaugural Industry Forum.
“It was difficult to leave quite a few of those people out, but I’m delighted with the quality and experience of the appointees, and hope as a group we can offer perspectives from across all parts of the industry which the commission can draw upon to help evolve and improve its performance as the regulator.”
Mohegan
Mohegan has hired Ari Glazer as Chief Financial Officer, effective from May 1, 2024.
Reporting to President and CEO Ray Pineault, Glazer brings to the gaming operator over 20 years of investment banking experience advising global gaming and hospitality companies, as well as a wealth of financial acumen and industry knowledge.
With a track record of leadership and strategic achievements, he will be responsible for Mohegan’s financial activities, including financial planning and analysis, capital markets, accounting, tax, treasury, procurement and cash management.
Pineault commented: “Ari embodies the visionary leadership and deep financial insight that Mohegan is looking for at this stage of our growth. His skills will be key to our strategy of diversifying Mohegan’s portfolio and strengthening our fiscal foundation.”
Glazer will be replacing Carol Anderson at Mohegan, who is departing the company on March 31, 2024. In the interim, Pineault will report financial functions.
Before joining Mohegan, Glazer spent 20 years at Citigroup, most recently serving as Managing Director and Global Head of Gaming and Hospitality client coverage. He brings both US and international financial market experience to the operator.
“I am honoured to join Mohegan and to contribute to the company’s dynamic and innovative trajectory,” added Glazer.
“I look forward to leveraging my experience to enhance our financial performance, optimise our capital structure and support Mohegan’s ambitious vision as its new Chief Financial Officer.”
Checkd Group
Checkd Group has launched a new digital PR team to improve its organic search performance across the UK and North America, appointing James Dixon as Head of Digital PR at Checkd Media.
Dixon will work on boosting the visibility of the technology-led sports betting specialist’s proprietary brands in the UK, US, Canada and South America, in addition to providing digital PR services to partners through the creation of a performance marketing service offering.
Alex Beecham, Managing Director at Checkd Media, said: “The establishment of our new digital PR team serves as a watershed moment, as we bid to enhance the visibility of our leading brands and content.
“The new personalities and expertise we have brought on board will help us to reach new audiences all over the world. It’s a really exciting time for us and represents real progress for our team.”
With 10 years of igaming experience, Dixon joins from online casino affiliate BonusFinder. He will be supported by George Rogan and Liam Conroy, who have joined Checkd Media as Digital PR Managers, as well as Charlie Giblin who has been appointed Digital PR Executive.
Dixon added: “This is a key moment for the trajectory of the organic team, bringing together an industry-leading passionate and experienced team that will accelerate the growth of Checkd Group’s brands going forward.
“The benefits of having a team in-house have already been visible with huge improvements in our keyword rankings resulting in record monthly traffic and conversions, with the teams’ improved efficiency meaning we can react quickly to leverage key opportunities to improve the authority and expertise of the brands.
“The team are going to be living and breathing the brands and we’ve made sure to bring in a lot of very experienced people who understand the kind of ideas and approaches that work as we establish a forward-thinking team to tackle our brands’ strategies.”
Bluberi
Bluberi has promoted Steve Kohon to the position of Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Kohon will be responsible for driving the product and technology company’s internal operations, leading production, field services, and information technology departments.
In addition, he will also be in charge of managing and executing internal corporate goals, aligning with CEO Andrew Burke and the executive management team.
Kohon noted: “The opportunity to move into the role of COO is a testament to our unique Bluberi culture. Bringing the perspective and experience of casino operators deeper into the organisation will allow us to continue to differentiate Bluberi in our pursuit of being the easiest company to do business with.
“Operations, field services, and IT play an important role in accomplishing our company goals and I am excited to lead this organisation into the next phase of our growth.”
Kohon brings experience in product management and sales to the COO position, having previously worked as Bluberi’s Executive Vice President of Operations and Service and as Vice President of Sales, West Region. He has also worked in sales positions for Konami Gaming.
Burke added: “Over the past three years, Steve has worked tirelessly inside and outside of the organisation to build trust and goodwill. I’m confident that in his new role as our COO, he will bring the voice of our customers into our internal operations.
“I’m looking forward to working more closely with him and watching him develop further. His ceiling is extremely high, and I can’t wait to see what he does in 2024 and beyond.”
