Entain promotes Grounsell to chief commercial officer

Confirming the news in a LinkedIn post, Grounsell said he was “excited” to be starting the new role, having been with the group since August 2019.

Grounsell was most recently deputy managing director for digital at Entain, serving in the role since January this year, prior to which he was its managing director of UK and Ireland digital for five months.

He also spent two and a half years as managing director for Entain’s UK and Irish sports brands, as well as five months as chief marketing officer for Ladbrokes and Coral.

Before his time at Entain, Grounsell was managing director of Neilson Financial Services and he spent time as global marketing director for Travelex.

Grounsell also worked in marketing and sales roles for insurance business RSA, while he was marketing director for Capital One and head of broadband acquisition at BT.

In addition, during a four-year spell with Unilever, he was brand manager for the Dove and Lux brands.

The appointment comes after Entain last week reported an 18% year-on-year increase in net gaming revenue for the first half of its 2022 financial year, driven by the reopening of its retail betting shops following the easing of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

In a trading update, Entain said retail revenue was up 243% year-on-year for the six months to 30 June – above expectations – after the removal of many Covid-19 measures meant retail operations were able to return to near normal.

However, online revenue was down.