Sportingbet chief loses job as it slims London office
Sportingbet is making number of redundancies at its London headquarters after transferring operations to Guernsey and Dublin. The first casualty is chief operating officer, Dave Hobday.
The online betting operator says that after a period of “bedding in” at its new operational headquarters in Guernsey and Dublin, it has now entered a final phase of strategic downsizing, concentrated on its London office. It is understood a further twenty staff may be affected.
Hobday, an ex-Procter & Gamble marketer, joined the company over two years ago, prior to a US clampdown on internet gambling in November 2006. The ban forced a number of UK gaming companies to withdraw from the US and caused Sportingbet to lose 95% of its income virtually overnight. The EU has launched an investigation into the US ban after betting operators complained it infringed international trade rules (MW March 20).
Since the ban came into force, Hobday has led a company restructure developing a European-facing operation. In February, he appointed Orange marketer Ed Luck as European marketing director as the company sought to develop its mass-market proposition by segmenting its marketing approach (MW February 7).
Sportingbet says that now its new facilities in Guernsey and Dublin are operating successfully, it has decided there is “no longer a requirement” for a chief operating officer. Hobday has also resigned from the board of the company with immediate effect.
