People news 29 August 2013
The latest people moves from the egaming industry in the last seven days (23 August to 29 August 2013)
London Capital Group names new CEO
Kevin Ashby, replaces Mark Slade at UK online trading operator and cites need for further investment to drive longer-term growth
London Capital Group has named Kevin Ashby as its new CEO, replacing Mark Slade who resigned in July owing to personal reasons.
Ashby joins the company as it returned to profit in the six months ended 30 June, following the “challenging conditions” cited for its poor performance in the second half of last year.
Ashby said the firm needed further investment in marketing, sales and product development in order to drive longer-term growth after a reduction in marketing spend during H1 saw a 22% year-on-year drop in new client acquisition.
“This fall demonstrates the need to reinvest in a more focussed and efficient approach to our private client marketing and sales activity, which is already underway, and I expect to see an improvement in the fourth quarter,” Ashby said.
Ashby said he will also address problems originating from LCG’s upgrade to its trading platform, which he believes have resulted in an “insufficient focus on enhancing our clients’ trading experience”.
Seven days in people news:
GeoComply hires North America general manager
Geolocation provider GeoComply has appointed Valli Ardalan as general manager for its US online gambling division.
Ardalan’s most recent role was as head of poker operations for bwin.party and has previously served as Ladbrokes’ head of poker management and development for two years.
He will divide his time between the UK and the US as he takes on responsibility for GeoComply’s customers in Nevada, New Jersey and Canada as well as the European platforms and development teams supporting them.
GeoComply was awarded a Nevada licence in June and has applied to be a licensed supplier in New Jersey.
London Capital Group has announced that group finance director Siobhan Moynihan has decided to leave the firm by the end of the year having been at the company since 2010. Commenting on her departure chairman Giles Vardey said: “I would like to thank [Siobhan] for her dedication and hard work over the past few years and we will appoint her successor in due course.”
Betfair has appointed Jonathan Chapman-Pemberton as senior marketing manager, affiliates and partnerships for sports acquisitions. Chapman-Pemberton joins the sportsbook operator from Ladbrokes where he held the role of sportsbook affiliate manager.