888 appoints former Flutter director as new CPO
Gallagher took on the new role at 888 last month. He now oversees 888’s product vision, strategy and development for its global brands and business units.
Gallagher joins 888 after most recently serving as product director at Flutter from January 2021 and February 2023. This followed a five-year spell within Flutter’s Paddy Power Betfair business.
At Paddy Power Betfair, he spent time in several product leadership roles, including product director for gaming.
This was his second stint at Paddy Power Betfair, the two of which were split by an 11-month spell as casino senior manager at Rational Group.
During his first stretch with Paddy Power Betfair, Gallagher was games product manager and casino operations manager.
Earlier in his career, he worked in marketing roles with Creative Labs and Mitsubishi Electric.
“I’m happy to share I’ve started a new position as chief product officer at 888,” Gallagher said in a LinkedIn post. “I am excited to work with (888 CEO) Per Widerström and his team to help shape and grow the iconic brands that we have.”
Widerström at the wheel
Widerström is also a relatively new addition to the 888, having taken over as CEO in October last year.
He was appointed to the role in July, taking over from Lord Mendelsohn. Since the removal of Itai Pazner in January, Mendelsohn had been running 888 as executive chair. Lord Mendelsohn has since returned to a non-executive position.
Widerström joined 888 after eight years as CEO of Central and Eastern European business Fortuna Entertainment Group. He stepped down from this role in 2022.
Prior to this, Widerström worked in executive roles for several high-profile brands such as Bwin.party and Gala Coral Interactive.
Revenue declines 10% at 888 in Q3
Gallagher also joins 888 on the back of a continued period of revenue decline for the Group. In October, 888 said revenue for the quarter was 10% lower year-on-year at £405.0m (€471.1m/$516.3m) for the third quarter of its 2023 financial year.
888 however highlighted growth in its retail segment. Retail revenue increased 1%, driven by improved product offering through investment in self-service betting terminals and gaming cabinets.
As for online, the UK and Ireland online business reported a 10% drop in revenue. This was due to the ongoing impact of safer gambling changes and refined marketing approach, as well as a lower-than-expected betting net win margin from sports results in September.
In terms of international operations, revenue fell 19% and average monthly actives were down by 2%.