[Music] yeah hello viewers and welcome to the latest episode of the Huddle I'm delighted to be joined by grona Hurst a Group corporate Affairs director at inaine Bron thanks for joining us thanks for having me Tim yeah no problem plenty to talk talk about plenty to ask you about um to start off with um obviously we had the departure of uh Yeta uh nagar Anderson as CEO and we've now got Stella David uh in place as interim um a lot going on with in a lot of reports about potentially selling brands and things like that um I imagine it's busy for you in your role um how's life of the company in general yeah so it's been a hugely busy and eventful period as I'm sure you've seen and can also Imagine um Lots going on period of change um what I would say though is that with Stella David as our interim Chief exec we have a very credible very effective very likable individual steering the ship um she has been injecting a real sense of honesty and realism into the business um and is really committed to kind of getting back to what we call our brilliant Basics um so I would say lots going on but morale is very good at entain um and really kind of doubling down on delivering on our core objectives which are our organic growth so you know driving Revenue in our key markets like the UK and Brazil uh but also margin expansion and also making the most of the exciting opport unity in the US um we had the chelton festival recently so a far less challenging question but an important one not the same um how was how was the uh the festival maybe for yourself personally but but I guess more importantly for entain as an organization yeah I would say chelam was a tale of two halfs so the first couple of days were very punter friendly um obviously some issues with the weather as well um the second two days were a bit more bookmaker friendly um quite interesting that over a third of our turnover from chelham actually comes from Gold Cup day which is obviously the Friday and a few of the favorites were beaten on Gold Cup day um which has made it a solid chelam for labs and coral uh for me personally uh loved it I was only lucky enough to be there on the Wednesday U but Captain Guinness uh was a a big win for me on the Wednesday and meant that I'm actually SI six pound up from my chelam Festival so I'm going to chalk that up as a win brilliant brilliant um I think the book The bookmakers in general not just in have a lot to thank Al fabiolo for um in a in a weird sort of way yeah true always always unfortunate when that happens but yeah you're right yeah yeah um I mean I I had a trouble on that one but I won't I won't go too far into it's it's gone now um uh as we said plent plenty going on in the organization so a lot of a lot of incoming queries for you as as corporate Affairs director um what are kind of in your day-to-day role what are the most pressing things for you right now yeah so I run a global team of 12 um and my role as corporate Affairs director covers a myriad of things uh mainly public policy and public advocacy work also are say for gambling strategy and our International Regulatory Affairs work um but given that the UK is the biggest part of our business and there is probably the most going on from a regulatory and advocacy and lobbying policy perspective probably unsurprising that that is the thing that's top of my to-do list at the minute um we have had a number of consultations from both the gambling act sorry from the gambling commission and dcms which we've been responding to and working through and obviously waiting for updates on um but there's also a load of voluntary initiatives that we as entain are doing with the betting and gaming Council our trade Association whether that be on things like setting up a voluntary Ombudsman or trying to understand what a single view of the customer scheme might look like for our most vulnerable cohorts and so there is a lot going on obviously incoming new government soon to be on the cards in 2024 whatever shape and color that might look like so obviously preparing for that um so it's a busy time but really excited one definitely a few followup questions I'll have about the about the consultations and and the white paper and things like that um but you mentioned that the betting gaming Council um obviously we both at the AGM recently I just wanted to ask um your views on how the kind of gambling commission is interacting with operators at the moment because from certainly what what we saw at the AGM uh what I've been saying to people is I see a lot of positivity there I think Andrew rhods firm but fair but certainly loads more engagement than than a dark time when sort of for 2 three years there was there was no engagement really yeah I would totally second that so the operators and the gambling commission and the betting and gaming Council and some extent dcms have been working really closely since the gambling act review was launched on all of the various work streams but there is you know a markedly more positive relationship I would say with everybody involved there than as you say there was maybe a couple of years ago which is really positive for everybody m MH yeah as I say a few more specific follow-ups I'll have on on the UK Market specifically um but I wanted to talk about obviously inaine recently uh reported its Financial results and an inevitable impact on that was uh you know the the fine the big um I think it was 585 million but that was to do with historical failings and uh when Barry Gibson was on the Huddle he spoke about you know the that was very much a historical thing the need to move forward um and do things correctly responsible gaming entain um as as corporate Affairs director and and kind of representing the company what's the view on on how the results came in and also that uh I guess the message from Barry Gibson about moving forward and and very much hopefully leaving that side of things in the past yeah exactly so I'll probably deal with the hmrc element first and then I can come on to the results so really pleased uh both personally and my role but as a business to be able to put that issue behind us now and draw a line under it I think it gives us real opportunity to focus on the business going forward rather than having to keep talking about and dealing with historical Legacy issues um so really pleased that we can do that um also quite pleased with the way that the business has changed over the period in question I was involved very heavily speaking to Regulators During the period running up to that decision to highlight the extent to which the business has changed obviously there are no individuals with the business now that were here during that time we've gone through comprehensive reviews of our policies and procedures um to make sure that there are no gaps in those and we genuinely are a different business now to what we were then from top to bottom I would say so really pleas that that is behind us I think on the results last week we delivered growth despite a challenging backdrop I would say um which is a real Testament to the robustness of the business I think a couple of the figures that I would just draw attention to would be the group ebit of a billion quid and also the fact that underlying profit was 399 million positive which I think are the key stats to really reflect how the business what the business is going to look like going forward um and really exciting opportunity as I said at the start in the US so our us ngr was up 36% year onye which again is really exciting given the scale of the opportunity in the US um and obviously show some really strong growth there so lots of opportunities uh we're obviously getting back to the basics our strategy working you know we have some key Focus areas which we're going to be delivering on whether that is as I said our key markets like the UK and Brazil looking at customer loyalty and retention and lifetime value and obviously player protection um as well as again us opportunity uh really excited and proud actually to say that our Us app was the fastest sports betting app um in the industry which again is super exciting and really encouraging for the business um and it's all underpinned I would say by three key things the first is the amazing group of talented colleagues that we have across the globe that are working kind of day in day in different time zones delivering uh but also we have said that we will be the only operator to operate in regulated or regulating markets um and we have said and continue to reiterate that we genuinely think that only a sustainable business will be a successful one in the short term but also the medium and the long term absolutely so as you mentioned uh plenty of opportunity in the US and in Brazil but I'm going to return to the UK because in the theme of sustainability kind of uh Back to Basics as well um you know the a lot as as you said earlier a lot of your day is is to do with uh the change in the UK at the moment obviously we had the slot limits the online slot limits implemented recently and uh you know a lot of discussion about affordability checks um and in fact even whether we should call them affordability checks or or vulnerability checks and things like that um you personally and your colleagues have you spoken at kind of the consultations and and if so what kind of discussions have you had yeah so we have uh there have been a lot lot of them as I said um but we've been engaging um verbally with that but also responding to the consultations in writing uh I've also spoken at and I know some of my team have spoken at various sessions which the commission have run and also some of the conferences on this topic um and the key message is really that we welcome the gambling act review and we think it's you know the right time um to update the regulations for the new world that we live in so fully supportive of that but we need to make sure that all of the policies are proportionate because what we don't want to be doing is driving people into the black market which overregulation and Draconian regulation can very easily do now affordability as you mentioned or vulnerability is a key one um it's been widely debated in the horse racing industry and in the racing post and obviously there was a recent debate in Parliament about it but it is a genuine bug bear of customers they do not want to provide their documents whether that be pay slips you know p60s bank statements and we know that 80% of them will outright refuse to do that but they will definitely want to bet somewhere else because it's part of their Leisure and entertainment and so what will they do they can't get on with the regulated and licensed sector so they'll go to the unregulated sector which have no checks and balances on player protection grounds but also pay nothing back to the UK PLC so our key message is that everything needs to be in proportion and that we're willing to work with the gambling commission and dcms to see how that how we can kind of find our path through that what should be a simple question is probably the the most difficult of them all right now what's what's next for for you guys from the especially from the operator point of view so we had uh Kindred sustainable gambling conference this week and and I I spoke to couple of people at the company and on the Huddle they said um at the moment it's it's very much a waiting game waiting for kind of clarity from from the dcms from the commission what's next especially on the topic that you just mentioned kind of the checks with with so many different opinions and and sets of data what is next I know you probably can't answer that in a in a in one word yeah I wish I could um I think what's next so entain are in a positive position I would say if you look at the gambling act review because we have voluntarily implemented many of the initiatives that are being discussed and consulted on so whether it's the mandatory Levy at 1% we voluntarily committed to doing that already we've already agreed um and actually actioned quite a few years ago removing the logos of football shirt sponsorships which I know is something that's under conversation at the minute um so we're well placed I would say to mitigate what's coming down the track from the gambling act review in terms of the affordability debate you know probably the best I can say is that there are active discussions with all of the interested parties at the minute dcms the gambling commission The Operators the trade associations to understand how we can make a system work which protects a small number of customers that may be at risk of gambling related harm but doesn't cause a load of friction and irritation for the millions of customers that like to have a bet you know on a daily or a weekly basis as part of their Leisure and entertainment and I'm hoping we can find a way through that um I think there is a realization and an acceptance now that actually we can't go back to what was originally drafted in you know documenting people at very low limits because that just won't work um and as I said early we'll send people to the wrong place so I'm confident that we will get to a point where we can work our way through it in a sensible manner we're not quite there yet but hopefully it's not too far away sure um with everything going on uh with everything we've discussed and more um if you had one wish as the Group corporate Affairs director andain right now what would it be good question um I would so I think we're never going to be able to keep everybody happy you know there's always going to be people that like to have a bet there's always going to be people who don't like the industry for whatever reason that is but what I would like to see is probably two things a broader recognition of the contribution that the industry makes so to player protection but also to UK PLC um and also I would quite like the recreational customers voice to be a bit louder and prouder in the debate you know it can be sometimes a little bit one-sided and it's quite difficult to get the voices of the people like you and me who might like to have a bet out in there so if I had a wish it would be broader recognition of the customer and the contribution that the industry makes sure now good answer um a final question from me um if to look look ahead because I always like to to end on kind of question looking forward um including the UK but but maybe broader and uh as you say we've talked a lot about the UK and you probably talk about a lot on a daily basis so maybe even you can look ahead to things outside of the UK what's uh what are you kind of looking for for the rest of the year with in yeah so uh continuing on our strategy I would say but things that are really exciting outside of the UK are Brazilian regulation obviously that has been a long time in the making um and still isn't quite baked yet but I think that's a really exciting opportunity for us um and again from an ENT perspective we are obviously on the hunt for a full-time chief executive so um fully supportive and behind Stellar at the moment and everything she's delivering but I think internally people are excited about who that might be and what their focus and vision might be which I'm hoping we might see in 2024 um and then just continuing to grow organically across Europe with all of our core markets and also building on the greater success in Latin America the US and Canada as well so lots to do lots to hope for and lots of excitement I would say for this year yeah um on the co note uh similar we we're very interested and we'll be keeping keeping a close eye on how that develops as well um yeah yeah you're probably here before I do well gr thanks very much for your time uh we covered a lot um what seems like a a huge amount really a short space of time but I'm sure we'll speak again soon and best of luck with everything during what is a busy time for you yeah likewise thanks for having me Tim thank you and to our viewers thanks for watching