Ladbrokes forms social responsibility committee

maker Ladbrokes has established a new social responsibility committee to help the firm’s board oversee the delivery of a socially responsible approach to providing betting and gaming services.

The committee, which will sit at least three times annually, will track and inform the board on Ladbrokes development of and adherence to its responsible gambling policy across all areas of business, as well as assessing the firm’s performance against other key social responsibility targets.

Peter Erskine, Ladbrokes chairman, said the creation of the committee formalises the approach to responsible gambling and social responsibility which sits at the “heart” of the bookmaker’s business and is important to the firm’s future.

Ladbrokes announced in February they would form a committee with a heavy emphasis on responsible gambling, utilise the data from its Odds On loyalty card to learn about at-risk behaviour, and link executive remuneration and responsible gambling from 2015 onwards.

Company experts will routinely attend sittings and work closely with Ladbrokes’ Remuneration Committee on developing key performance indicators which can then be used to ensure that responsible gambling is reflected in executive remuneration.

Erskine said: “It is clear that trust in bookmakers has been impacted by negative publicity and lobbying in the last year and while we may believe much of that concern is ill founded, we accept that it is only by our actions that we will be able to win it back.

“The social responsibility committee, chaired by senior independent director John Kelly with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the gambling industry, is a significant step in this process.”

The committee will be comprised of Kelly and non-executive director Christine Hodgson, with Erskine and CEO Richard Glynn in attendance