Irish bookmaker BoyleSports has announced the appointment of former Wiliam Hill director Vlad Kaltenieks as chief executive. The digital gambling and betting shop operator confirmed the move on Wednesday, as the executive enters the company to replace Mark Kemp, who left in July, after just a year at the helm.
Kemp, who formerly held senior positions at the UK Tote Group and Entain, left to join global sports streaming platform DAZN, headed by former Entain chief executive Shay Segev.
Kaltenieks will take over as chief executive in February. He was formerly the global director of data, analytics and digital at William Hill, and has more than 10 years of senior management experience, mostly in the betting and gaming sector.
In his role at William Hill, he worked closely with the commercial, marketing, compliance, product and technology teams. He previously served as the director of digital and data at Betsson Group.
John Boyle, Founder and chairman of BoyleSports, spoke about this new appointment: “I am delighted to welcome Vlad to BoyleSports. His experience of successfully leading large teams in highly competitive gaming environments makes him a great fit for our company.”
“Vlad will bring to bear exceptional expertise in using digital technologies to drive innovation and in the use of focussed marketing to deliver growth,” he added. “Having worked almost exclusively in highly regulated environments he also brings with him particular experience in adapting to regulatory changes.”
Dundalk-headquartered BoyleSports was founded in 1989 and is Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker. It now has more than 340 betting shops in Ireland and the UK and employs about 2,500 people.
“I am thrilled to be appointed as CEO of BoyleSports at a time when it has established itself as one of the most successful bookmakers in Ireland and the UK and is already developing footholds in gaming markets across the globe,” Kaltenieks said.
“With its own technology platform and a very experienced senior-management team, BoyleSports has terrific potential to grow in both existing and new markets,” he added.
Following Kemp’s departure, BoyleSports’ founder and chairman John Boyle returned to an executive role at the bookmaker alongside commercial director Conor Gray, who was Kemp’s predecessor as chief executive and has been in charge of the company’s plans for international expansion.
