Identifying a Group Head of Health, Safety & Environment for Ladbrokes Coral Group (GVC)

23 March 2020 by Ben Flint
blog author

"From initial engagement to candidate placing, Ben has been extremely client focused, and challenging where appropriate. He is the consummate professional with superb knowledge of the industry, suitable candidates and client support." - Steve Howells, Group Health, Safety, Security and Environment Director, GVC

GVC Holdings PLC  is an FTSE business and is one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports Brands include bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds International and Sportingbet; Games Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. They also own proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations, provides services to third-party customers on a B2B basis.

The Role:

Acre were retained by GVC to identify their new Group Head of Health, Safety & Environment to be based from their Head office in Stratford, London.

The Group Head of Health, Safety & Environment for GVC would have the ability to define, shape and deliver their Health, Safety & Environment strategy and programs and initiatives across all areas of the GVC business. These include Retail shops, Stadia and International Operations with offices across the globe from the UK, Gibraltar, multiple European locations, Manila, India, Australia and America. It posed as a fantastic opportunity to make a sustainable difference for the Group's stakeholders, employees and business at a time of exciting change for the industry.

Actions Taken:

The successful candidate was a senior Health & Safety Practitioner with a proven track record in all aspects of business covering a wide range of accountabilities, as well as experience of working in Aviation, Utilities, Oil and Gas Industries. Excellent organizational skills with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines were also imperative.

 

Acre conducted a full market search which involved thorough headhunting to both active and passive candidates. We also carried out face-to-face interviews with all shortlisted candidatesto ensure that they all had a sufficient technical background, as well as the right soft skills to ensure the business engaged in the new strategy.

 

We used Acre Frameworks to identify the candidate’s soft skills. This is ensured the successful candidate was able to build position positive relationships across the business and the delivery his strategy and an efficient manner. 

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