by Ryan D. Jaeger
The month of November has seen several executives at some of the UK's top
gaming groups leave their posts for other opportunities in the business world.
The first to quit was William Hill's group finance director, Simon Lane, less
than three weeks after he oversaw the group's GBP 300 million bond issue.
William Hill announced that Lane would be replaced by Neil Cooper who
currently serves in the same position at Bovis Homes.
A week later, Gala Coral announced that its Bingo and Casino Manager, Simon
Longbottom would be quitting the business as well.
Longbottom is returning to the pub sector and will be replaced by the current
commercial director of Gala Coral's gaming division, Mark Sergeant on an interim
basis.
On Friday it was learned that Ladbrokes' Sports and Football director,
Patrick Jay will leave the company at the end of 2009 to take up a position as
head of trading operations for the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
As part of his new role with the HKJC, Jay will oversee trading operations
and expand the club's traded sports product portfolio.
Patrick Jay has spent over five years at Ladbrokes, one of the UK's
leading gaming groups.
He served as General Manager for the group before becoming the Sports and
Football Director for Ladbrokes around three years ago.
Jay first entered the gaming world with IG Index financial and sports
spreadbetting operator, where he served for 9 years before joining Ladbrokes.
The move from Ladbrokes to the Hong Kong Jockey Club should be an exciting
one for Jay.
The HKJC is considered one of the five top betting organizations in the world
and is the single biggest payer of taxes to the Hong Kong government.
