Corporate | team

Founder Shareholders

The Founder Shareholders are seasoned professionals from the betting and gaming market place who will be able to use their considerable contacts and expertise to ensure the success of the venture.

Brian Mattingley: Chairman

Brian led a management buy out of Ritz Bingo, backed by Duke Street Capital in 1997. Six months later he backed the business into Gala Bingo itself being a Venture backed business. He took on the position as the Group Finance Director and lead all of Gala’s acquisition over seven years including the acquisition from Hilton of the Ladbrokes Casino Chain. Brian recently negotiated a joint venture with Harrah’s which became Gala regional developments and was its CEO until the Governments U Turn on the Gambling Bill made it unviable. Brian is well known to the Gaming Board and a “fit and proper person” under the 1968 Act and therefore likely to significantly speed the licensing process for a new Casino. As you would expect he has extensive contacts in the UK and US gaming industries.

Chris North: Director

Chris comes from a marketing and business development background. He started his career in Hong Kong in 1991. Chris founded Brand Guardian in 1997, a brand agency which developed software systems enabling clients the ability to protect and manage their brand online.

Having worked with some of the major online bookmakers in Asia, in 1997 he co-founded Inside Track Limited. Using his experience in the online sector and his understanding of the importance of brand and marketing online, Inside Track developed into one of the leading online gaming consultancies.

Chris has over 7 years experience in the online gaming sector where he now specialises in online casino's and online poker. Chris’s latest project has been the successful re-launch of the  www.attheracescasino.com and www.attheracespoker.com brands and he is one of the founders of the Fox Poker Club.

A successful rugby player, Chris had a spell at Harlequins in the UK, Northern Suburbs in Australia as well as playing 12 tests for Hong Kong.

Richard Hogg: Director

Richard comes from a professional background working within the web-based IT industry at every level. In a career that has spanned across two decades and three continents, he recently oversaw the induction of Australia’s largest independently owned sports betting company, SportOdds, into the competitive UK market under the brand name SuperOdds which went on to acquire Centrebet which it is now known as after successfully listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

In 1999 Richard moved back to the UK after a 7 year spell in Hong Kong to head the business operations for a leading gaming business who were focused on supplying consultancy, operations and systems management to companies looking to expand into the e-gaming online sportsbooks and casinos market. Drawing on his experience working in Asia, he helped to establish a number of British companies in a new and foreign market place with consistent success.

Having worked with some of the biggest companies in the business and travelled extensively throughout the Americas and Asia gaining a valuable insight into interactive gaming, Richard established himself as an authority on the industry and a key player in the implementation of web-based services for the sports betting industry.

It was this reputation that brought Richard to the attention of SuperOdds. Having acquired a British Sports Betting License in January 2003, the company launched in August of this 2003 with plans to expand the product portfolio into further European countries in the future with the acquisition of Centrebet in late 2003.

Since leaving SuperOdds in December 2004, Richard has had a brief spell in Costa Rica working with one of the world’s largest US facing sportsbook and casino, before returning to the UK to head up operations with Inside Gaming.

Katherine Thornley : Head of Marketing

Katherine introduces and ensures a high level of positive user experiences. She has been practicing this marketing principle in a variety of industries, leading to the confidence and abilities to be flexible with the products she has endorsed. Katherine has had extensive online gaming experience including time at Forward Slash (Affiliates), Centrebet (sports betting and casino and poker gaming products), Adsdotcom (Intercasino) and Virtue Fusion (Bingo).