NEWS > ANALYSIS
SETTLING FOR LESS
Former Paddy Power COO Breon Corcoran joined Betfair as its chief executive in August 2012. Since then, he has implemented a number of changes – including a raft of layoffs. Tom Victor takes a look at what has happened at the ?rm since Corcoran took over
>>
ven before Breon Corcoran took the reins at Betfair, it was evident that changes would be made under the former Paddy Power COO. Things had been set in motion during former CFO and interim CEO Stephen Morana’s temporary tenure, with the launch of a ?xed-odds sportsbook . Exits from a number of European markets followed – most notably Germany but also Greece and Cyprus – while smaller grey markets became less of a priority as Corcoran seemed set to follow the whiter-than-white model put in place during his time in Ireland. Still, it was months after Corcoran’s arrival that the ?rst signs of a reduction in headcount became apparent, with UK director Peter Marcus making way and a number of staff in “underperforming” markets being shown the door.
E
At the time, a poll of eGaming Review readers saw more than one ?fth suggest more layoffs were needed for Corcoran to bring the company forward, however the hundreds of departures which followed in February, and that are still being worked through at the time of writing, still came as something of a surprise if only by virtue of the number of people affected. It may well have been the enormity of the action rather than the action itself which caused such shock, given Betfair’s earlier assertion that the November redundancies represented just the start of a longer period of restructuring. Indeed, one former employee, who left the company before Corcoran’s arrival, told eGR of the signi?cant number of CVs coming his way from former colleagues at the end of last year.
26
www.egrmagazine.com