Zillah Byng Thorne steps down from Flutter board

Zillah Byng Thorne has been a board member at the FTSE100 gambling group for nine years.

Ireland.- The FTSE100-listed gambling group Flutter Entertainment has informed shareholders that Zillah Byng Thorne has stepped down as a member of the board after nine years. She will officially leave her directorship duties on January 31, 2023.

Byng Thorne was originally appointed to the board of Betfair Plc in 2013 but stayed on as a director after mergers with Paddy Power and The Stars Group Inc (TSG). In September, it emerged that she had informally signalled an intention to step down from her position as CEO at the media and publishing group Future Plc by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, Byng Thorne has been appointed as non-executive director of NYSE-listed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, effective from November 1.

In February, former Ryanair CEO Michael Cawley had also advised of his decision not to renew his position on Flutter’s board. He and Byng Thorne have been replaced by US executives Holly Keller Koeppel and David Lazzarato, who joined Flutter at the start of the year.

Lazzarato has replaced Byng-Thorne as chair of Flutter’s risk and sustainability committee, although Byng Thorne has been retained as an advisor on sustainability directives.

Flutter chair Gary McGann said: “I wish to take this opportunity to thank Zillah for her exceptional contribution to the Board over the past nine years and wish her well for the future.”

Last month, the board of Flutter Entertainment advised investors that group chief financial officer (CFO) Jonathan Hill would transition to become group chief operations officer (COO) next year. In the newly created role, Hill will be responsible for maximising Flutter’s global scale, synergies and strategic direction.

Hill had been group COO since 2018. That role will now be taken on by Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, who will join Flutter as group CFO and executive director in the first half of next year.  Edgecliffe-Johnson will join Flutter from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), where he has served as CFO and group head of strategy since 2014. Prior to that, he served as associate director of corporate finance at HSBC.

Flutter will announce its Q3 trading results on November 9.

Meanwhile, Flutter’s PokerStars has announced a bootcamp initiative with Poker Power in a bid to get more women taking to the table. They hope to reach novice women players who have a strong interest in poker and want to improve their skills and experience.

The bootcamp will last four weeks and will be open to women internationally. It will focus on gameplay, including negotiation, strategic decision-making and capital allocation.