Press Release
Gala Coral Group Pleased To Appoint Dominic Harrison Chief Operating Officer
Following the Group's recent success in winning 403 Betting Office licenses in Italy, through a Government led auction process, the Gala Coral Group is now pleased to announce the appointment of Dominic Harrison as Chief Operating Officer.
Mr Harrison (43) joined Gala in 2004, from the Ladbroke Group, and has been a member of the Gala Group Board since 2005. He is a graduate of Oxford University and a qualified accountant. His early career was spent at KPMG, Diageo and the Bass Group with roles in Strategic Planning, Marketing and Operations.
In his new role Mr Harrison will be responsible for Gala Bingo, Gala Casinos, Gala Coral E-Commerce, Italy, International Development, Group Marketing and Electronic Gaming. Coral UK will continue to report direct to Group CEO, Neil Goulden.
Mr Harrison's current position as Managing Director E-Commerce will be taken by Damian Cope, who is currently Operations and Marketing Director E-Commerce, having joined the Group in 2005 after holding similar positions at Blue Square, Rank and Ladbrokes.
Gala Coral also announces the appointment of Tok-Lim Tan (Tan) as Group IT Director. Tan joined Gala in 2006 after a successful career in IT with the Rank Group.
The above changes take effect from 1st February 2007.
Commenting on the changes, Group CEO Neil Goulden said:-
"Following the successful integration of the Gala Group with Coral Eurobet over the past 12 months, the new Gala Coral Group is now poised for a period of further organic growth. In 2006 we added over 230 shops to the Coral Retail portfolio, successfully launched GalaBingo.co.uk and Gala TV, as well as our first foray into international retail operations with the award of 403 Betting Office licenses in Italy. The Group is now Europe's largest fully integrated Betting and Gaming Group and at the recent (November 2006) Leisure Industry Awards we were delighted to receive awards as Betting & Gaming Company of the Year, Overall Leisure Operator (the top award) of the Year and the industry's award for Corporate & Social Responsibility. Dominic has played a key role in the success of the Group and his appointment as COO will enable us to build on those successes going forward".
