Tombola appoints new COO

Tombola has appointed James Beard as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Beard arrives from Sage where he was the business development director for Europe, Asia and Africa. He studied economics and management at Leeds University and worked as a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs for nearly five years, before joining Sage in 2005.

New tombola COO James Beard

Tombola CEO Phil Cronin said of the appointment: “In 2015 we said our ambition was to double our turnover and our headcount in five years. So far, we have exceeded targets set in our 2020 strategy and I’ve no doubt that James’s knowledge, drive and experience will help us deliver our ambitious strategy for accelerated growth.”

Beard said he would continue tombola’s focus on responsible gambling and putting the customer first.

He added: “There’s a lot more we can do with Bingo and our Arcade games here in the UK, especially with Arcade only being in its infancy, but there are huge opportunities overseas too. We’re market leaders in Spain and Italy, despite only having a small number of products, and the potential is massive. There are a couple of additional countries on our horizon too.”

The Sunderland-based bingo operator also restructured its management team at the beginning of the month in line with the firm’s five-year strategy to double turnover.