Zamboglou takes 888 UK and Ireland MD role as Walker promoted

Zamboglou replaces Phil Walker, who has been named chief commercial officer. Walker had only taken on the MD position in January.

He takes on the role having served as UK marketing director and managing director for Ireland at William Hill since January 2022.

Prior to this, Zamboglou was marketing director and UK strategy director at William Hill.

Earlier in his career, Zamboglou had a spell as marketing director at Entain and served in the same role at Ladbrokes Coral. He was also head of digital marketing at Coral.

In addition, Zamboglou spent time as senior marketing manager and social media manager at Boylesports.

“I am hugely excited to get the opportunity to run the UK and Irish business, with some of the biggest brands on the globe in William Hill, 888 and Mr Green,” Zamboglou said in a LinkedIn post. 

“Really looking forward to working across sports, gaming and marketing with some of the most talented teams in the industry and building on the success we’ve had so far in 2023.

“It’s been a year of transformation and foundation building for 888/William Hill. We’re now ready and revving to go for growth in both the UK and Ireland, underpinned by our continued and tireless work on player safety and our customer-first mission.”

Change at the top

888 completed its acquisition of William Hill’s non-US assets in July last year. The deal was valued at £1.95bn and led to a series of management changes.

Itai Pazner, who had led 888 as chief executive, retained the role for the combined business. However, earlier this year it was announced Pazner would step down.

Pazner’s departure came amid failings in the business’ know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) processes. This was related to VIP schemes in its Middle Eastern dot.com operations.

Jon Mendelsohn has been serving as CEO in the interim while the search continues to bring in a permanent replacement. 

Just weeks before the announcement, it was also revealed that Yariv Dafna would exit as CFO of 888. Dafna was due to leave in March but will now remain with the group until the end of the current year.

Comings and goings

888 has in recent weeks and months announced a number of other changes to management staff.

This week, it was revealed that Yariv Lavi will exit as director of business development at 888. He has served in the role for more than 13 years and worked on a number of key projects, including the William Hill acquisition.

Also this month, Shai Tabibian announced he will leave his role as senior vice-president and head of B2C. Tabibian moved into the position in August 2021, having held various other roles during a nine-year stay with 888.

Back in May, 888 appointed executive Ben Hurst as vice-president of North American market expansion. Hurst will create and implement strategies to accelerate 888’s presence in the region, primarily in the US and Canada.