888 Holdings has appointed Anna Barsby as the Group’s new Chief Product and Technology Officer.

Anna will be responsible for driving forward the Group’s technology integration following the transformational combination of 888 and William Hill (completed in July 2022). This will form a key part of efforts to capture the benefits of the integration of the two businesses, particularly in terms of driving improved customer experience, and also a key part of the upgraded synergies being targeted, as announced at the Group’s Capital Markets Day.

Anna is a digital expert with a huge breadth of experience in digital transformation and integration. She led significant transformative projects for companies including Morrisons and Halfords, including as CIO at the latter, as it went through a period of award-winning digital transformation. The company took significant market share as a result, alongside integrating a new service and brand.

In addition to her new role, Anna is currently Non-Executive Director at Cumberland Building Society, Founder and Managing Partner of Tessiant, a management consultancy.

“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,” Itai Pazner, CEO of 888 Holdings, said.

Fast Track has been named as one of the certified companies by Great Place to Work for 2022/23. The prestigious certification marks companies based on what current employees say about their place of work. Fast Track scored an astonishing 93% on the Trust Index formulated off the company’s employee survey results, ranking them as a world-class place to work. The impressive score puts the SaaS technology company twenty points above the standard mark for Great Place to Work companies.

Chief People Officer Jenny Arnell said: “Our objective is to be a world-class employer and attract and retain the best people. To maintain this status we focus on listening to our employees’ needs and aim to provide an inclusive, engaging, and supportive environment. By working with our teams in a spirit of genuine respect for their well-being, we allow them to explore their potential and give their best in their roles, which benefits us as a company, our client partners, and our colleagues.”

“Great Place to Work Certification isn’t something that comes easily – it takes ongoing dedication to the employee experience. It’s the only official recognition determined by employees’ real-time reports of their company culture. Earning this designation means that Fast Track is one of the certified companies to work for in Europe and more than that, the 93 percent overall Trust Index score is a very impressive result seen for any tech company submitting for the first time. Their whole team should be very proud,” said Linda Lofman, senior consultant at Great Place to Work, Sweden.

Employees surveyed by Great Place to Work rated the company’s management team particularly highly, with 100% of those interviewed praising the culture of competence and honesty by senior leaders. Other areas highlighted included Fast Track’s inclusive culture and policies that encourage cooperation between teams.

Simon Lidzén, CEO of Fast Track, said: “I am humbled by the responses from our team and proud of what we’ve built at Fast Track. We’re more than a company, and we’re capable of great things as we work together with the level of trust and engagement that are reflected in these results.

“I know that where others see challenges, we see opportunities, and it’s this attitude that is helping us to grow at an incredible rate, while still delivering world-class service and products.

“We will continue to self reflect, and push forward in pursuit of a better way, and because of that I am sure we will maintain our status as a world-class employer and have a work environment that attracts the very best as we grow.”

GoodLuckMate has published a comprehensive Japanese gambling statistics and trends report on its website, revealing some interesting industry insights. The analysis was posted in October 2022 and includes a range of relevant data focused on the gambling market as well as gambling habits in Japan.

With this report, readers will get to learn more about the legality of gambling in Japan, the most popular games among Japanese players, and the demographics of gambling fans in the country. Some key figures include:

• Size of the online casino market in Japan – $6.7 billion
• Forecasted Japanese online casino market size by 2027 – $10.1 billion
• Sports betting market share – 40%
• Casinos market share – 30%
• Pachinko is the most popular game by market share
• Pachinko makes up about 4% of the country’s GDR

This report also reveals how Japanese consumers feel about online casinos and how popular they are among players of different age and sex groups. It also covers the issue of problem gambling in the country, highlighting that about 3.2 million Japanese players have a gambling addiction.

“We have launched a dedicated version of our website for our Japanese readers. We find the Japanese gambling market extremely intriguing, and that’s why we thought it was important to dive deeper into it through this report,” Nerijus Grenda, CEO of GoodLuckMate, said.

“Creating the report took a lot of research, but, in the end, it was worth it because it gives a complete picture of the Japanese gambling industry as it covers several essential aspects of it,” Grenda added.