‘The plug came out and PaddyPower.com crashed’ but gambling veteran Grant is betting the house on Flutter – Independent.ie

From a tiny head office above a shoe shop in Tallaght to its recently refurbished seven-floor global headquarters in Clonskeagh, Conor Grant has seen it all with Paddy Power.

he UK and Ireland CEO for Flutter Entertainment, the global gambling giant formed by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, started his 22-year career in the betting industry at Paddy Power in 1998 on a graduate programme.

He recalls those early days fondly even if the technology wasnt what it is now.

It is a far cry from where we were,says Grant, pointing around the recently refurbished Dublin HQ. Paddy Power had no online business.

"There were 15 of us working in the telephone business and about seven or eight in the race room. The rest was the retail network. It was a very small head office above a shoe shop in Tallaght.

When PaddyPower.com started, we hadnt enough room in the head office, so we took a unit behind a nearby Spar shop, and we ran a cable across from the head office to behind the unit with an extension lead.

The lead came out, and PaddyPower.com was down, he adds with a laugh. This was back in 2001. It wasnt even live to the public, but it was just a completely different time.

Such technological challenges would be unthinkable now in the high-tech world of online gambling particularly at Flutter, which is now among the largest online betting businesses in the world with a valuation of around 19bn.

However, public scrutiny of the world of gambling has increased with growing demand to make it safer for punters. Could increased public scrutiny pull the plug on the sectors explosive growth in Ireland?

The betting industrysrecord on dealing with problem gambling has caught up with it. Regulation, which Flutter and Grant say they welcome, is on the way. There is also hope that a proposed gambling authority, an Irish betting regulator, can boost protections for punters.

With regulation coming in Ireland, Grant recognises the industry, including Flutter, has to embrace change.

I think the industry is at a hugely important juncture, and that is for a couple of reasons, he says.

We have got the regulatory and legislative process happening in the two key markets I operate in, and we think this is a fantastic opportunity to set this sector up for the next generation. The Government needs to get this right, and obviously, we want them to do too.

Is there stuff we did in the past that we cant do now? Yes, there will be, and that is the correct thing to do, he adds.

I think we have to acknowledge that what has happened in the past in some instances hasnt been right, and we have made mistakes but I think we have to move the discourse on. We have to be part of the solution.

Calls to update the regulations covering the gambling industry in Ireland have been knocking about for many years. Indeed, most of Irelands betting laws date back to 1931, barring some changes in 2015.

In October, junior justice minister James Browne published the General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill.

The bill included prohibitions on the offer of inducements such as free bets, VIP or preferential treatment; spending limits where practicable; restricting payment methods (such as credit cards); requirements around warnings and messaging;and prohibiting children from gambling.

Grant says Flutter wholeheartedly welcomed the news that regulations, and a gambling regulator, were closer to being introduced in Ireland.

There is a serious misconception that bookmakers dont want regulation, he says. We want it. We want it in all of our markets. It levels the playing field.

While Grant says he welcomes news of regulation in Ireland, he does have some concerns.

It has to be evidence-based, he says. It cant be cosmetic. If it is cosmetic, it wont deal with the heart of what we want to do here. We all want to reduce customer harm.

Gambling companies do have some concerns about the Bill.

In September, Flutter joined the European Gaming and Betting Association. Following the announcement of the Gambling Regulation Bill in October, the EGBA was quick off the mark to note its concern over media reports of potential blanket bans on free bets.

We have seen instances where free bets caused some issues for some customers, and we definitely need to look at that but banning free bets seems an excessive measure, Grant says.

There will be different points where we agree and disagree. But fundamentally, we go back to the core points, are we moving forward here and are we reducing customer harm.

As the Government continues to press ahead with introducing regulations to ensuresafer gambling, an incident in the UK involving Flutter put insharp focus what can happen when the bookies get it wrong.

During the betting industrys annual Safer Gambling Week, Flutter-owned online casino Sky Vegas sent emails to recovering gambling addicts, offering free online spins.

According to The Guardian, one email carried the subject line: Take a peek at what your mystery bonus is.

It read: Here at Sky Vegas, we love the unexpected. Thats right. Simply opt-in, spend 5 and claim your 100 free spins. The best part? Whatever you win is yours to keep thats the fun in fair!

On the incident, Grant says Flutter identified it and contacted UK watchdog the Gambling Commission straight away.

It was a mistake. It shouldnt have happened, he says. It is something that personally I am very, very sorry about.

We will continue to make sure we invest in the systems to make sure these things never happen again.

Growing up in Newry, Co Down, Grant wasnt always interested in the world of gambling. Grant went to Queens University in Belfast to study history and politics. He joined the SDLP, where he worked with politician Seamus Mallon.

I thought I was going to save Northern Ireland, he says.

During that time, he was introduced to the head of Drury Communications in Northern Ireland. Then, following a short stint in the US playing Gaelic football, he joined the company while studying business at UCDs Smurfit Business School.

However, he soon discovered the world of PR wasnt for him.

I would go into Drury at 6am and do all the newspaper cuttings and have them all on the client director desks they used to get very excited by it, he says with a laugh. I thought, Nah, this career isnt for me.

Soon after graduating from UCD, a newspaper advert for a graduate programme caught his eye in 1998. The advert was for Paddy Power and eventually led Stewart Kenny, co-founder and former chairman of the betting company, to hire Grant.

Kenny was friends with Fintan Drury, founder of Drury Communications and former chairman of Paddy Power.

Grant stayed with Paddy Power until 2005, where he served several roles across its burgeoning online business. After that, his career took him across the betting industry, with positions at Blue Square in the UK, Boyle Sport and then Sky Betting and Gaming.

Im an operator, he says. I dread to think how many jobs I have done in this sector. I have seen entire phases, all the transitions.

In late 2019, while working with Sky Betting and Gaming, news of a merger between industry titans The Stars Group, which owned Sky Bet, and Flutter hit the headlines.

Flutter completed the transaction in May 2020 during the Covid pandemic. Grant was subsequently employed as Flutters UK and Ireland CEO, bringing him back full circle.

As CEO of the UK and Ireland, Grant is at the coalface as Flutter and its brands integrate. He says Flutter has already completed its first integration, pricing for greyhound racing in Dublin and then distributing it to SkyBet and Paddy Power Betfair.

From our perspective, the three brands will compete in their segments of the market, and we will complement behind the scenes, he says. We share technology, we share ideas, and thats the advantage of bringing these businesses together.

Grant is also focused on bolstering the UK and Ireland divisions performance.

In its recent Q3results for 2021, Flutter slashed its full-year adjusted Ebitda guidance to between 1.24bn and 1.28bn. Its UK and Ireland division also revealed a hit, with revenue down 5pc reflecting tough year-on-year comparisons

Flutters Group CEO Peter Jackson told analysts it would be difficult to imagine the online market in the UK would experience any real growth into next year. With the forecast cut, the share price tumbled.

Grant wasnt too concernedthough, believing Flutters position in the US, UK and Australia meant it would remain a robust long-term bet.

Flutters share price pain hasnt stopped it from going on the acquisition hunt either. Earlier this month, Flutter announced it is to buy online UK bingo operator Tombola for an enterprise value of 402m.

Grant says he has been a long admirer of the business, adding its appeal lies in the recreational nature of its customer base an area of the market we are targeting in the UK and Ireland.

As Flutter continues to grow, the importance of safer gambling remains a top priority,says Grant.

According to Grant, Flutter has been proactive on safer gambling in Ireland. This year it introduced new measures including a ban on customers using credit cards, a whistle-to-whistle advertising ban and it will also bring about a maximum monthly deposit limit of 500 for under 25s as part of its triple-step affordability checks.

Grant says Flutter will get more from its data to identify when customer behaviour becomes a concern.

For us, it is about how we get smarter, he says. How do we get our data to tell us more when we detect these patterns.

"We cant tell what is happening in peoples lives, but we can work through and identify a change in behaviour that is significant enough for us to act on. That is really crucial.

Given Flutters changes over the past year and moves by the Government toward introducing a regulator, the question is why the company and industry hadnt introduced more safety measures before.

It is a good question, Grant says. I think different business have been at different speeds on this.

"I think the sector has realised thatSorry, what has happened in the past cant [happen anymore]. There needs to be greater due diligence, the regulator has increased the standards in the UK, and that has driven higher standards.

Grant is among the believers that a regulator can benefit the industry and protect consumers in the long run.

As the industry moves toward its important juncture, Grant reflects on the considerable culture change he believes has taken place in the world of gambling.

He admits he is the only individual on the Flutter executive team with a background in the industry, with the rest newcomers eager to drive change and lead it.

If youd said to someone three years ago that a business like Flutter would introduce mandatory deposit limits for under 25s, the vast majority of people wouldve said no chance.

Thats where we are today, he adds. We did that.

Name:Conor Grant

Age:45

Position:Chief executive, Flutter UK & Ireland

Lives:York (originally from Newry, Co Down)

Family:Married to Elaine with three sons

Education:BA in history and politics from Queens University, Belfast; postgraduate diploma in business from UCD Business School.

Experience:Paddy Power graduate scheme and held several positions in Paddypower.com; head of product at Rank Interactive (BlueSquare) until 2008;head of online at Boylesports; held a variety of positions at Sky Betting & Gaming, including managing director of gaming, before becoming chief operating officer in October 2018.

Favourite pastime:Spending time with my family; avid sports watcher, particularly GAA.

Favourite film:The Usual Suspects

Favourite book:Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football's Lost Genius by Oliver Kay

What is the best piece of advice you have received during your career?"Invest in your self-development.You have spent the vast majority of you career in the gambling industry across a variety of roles and companies. But what is the one lesson you have learned in your career thats stood you best?Embrace change and be positive, as nothing stays the same for ever.

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'The plug came out and PaddyPower.com crashed' but gambling veteran Grant is betting the house on Flutter - Independent.ie