Member Article

Chat with the chief: Sky Bet boss on Italian expansion and having the best of both worlds

Richard Flint, managing director and soon to be chief exec of Sky Betting and Gaming (recently acquired for £800 million by CVC Private Equity from Sky) has spoken to Bdaily about life away from Sky, Italian expansion plans and the ups and downs of being an Arsenal fan.

What are the benefits of having a headquarters in Leeds, would you ever think of moving outside Yorkshire?

No not at all, we started the business in Harrogate so we’ve always been in Yorkshire. We moved to Leeds about 4 years ago and we have found it a great way to recruit young digital talent, and also on the technology and marketing side. There are also decent transport links, particularly to London.

There’s also such a buzz around the city, with the Tour de France in the past year for example. I think its got a great young vibe in the city so we don’t plan on moving, we wouldn’t even think about it.

Have there been or will there be any major changes in the way the business works now Sky has less interest in the running of the firm?

Nothing too major, we’ve been a successful and fast-track business and CVC have bought into the momentum of the firm and into our business plan so I dont think anything will change too radically.

We will perhaps have less competition for investment. Within Sky we might have been up against Now TV or satellite infrastructure for funding, with investment going where it was needed the most, but we’ll now be able to look at potential projects on their own merits, rather than in comparison to other areas of the business. That should hopefully help accelerate our growth

I think in terms of our culture, we’re really proud of how we work together so the extra focus and guidance CVC can give us will only support future growth.

What other benefits do you think there are of being part of CVC, apart from investment?

We really got the best of both worlds with the deal in that we get to keep the Sky brand, as Sky retains its shareholding, and the relationship with Sky Sports but there are additional benefits on top of that. CVC have a lot of experience in running businesses, having owned William Hill for some time there, as well as Formula One and Virgin Active.

It will help us grow up as a business with greater independence, to be in charge of our own destiny. That will help us be more energetic and focused on what we try and achieve, as well as taking greater ownership of the business as we move forward.

What does the future look like for Sky Bet, any plans to expand?

We are looking outside the UK, we’ve been looking for some time, and Italy is an obvious choice. We will carry on looking at that, but no firm plans yet!

Why Italy, what does the betting sector look like there in comparison to the UK?

There are a lot of similarities, it is a properly regulated market which is important, and the Sky brand is a big and important one there. Football is also a big market, and they have a similar mobile phone ownership to the UK over there.

However there are some differences; their credit card usage is lower so we’d have to look at different payment methods, their sporting personalities will be different, and there will be different behaviour, people wanting to bet on different things.

Many sports betting companies have a presence on the high street, have you ever thought about that?

I can’t see us ever having a high street presence. I personally believe that in the longer term, digital betting will grow and high street betting won’t grow at the same rate by any means.

Betting has been seen as one of the most buoyant sectors, an almost recession-proof industry, do you think it will it continue this way?

Yes, I think what people don’t appreciate about betting is that it is a small, discretionary spend that a lot of people do. It’s not always as it is perceived. In difficult economic times, most people might cut back on holidays, or getting a new car or sofa but they will keep betting their £5 on a Saturday afternoon. So I think in that sense it has been and will continue to be relatively recession-proof.

Betting doesn’t always get a favourable judgement politically, and I think we can do a bit more there, but it is a great industry.

So legislation-wise, do you think the Government are making barriers where they shouldn’t be? Do you think they could they help encourage the growth of the industry better?

Firstly we think that tax on the industry is a bit high, particularly when you have offshore competitors who have much lower tax rates.

I think thats something that the government needs to be careful of. They need to keep an eye on those offshore competitors who do not pay tax out of the UK and make sure that our tax burden doesnt get any worse, if it cannot be lowered.

Tax would be one thing, but another thing that doesn’t help us is a lot of misinformed politicians making noise about gambling when actually it is very much a mass market leisure pursuit with relatively low instances of problem gambling. We’re not saying that problems with gambling dont exist, because they do, but a bit more credit and recognition for the good intentions across the industry and the attempts being made to minimise problems in gambling, would be appreciated.

And finally, what was your last bet on?

Casino and Poker, and I’m an Arsenal fan so the last football bet I made was in the Arsenal vs Stoke match last weekend, and that was a firm losing bet!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .