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888 Holdings has made its latest appointment following the takeover of William Hill, naming Anna Barsby as Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO).
The new hire will focus on the integration of the 888 and William Hill businesses, in particular driving an improved customer experience and striving to achieve the upgraded synergies set out by the firm last week.
Announced on 888’s Capital Markets Day last Tuesday, the LSE-listed international betting and gaming group’s targets include net revenue of £2bn by 2025 and net debt of less than 3.5x existing EBITDA targets.
Itai Pazner, 888 Holdings CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Anna to our new executive leadership team, where she will play a pivotal role in driving forward the key area of technology integration as part of our transformational combination with William Hill.
“Her significant experience and expertise will be invaluable as we seek to unlock the significant potential of our two highly complementary businesses, and we very much look forward to working with her.”
Barsby has been tasked by her new employer with ‘driving forward’ the technological aspects of the William Hill integration, with 888 highlighting her experience in digital transformation as key to this objective.
In previous roles, Barsby led ‘significant transformative projects’ for companies such as Morrisons and Halfords, serving as CTO at the former and CIO at the latter during its digital restructuring.
Additionally, she is also a Founder and Managing Partner of the Tessiant management consultancy, and is a part-time Non-Executive Director at the Cumberland Building Society.
Barsby’s Linkedin description reads: “A people-centred leader with core strengths in strategy, delivery creativity and customer focus, Anna has worked with a number of FTSE100, FTSE250 and Regulatory organisations at a senior level. She has led business transformation programmes using technology as the key enabler.”
888 first began restructuring its corporate leadership post-Hills takeover in July, naming Andrea Gisle Joosen, Andria Vidler and Randy Freer as Non-Executive Directors.
The months since the William Hill M&A have seen 888 encounter some trading difficulties, as the costs of the acquisition pushed up net debt to £1.8bn whilst Q3 revenue fell by 7% year-on-year to £449m (2021: £484m).
