Neil Goulden

Term of office

Appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Chairman on 15 August 2016, and became Executive Chairman on 1 November 2017.

Skills and experience

Neil was Group Managing Director, CEO, Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Gala Coral Group from 2001–2014. He advised the Government on gambling matters as a member of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (2008–2011), as Chairman of the Responsible Gambling Trust (2011–2016) and as a member of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (2015–2017).

Neil graduated from the University of Southampton in 1975 with a BSc in Politics and Law.

He also served as a Director of The Intertain Group Limited, which became an indirect subsidiary of JPJ?Group plc on 25 January 2017.

Lee Fenton

Term of office

Appointed to the Board as Chief Executive Officer on 26 September 2019.

Skills and experience

Lee has been Chief Executive Officer of Gamesys Limited since July 2015.

He initially joined Gamesys Limited in November 2008 as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Gamesys he was Chief Operating Officer of the mobile division at 20th Century Fox and, before that, Global Director of Consumer Products & Content at Vodafone Group plc.

Lee brings deep experience of working with global brands and managing operations across multiple markets.

He graduated in 1992 with a BA (Hons) in Media & Cultural Studies from the University of the West of England.

Keith Laslop

Term of office

Appointed to the Board on 5 September 2016.

Skills and experience

Keith previously served as Principal of Newcourt Capital, a boutique private equity group. From 2004–2008, he served as CFO and then President of Prolexic Technologies Inc., the world’s largest distributed denial-of-service mitigation provider. From 2001–2004, he served as CFO and Business Development Director of Elixir, a London-based video gaming software developer.

Keith is a Chartered Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst accreditation.

He was also a Director of The Intertain Group Limited, which became an indirect subsidiary of JPJ?Group plc?on 25 January 2017.

Robeson Reeves

Term of office

Appointed to the Board as Chief Operating Officer on 26 September 2019.

Skills and experience

Robeson has been Chief Operating Officer of Gamesys Limited since July 2015.

Robeson originally joined Gamesys Limited in September 2005 and held a number of positions, most recently Director of Gaming Operations from May 2010 and as a Board member from August 2010. Since joining Gamesys Limited, he has built a strong record in cohesively connecting player and product experiences to marketing and business KPIs, ensuring sustainable growth.

Robeson graduated in 2005 with a BSc in Statistics, Operations, Research and Management Studies from University College, London.

Simon Wykes

Term of office

Appointed to the Board on 1 November 2017.

Skills and experience

Simon was Chief Executive Officer at Gala Leisure (2015–2016) and Managing Director at Gala Coral Group (2010–2015), where he oversaw the execution of a successful strategic turnaround plan of its Bingo division, culminating in a management buyout. He also served as Managing Director of Rank Group for four years (2005–2009).

Simon graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1994 with a BA in Business Studies.

Andria Vidler

Term of Office

Appointed to the Board on 7 May 2018.

Skills and experience

Andria has extensive public markets experience and?was most recently Chief Executive of Centaur Media PLC (CAU:LSE), the leading business information group. Appointed to this role in 2013, she has overseen its radical transformation from a publishing company to an insight-led business information group.

Previously, Andria was Chief Executive of EMI, UK and Ireland, from 2009–2013, where she grew market share significantly by driving consumer focus and digital innovation. Prior to this, she held senior roles in marketing and commerce for Bauer Media, Capital Radio and the BBC.

Andria is a Council member for The Marketing Group of Great Britain; a member of Tech London Advocates, an advisory group of tech experts; and, until last year, was a Trustee of the iconic Roundhouse event space in London.

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Colin Sturgeon

Term of office

Appointed to the Board on 19 January 2017.

Skills and experience

Colin has extensive experience leading and managing the origination and execution of corporate and government finance. In July 2005, he retired from RBC Capital Markets after more than 20 years’ service, having held various roles in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was Deputy Chairman, Royal Bank of Canada Europe Limited and Chairman of the European Banking and Trading Risk Management Committees.

Colin has served on the boards of several other companies including Krupaco Finance UK Limited, Channel Services Limited and RBC Pension Trustees Limited. He also acted as a senior adviser to the Financial Services Authority.

External listed company appointments

None.

Nigel Brewster

Term of office

Appointed to the Board on 19 January 2017.

Skills and experience

Nigel is an experienced finance and management executive who has held senior roles in private equity-backed companies in the leisure industry. From November 2015–April 2016 he was CFO of Parkdean Resorts Limited, where he oversaw the merger of Parkdean Holidays and Park Resorts, where he had previously served as CFO from April 2012. His role included a ￡570 million senior debt raise and various aspects of post-merger integration. Nigel previously served as CFO of ADP Dental Group and has held several senior roles at Gala Coral Group, one of Europe’s largest integrated gaming businesses.

He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Chartered Accountant qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, having qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

External listed company appointments

None.

Jim Ryan

Term of office

Appointed to the Board on 5 September 2016.

Skills and experience

Jim is an experienced online gaming executive who is currently the CEO of Pala Interactive LLC. He has also held a number of other roles within the online gaming sector, including Co-Chief Executive Officer of bwin.party digital entertainment plc, the Chief Executive Officer at PartyGaming plc, St Minver Limited, Excapsa Software Limited and the Chief Financial Officer of Cryptologic Software Limited. He also currently sits on the boards of Gaming Realms plc and Fralis LLC, and has served on the boards of several public and private companies.

Jim holds a Chartered Accountant qualification from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and a degree in business from the Goodman School of Business at Brock University.

He was also a director of The Intertain Group Limited which became an indirect subsidiary of JPJ?Group plc on 25 January 2017.

External listed company appointments

Jim sits on the boards of Gaming Realms plc.

Katie Vanneck-Smith

Term of Office

Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2019.

Skills and experience

Katie is currently the co-founder and publisher of Tortoise Media, the slow-news start up, launched in January 2019. She previously spent over 20 years in various senior executive roles at News Corp, where she gained significant digital and marketing experience while working for some of the largest UK and US national publications, including The Times and Wall Street Journal. She was most recently President of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.