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Downsizing on the agenda of the new Gala Coral CEO
The UK's Gala Coral Group is planning for a downturn, according to Dominic Harrison, the firm's new Chief Executive Officer who replaced Neil Goulden in September. "Like everybody else, we are seeing pressure on the disposable pound," he said, commenting on the company's plans to trim its five divisions back to three, which could lead to up to 200 job losses.
The group cut its earnings forecast for next year by almost 10 percent, and has announced that Chairman John Kelly, who lead the group's buyout three years ago, is leaving almost a year earlier than planned - he will depart before the end of 2008, rather than in October 2009. Gary Hughes is joining the company's board in the role of chief financial officer.
In an apparently unrelated move, the company ruffled feathers by withdrawing from all four UK trade associations of which it was a member: the Bingo Association; the British Casino Association; the Association of British Bookmakers; and the Remote Gambling Association. Gala is understood to support the concept of a single trade association for UK interests.
