I describe myself as highly experienced casino executive who has spent over 46 years working in the hospitality & gaming business, 42 of those years in senior management positions. From my very first General Managers position I knew casino management wasn’t going to be a job but a vocation. At the tender age of 26 I was entrusted with my first casino by Sun International in Swaziland, Southern Africa. I spent the next four years putting this small ailing casino on a good financial footing by being actively involved in every aspect of the business. By the time I left Africa this casino was considered the best boutique casino location within the group, greatly loved by junket regulars, who received a level of customer service second to none. Reward for my endeavors was promotion to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, as Regional Gaming Director I had under my control 3 high revenue casinos. I am particularly proud of the management team we forged across the group which brought the 3 casinos to a level of efficiency and profitability never witnessed before on the island. I worked for a short time in Seychelles before returning to the UK, to learn the slot machine business with IGT’s (at that time the world leader in electronic gaming) distributor Casino Coin. During this period, I was actively involved with the startup of new casinos and many refurbishments of existing properties. The experience learnt with Casino Coin stood me in good stead from my next appointment in Colorado. I gained valuable experience across the board on this project from, working with construction, recruiting the team, and drafting operating manuals. Bringing together a management team from across the USA to work in a state that had never had gaming was a challenge but successfully achieved. Turkey was my next port of call and another opening, this time the largest casino Turkey, located in Izmir. Following this, a short journey across the border to Thessaloniki, Greece to open an even bigger casino (at that time Europe’s largest casino) and in later years taking over an ex-government casino in Athens. A state-owned casino in Greece was an eye-opening experience, the level of union interference was incredible, theft was rampant, political influence was daily but fortunately with the appointment of very good people we stamped this out and doubled the casinos revenue, all within the first year. During my time in Greece, I was appointed by Hyatt to oversee all their casinos outside North America & Caribbean, which included opening new casinos in Argentina, Spain, Azerbaijan, Philippines, and Albania. My experience in Greece has been very beneficial as it allowed me to become proficient with my board duties associated with a public company, plus being heavily involved with investment relations, developing a natural skill. Presentations on numerous road shows received positive reports as I became a trusted officer of a highly successful company (the company has since been privatized again) Reestablishing the Greek casinos over the next period has been an extremely challenging, due to the country’s very lengthy recession, a smoking ban, and then the impact of covid. We are now striding ahead after these setbacks and just recently have been given the green light to relocate our Athens casino. The future for land-based casinos is looking good!
