Flutter Entertainment UK&I chief information officer departs
Rik Barker steps down after leading tech divisions across Sky Betting & Gaming and regional division
Flutter Entertainment UK and Ireland (UK&I) chief information officer (CIO) Rik Barker has departed the firm after more than seven years.
Barker will leave the operator, citing personal reasons, having spent time across senior roles with Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) and its parent company Flutter Entertainment.
Barker joined SBG in June 2015 as head of technology for gaming from G2G Digital before being named director of gaming technology in June 2017.
A brief stint as deputy chief technology officer from July 2018 until October 2018 was followed by Barker stepping up to become full CTO for SBG.
Barker then swapped SBG for Flutter’s UK&I division as CIO.
In this role, Barker was responsible for developing the group’s overarching tech strategy and managing tech teams across Paddy Power, Betfair and SBG.
He also helped support the integration of Tombola following Flutter’s £402m purchase of the Sunderland-based bingo operator.
Touching on his decision to leave Flutter, Barker reflected on his stints with SBG and its parent company, while praising his colleagues for their efforts.
Barker said: “I’ve been deeply privileged to work with some absolutely amazing people over the last seven years; joining Sky Betting & Gaming at the point it separated from Sky, being a part of the stellar growth story from 2015 to 2018 and helping to open new offices; hire like crazy; develop, then redevelop strategies and platforms to keep up with the ceaseless customer demand.”
Barker described his time as CIO as a “brilliant, fascinating, complicated and challenging experience”.
He added: “Definitely haven’t got it all right over the last seven-and-a-half years but I’ve never felt anything but supported, challenged and lifted by an absolutely fantastic bunch of talented, brilliant people – a lot of who I now call friends.
“I’m leaving at an exciting, transformative time for the division. There’s a strategy and a structure in place that supports the next phase of the business. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see it through but pleased to know things are in extremely capable hands,” Barker concluded.