An outside chance: why Ian Brown has big shoes to fill at Flutter UK & Ireland 

The announcement yesterday that Conor Grant is to step down from his role as CEO of Flutter UK & Ireland (UK&I) to take a “planned career break” came as a bit of a surprise to industry observers. Probably to Flutter staff too. After all, it’s almost a quarter of a century since Grant, originally from Newry in Northern Ireland, joined Paddy Power as part of the Irish bookmaker’s graduate scheme. Spells at Blue Square and BoyleSports followed before he joined Sky Bet and climbed the ladder there in a variety of sports betting and igaming roles. Yet two years after landing the top job at Flutter’s UK&I arm – overseeing Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG), Paddy Power, Betfair and Tombola – the softly spoken and affable 45-year-old has decided to walk away. The PR published by the FTSE 100 operator to announce his resignation and eventual departure before the end of 2022, referenced how he is stepping down to “spend more time with his family”. We can only surmise but perhaps the father-of-three decided that 20-odd years entrenched in the online gambling industry – plus the time to reflect the pandemic provided – persuaded him to put time with his family above the (well paid) job. To specifically mention spending more time with the family as a reason for leaving a top position is somewhat unusual in this industry, but at the same time quite refreshing.

“A really big loss to Flutter and the industry” and “one of the good guys,” was how Eilers & Krejcik Gaming senior consultant Alun Bowden expressed his views on Grant’s exit in a tweet. “Whoever gets him next after he has spent two years getting bored is going to be very lucky,” he continued. Vaughan Lewis, chief strategy officer at 888, described Grant in a LinkedIn post as a huge betting and gaming fan with “a depth of knowledge about the sector that few can rival”. “Fiercely loyal to his team and colleagues, and an inspirational leader,” Lewis wrote. At the same time as revealing the resignation, Flutter unveiled the replacement, which clearly means this wasn’t a very recent and spontaneous decision on Grant’s part – he must have announced his intention to leave to global CEO Peter Jackson some months ago. This was supported by the fact the company hasn’t chosen to promote from within. Instead, his replacement – Ian Brown – will arrive at the Dublin-headquartered online giant from outside the sector. Brown, who starts in September, is the former CEO of Booking.com’s Trips division (includes Rentalcars.com) and was most recently, up until February 2022, CEO of tech services firm UKFast in Manchester. Jackson hailed his experience across a range of sectors including travel, hospitality, business services and financial services. Replacing someone who knows the Flutter business and the industry inside out – from the shops to the digital realm – with someone who has no prior industry experience is a bold move. Indeed, Grant was instrumental in Flutter UK&I’s safer gambling initiative, known as Play Well, besides introducing the £500 monthly deposit limit for under 25s, and was at the forefront of the completion of the £402m acquisition of the bingo-led Tombola business earlier this year. Jackson said Flutter will miss Grant’s “sound commercial judgement and keen eye for business opportunities”. While some might consider the appointment of an unknown quantity like Brown as particularly risky, Flutter does have a history of hiring from different fields. For example, Jackson himself was recruited from Worldpay to replace Breon Corcoran in the hot seat (then Paddy Power Betfair), while FanDuel president Amy Howe arrived from Ticketmaster in 2021. In addition, CFO Jonathan Hill had no prior industry experience before he joined in 2018. In an interview with EGR earlier this year, Grant said he believed the influx people from outside the sector has changed mindsets, particularly around RG efforts. “I look at our own [global] CEO [Peter Jackson], who was in the financial sector, and he’s seen radical change in regulation. I think the people coming in have helped drive the mentality change needed,” he stated. The UK&I segment of Flutter accounted for 29% of group revenue in 2021, yet it is enduring tough headwinds right now, though, mainly due to increased compliance and safer gambling measures. In fact, Flutter’s efforts around safer gambling amounted to an incremental year-on-year (YoY) impact of £30m in the first quarter of 2022 alone. What’s more, UK&I revenue slump 20% YoY on a pro forma basis in Q1, although active monthly players were up 15%. Much like Flutter rivals, the name of the game these days is having many small-staking customers rather than relying on a handful of big-spending VIPs as “sustainability” becomes the buzz word. CFO Hill said during the full-year 2021 results Q&A that Flutter was “building sustainability now rather than building it a little bit later” as the business increasingly focuses on acquiring and retaining a casual user base. Interestingly, Brown’s quote in the PR used the term “online entertainment space” rather than a dirty word like gambling. By September, just as Brown is getting his feet under the table, we should finally have the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review and the clarity Jackson previously said the sector was “crying out for”. So, it seems it is going to be quite the baptism of fire for the new arrival managing the market’s two leading recreational betting brands, Sky Bet and Paddy Power, and the number one bingo operator, Tombola, through choppy waters. And then there’s the struggling Betfair Exchange to deal with, although it won’t be a priority. As for Grant, it’s a safe bet he eventually reappears in the industry with another company – be it an established name or a startup. As one industry figure recently put it in a tweet, “people don’t ever leave the online gambling industry – they just take a sabbatical”.