Heike is Chairwoman on the board of ESSA and heads GVC Group's Public and Regulatory Affairs at EU level as well as in several Member States. On the strength of her communication and PA background, she has been particularly involved in the European Commission's action plan on online gambling. She further represents the company's interests within the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA).
Ewout Keuleers is General Counsel to Kindred Group Plc ( Unibet, Stan James) where he is responsible for the group's continued compliance of business activities with sector specific regulations, in particular gaming licenses and AML/CTF.He is a qualified lawyer in Belgium and solicitor in England and Wales. Besides a Master in Laws, he holds an ICA International Advanced Certificate in anti-money laundering.
Bill is Director of Security at William Hill plc, has an extensive background in gambling and security. Following 23 years in the Cambridgeshire Constabulary, including time as a Detective Chief Inspector, he has gone on to work for the British Horseracing Authority (formerly the Jockey Club), the Gambling Commission (formerly The Gaming Board of Great Britain), and the Sports Betting Integrity Panel.
A practicing Solicitor with over 13 years' post qualification experience, Christian specialises in corporate law and mergers & acquisitions. He worked in private practice for national firms (Hammonds (now called Squire Sanders), Wragge & Co and Halliwells) for around 10 years, before moving in-house as Group General Counsel to Stanleybet in February 2010. Christian was promoted to the main executive board as Director of Group Legal Services in May of 2013.
My entire career has been spent in Trading to this point, in various locations and positions around the globe. I've worked for both Hills and Ladbrokes in the their former Spread Betting operations and headed the Trading Department of the first corporate bookmaking operation in South Africa. I spent a brief period of time working for Tony Bloom at Victor Chandlers in Gibraltar before returning to the UK, and eventually relocating to Guernsey with Sportingbet in 2007. When Sportingbet departed for Malta I remained off shore taking up the position of Head of Trading for Betway. I currently manage 70 traders over 3 different locations and have P&L sportsbook responsibilities for the .com operation.
My first real close contact with integrity issues in sport came with the Hansie Cronje match fixing scandal that rocked South African cricket to its core. From this point onwards I've been acutely aware of the need for Trading to be at the front line of protecting the integrity of sports, both from a clear P&L management point of view and as a vital legitimacy and credibility exercise to establish within the full view of clients. With the Gambling Commission's very clear directives on AML and RG it's vital that integrity as at the very front of all Trader's minds. I look on this opportunity to the join the ESSA board as an opportunity to share and put to good use my years of experience combatting integrity issues and as a way to underline Betway's commitment to openness, fair play and honesty.
With nearly 8 years of experience working in gambling, sport and international policy making, David has developed an in-depth understanding of the international sports betting integrity landscape. Having initially joined Betfair's Regulatory Affairs team in 2014, David became Public Affairs Manager at Paddy Power Betfair in 2016 following the merger of the two companies. David's primary focus is to secure favourable policy and regulatory conditions to support PPB's international business, with sports betting integrity issues forming a major part of this work. Working closely with PPB's integrity team, he provides regulatory advice to the business and leads engagement with international regulators and political stakeholders.
Prior to joining the gambling world, David worked at the Sport and Recreation Alliance – the trade association for UK sports governing bodies – where he was closely involved with the development of sports betting integrity policies through his role as secretariat of the Sports Betting Group. After graduating from the University of Bath and the University of Rome, David began his career working in Brussels as an advisor to a British Member of the European Parliament.