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Further C-level departures are due at Kindred Group, as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Elen Barber and Chief Commercial Officer Anne-Jaap Snijders prepare to step down.
The executives’ decision follows the conclusion of a review they were spearheading, which examined Kindred’s marketing and commercial operations. Areas of focus were local commercial requirements and market regulations, and increasing the firm’s flexibility.
With the review now distributed internally, the duo will leave Kindred in the autumn. The Stockholm-listed gambling group, which operates the Unibet sportsbook and 32Red casino brands, emphasised that both had made ‘huge contributions’ to its success.
Barber remarked: ‘I’m proud to have played my part in Kindred’s success over the past 13 years. Our fantastic global marketing team has built a solid foundation upon which Kindred can continue to grow in competitive and exciting markets. It’s now the right time for me to move on to fresh opportunities ahead.”
Having first joined Kindred in June 2010, Barber rose through the company’s ranks to lead advertising and marketing efforts across various fields, holding the roles of Head of Affiliates, Head of Performance Marketing, Head of Digital Advertising and Director of Central Brand Marketing before becoming CMO in January 2019.
Snijders, meanwhile, began his career with the Unibet Group – prior to its rebranding as Kindred – as General Manager Australia between 2012 and 2013.
He has also served as a Board Member at Relax Gaming and Casino Blankenberge before becoming Kindred’s Head of Western Europe in 2013 and CCO, based in its Malta office, in 2019.
Snijders said: “I had a great time at Kindred. It has been a fantastic journey working out of the Sydney, Malta and Amsterdam office with extremely talented colleagues. The pinnacle was to receive the Dutch licence and building up market leadership with the local teams.”
Kindred stressed that Barber and Snijers’ departures are ‘not connected to the communicated resignation of Kindred’s CEO and CFO’, both of which occurred last week.
The resignation of Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström brought an end to a 14 year tenure which oversaw the growth of Unibet and 32Red in multiple markets. It also followed the announcement that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Johan Wilsby would step down later this year.
Tjärnström will be replaced by interim CEO Nils Andén, who will focus on achieving Kindred’s 2023 targets of £1.6bn revenue and £200m EBITDA, as well as coordinating a potential merger or sale of the company should the decision be made.
Kindred’s latest trading report for Q1 2023 showed some progress on revenue, but it remains behind the numbers seen in 2021, with its 2022 performance failing to meet expectations.
