For Conor Grant, CEO of Flutter Entertainment UK and Ireland, operating on an international level understandably poses its challenges, but he believes the company is well prepared to continue with its global growth strategy.
Speaking to The Big Betting Balagan podcast – hosted by Dan Philips, Lee Richards and Vigne Kozacek – Grant discussed a range of topics, including both his and Flutter’s business approach and events which shaped his life and career such as the backdrop of growing up during Northern Ireland’s troubles.
Flutter Entertainment is one of the world’s most prominent betting and gaming holding companies, operating Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair in the UK and Ireland, whilst also making inroads in the US via the popular FanDuel brand.
When quizzed by Phillips as to whether executives at Flutter boardroom meetings need to ‘shout out’ to get their voices heard due to the range of urgent business topics to address, Grant praised the calm nature of Group CEO Peter Jackson, before discussing the firm’s global corporate outlook.
“Flutter isn’t a shout and scream organisation,” he explained. “Peter Jackson, who heads it up, you could put a bomb with a ticker down to nine seconds in his hands and he’d defuse it. He’s one of the calmest people you’ll meet.
“The UK and I is made up of the three brands – Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair – and obviously we have the retail division here, in Ireland and the UK. We are a significant part of the group in terms of revenue and profit, obviously FanDuel is a growth staple.
“Barney Evans, who is ex-Paddy Power, runs the SportsBet business in Australia, he runs a fantastic business. Dan Taylor, who was the CEO of PP, runs the international business and has big ambitions.
“We’re in a very fortunate position that the company has the ability to fund each of the divisions and really go after growth. We’re not a capital restraint business, which is fantastic from our perspective.”
The wide range of Flutter’s global operations, however, does pose challenges, the UK and Ireland CEO noted, with the company active in the European, North American and Australian markets.
“Being a board member on Flutter is definitely a challenge, as you’re trying to learn about all these different divisions,” he continued. “We all have a portfolio of brands. Apart from Sportsbet down in Australia, which has merged with Beteasy, the rest of us are running portfolios.
“I find it very interesting, from my own perspective, to look at the cross-portfolios, look at the different segments of customers and look at where there is overlap and where there is not.”
