O'Reilly joins Coral as interactive MD
Former Ladbrokes veteran opts for Coral as new CEO Andy Hornby chooses experienced gaming exec to head up online operation.
Former Ladbrokes veteran John O’Reilly has joined Coral as its new managing director of interactive reporting into new CEO Andy Hornby.
The highly experienced and well-respected O’Reilly started at the operator on Monday this week, almost a year to the day he left Ladbrokes as its former head of online after 18 years at the bookmaker.
In a statement O’Reilly said he had been “itching” to get back into the betting industry. “I couldn’t have a more exciting prospect than developing Coral’s online business,” he said. O’Reilly said Coral has a “fantastic shop estate and a terrific brand” but admitted it had “yet to punch its weight” online and that there is a “huge appetite” within Coral to do that in the future. “This challenge is right up my street,” he added.
O’Reilly left Ladbrokes in August last year and as a director of the company in November to pursue “new challenges” just months after Richard Glynn took over as CEO and began restructuring his senior team and a brand that has seen egaming revenues decline over the last few years.
As he left, then new CEO Glynn, said O’Reilly had made a “massive contribution” to the growth and development of the company, including online, during his time on the Ladbrokes board. However, at the time Ladbrokes’ half-year 2010 total net revenue significantly dropped, due to a fall in profits from high rollers, it said.
As eGaming Review exclusively revealed last month serial FTSE 100 board member and former group chief executive of Alliance Boots and ex-CEO of HBOS, Andy Hornby joined as MD of Coral a month ago, ending the operator’s year-long search for a suitable candidate to lead the UK brand.
At the time a source close to the matter told eGaming Review that 44 year-old Hornby had accepted the role on the proviso that he will lead a future buy-out of the business, separating it from the Gala Coral group, and with a view to it being sold off to a private equity firm. He is in charge of both retail and online operations.
Hornby, new to online gambling and who will need an experienced industry expert to re-launch the brand, said he was “delighted” to welcome O’Reilly on board. “His egaming track record and considerable bookmaking experience will make him a huge asset for Coral as we develop the interactive business over the coming months and years.”