Betfred’s John Haddock departs as CEO

Haddock, Chief Executive Officer of Betfred, has reportedly left his role with the Warrington-based bookmaker after more than 30 years with the company.

Haddock took over as CEO from Betfred founder Fred Done in July 2014, promoted from the position of Managing Director, with Done set to take over Haddock’s responsibilities on a temporary basis.

Betfred has yet to disclose the reasons prompting Haddock’s departure.

However, factors including the December 2014 introduction of the UK remote gaming duty and exceptional items of £83.7m influenced an operating loss of £76.7m for the year ending 27 September 2015, with company governance reportedly deciding a change was needed to reverse this performance.

The Racing Post quoted Fred Done as saying: “John Haddock has departed from the Betfred Group as CEO.

“I would like to thank John for his 30 years of loyal unblemished service and I wish him well for the future.

“For the time being I shall be assuming all of John’s duties.”

In related news, a report in the Irish Independent has stated that Betfred is to be successful in its bid to acquire the 350 to 400 betting shops that Ladbrokes and Coral must sell in order to complete their merger.