Simon Bradbury announced as new Bacta Head of SR & Compliance

Simon Bradbury has been appointed as Head of Social Responsibility (SR) and Compliance of retail trade association Bacta. 

Bradbury comes up as a result of an internal promotion, and is already performing his full-time duties in the new role. His mandate includes working closely with Bacta’s Membership Support Officers (MSOs), and reporting directly to the trade body’s Commercial Executive Director, Robert Gibb.

Gibb added: “Brad will now manage the rest of the MSO team and be responsible for our Social Responsibility and Compliance initiatives. Working alongside myself he will deliver these key services to members and ensure that they remain best in class courtesy of a programme of continual review and enhancement.”

In addition, Gibb also emphasised the value of Bradbury’s previous long-term commitment to Bacta’s compliance- and SR-focused initiatives within the sector, which has presented him with extensive experience in delivering frontline services. 

Facilitating industry talks

As Head of SR & Compliance, Bradbury is also expected to manage the work around the organisation of Bacta’s SR Exchange conference – an event which hosts various stakeholders with an open invitation to participate in the sharing of safer gambling strategies and reform-driving discussions.

Such conversations are naturally often met with high interest from policymakers, leading to notable figures attending, as was the case with Bryony Sheldon from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) during the last Bacta SR Exchange event. 

Sheldon, who is the UKGC’s Director of Policy, used the stage of the fully-booked conference to address some of the challenges across physical venues that the commission thinks require urgent attention. 

These included an apparent knowledge gap among some of the staff when it comes to face-to-face interactions with customers, which could lead to the unsuccessful recognition of signs that suggest problem gambling behaviour. 

One course of action that Sheldon highlighted in her speech was the frequent evaluation of staff’s competence and understanding of problem gambling – something she pointed out was not seen on a number of occasions.