Paddy Power’s new CEO Andy McCue is looking to put his stamp on the company via a spirited game of executive merry-go-round. McCue, who officially takes Paddy’s reins on Jan. 1, announced three senior management appointments on Tuesday, including a new online operations boss.
Paddy’s new online gambling overseer is Johnny Hartnett, a 15-year Paddy veteran who currently toils as Paddy’s director of operations and previously served as head of Paddy’s sports risk and trading and chief operating officer of Paddy’s Aussie operation Sportsbet. Hartnett’s new remit includes paddypower.com, Paddy’s Italian-facing site, the Dial-A-Bet phone wagering business and customer operations.
Paddy’s current online head Peter O’Donovan is shifting to a newly created role of chief product officer to handle global product innovation. O’Donovan will oversee the technology and product development teams at Paddy Power and the Cayetano games studio In Bulgaria. Sportsbet’s technology department will also have “a dotted reporting line” into O’Donovan.
Paddy’s current global marketing director Christian Woolfenden is assuming McCue’s old job as retail managing director for both UK and Ireland. Head of brand Paul Sweeney will temporarily fill Woolfenden’s old job until Paddy concludes its “full external” search for a new full-time marketing maven.
In other UK-listed executive news, Betfair’s chief financial officer Alexander Gersh has sold his entire holdings in the company. On Monday, Betfair announced that Gersh has sold 20k shares at £14.60, adding £292k to Gersh’s bank account. Gersh timed his sale well, as the company’s stock is trading near record highs, rising above its £13 IPO price in early November, a price it hadn’t reached since November 2010.
