Betway adds new CEO; Sportech says it doesn’t need CEO or CFO

UK-licensed online betting operator Betway has installed a new CEO, while UK betting rival Sportech has decided it doesn’t need no steenking CEO, at least for the time being.

On Monday, Betway announced that it had promoted marketing and operations director Anthony Werkman as its new chief executive, replacing Richard Akitt, who is being kicked upstairs to the position of chairman of the board after five years in the CEO role.

Meanwhile, Sportech has decided it can do without a chief executive, or a chief financial officer, for that matter, for the foreseeable future. Sportech, which recently announced it was open to acquisition offers from eligible suitors, apparently feels content to adopt a semi-anarchic Lord of the Flies approach until some responsible adults come along, checkbook in hand.

In September, Sportech’s current CEO Ian Penrose announced that he’d be leaving the business by the end of the year, while CFO Mickey Kalifa formerly exited the scene on October 31. On Monday, Sportech said it “does not currently intend to replace these individuals” in order to help realize annualized cost savings, including executive compensation, of no less than £2m per annum.