The Board
Ian Riley - Chairman
Ian is a Managing Partner and Founder of Vitruvian Partners. Prior to founding Vitruvian, Ian spent 8 years at BC Partners where he was a Senior Partner. Ian has 16 years experience in private equity during which time he led successful investments in companies operating in Europe and the US. He has expertise in a number of industries including Leisure, Media, Consumer Products and Business Services. He currently represents Vitruvian on the board of Inspired Gaming Group. Ian began his private equity career with Schroder Ventures (now Permira). Prior to this he worked in corporate finance at J Henry Schroder Wagg. He has an MEng from Cambridge University and an MBA (with distinction) from INSEAD.
Ben Johnson - Investor Director
Ben is a Principal of Vitruvian Partners. Prior to joining the founding team, he was with Cinven where he participated in a number of transactions in the Leisure, Consumer, Travel Technology and Media sectors. He currently represents Vitruvian on the board of Tinopolis Group and Inspired Gaming Group. Prior to Cinven he was at Goldman Sachs where he worked in corporate finance, leveraged finance and private equity. Ben has an MA from Oxford University.
Executive Management Team
David Loveday - Chief Executive Officer
David Loveday has been Chief Executive at OpenBet Ltd since 2002 making him one of the longest-serving CEOs in the betting industry. During his tenure, the company has established itself as a market leader in gaming software. Having established the move towards open content, this has developed OpenBet into the world-leading supplier of sports-betting technology. Prior to joining OpenBet, David established the international business for KANA in 1997 (CRM Company), contributing to its IPO on NASDAQ in 1999, one of the top ten IPOs listed that year. His previous career encompassed senior sales roles in the investment banking market working for Sun and then Sybase. David is a graduate from the University of East Anglia. Other significant developments for OpenBet during David’s time as CEO include the acquisition strategy and expansion into regulated markets. NT Media, Electracade and most recently Alphameric Solutions, now OpenBet Retail, have been successfully acquired. Having built a strong track record of compliance and probity, OpenBet continues to be a key player in the business to government and lottery markets having recently entered France and Canada as the betting platform of choice.
Colin Rowlands - Chief Financial Officer
Colin Rowlands graduated in 1995 from the University of Warwick with a first class honours degree in Maths, Operational Research, Statistics & Economics. On leaving university he joined Touche Ross (now Deloitte) in their audit department and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998. On qualification he transferred to Deloitte’s management consultancy department and spent three years working on a variety of projects for organisations including William Hill, the National Air Traffic Services and the Ministry of Defence. In 2001 he joined Orbis (now OpenBet) as Financial Controller and in 2007 was promoted to Chief Financial Officer.
Jeremy Thompson-Hill - Chief Operating Officer
Jeremy Thompson-Hill joined OpenBet in January 2000 as an Account Manager and as the initial sales person within the company. Jeremy progressed to Sales Director in 2003, Sales and Marketing Director in 2005, Operational VP in 2007 then to Chief Operating Officer in June 2008. In his capacity as COO, Jeremy is responsible for Sales, OpenBet Sportsbook and Casino Operations and Product R&D. He also manages key customer relations. Jeremy was involved in the initial sale of Orbis (the former name of OpenBet) to NDS in November 2001, and subsequent acquisitions. Prior to OpenBet, Jeremy worked from 1996 to 2000 within the Amstrad group for Lord Sugar’s Viglen Technology Ltd in a sales capacity.
Susanna Underwood - Vice President Communications
Susanna Underwood joined OpenBet Ltd as Director of Communications in January 2010 where she is responsible for PR, marketing and all internal and external communications. She joined OpenBet with a background of over 10 years in the PR, entertainment and brand licensing industry. Previously as a Director at Rare Communications she worked with leading brands such as the BBC and PlayStation and a number of VCs and technology entrepreneurs driving the nascent virtual world marketplace. Her early career was spent working for MGM following graduation from Northumbria at Newcastle University. Upon completion of the transaction in January 2011, Susanna was appointed Company Secretary.
