BoyleSports appoints former William Hill man as new chief executive

Irish bookmaker BoyleSports has appointed former William Hill director Vlad Kaltenieks as chief executive.

The digital gambling and betting shop operator, sponsor of the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in Co Meath, confirmed the appointment on Wednesday. Mr Kaltenieks replaces Mark Kemp who left the company in July after just a year at the helm.

Mr Kemp, who formerly held senior positions at the UK Tote Group and Entain, left to join global sports streaming platform DAZN, which is headed by former Entain chief executive Shay Segev.

BoyleSports, which is headquartered in Dundalk, was founded in 1989 and is Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker. It established a presence here in 2019 with an initial acquisition of 19 shops.

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It now has more than 340 betting shops in Ireland and the UK and employs about 2,500 people.

Mr Kaltenieks, who will take over as chief executive in February, was formerly the global director of data, analytics and digital at William Hill. He 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.

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He previously served as the director of digital and data at Betsson Group, which is one of the world’s largest gaming companies.

John Boyle, founder and chairman of BoyleSports, said: “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.

“Having worked almost exclusively in highly regulated environments he also brings with him particular experience in adapting to regulatory changes.”

Mr Kaltenieks said he was looking forward to leading the company, which he added has “terrific potential” for growth.

“I am thrilled to be appointed as ceo [chief executive officer] 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,” he 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.”