Ladbrokes’ board establishes social responsibility committee
Ladbrokes has established a new social responsibility committee to help its board oversee the delivery of a socially responsible approach to providing betting and gaming services.
The committee will be chaired by senior independent director John Kelly and will include non-executive director Christine Hodgson, with chairman Peter Erskine and chief executive Richard Glynn in attendance.
Ladbrokes said the committee will sit at least three times a year and will monitor and report to the board on the adherence to and development of responsible gambling policy across all areas of the business. It will also assess performance against other key social responsibility targets.
Erskine said: “We have always placed responsible gambling and social responsibility at the heart of our business and the establishment of the Committee formalises this approach and reinforces its importance to the future of the business.
“It is clear that trust in bookmakers has been impacted by negative publicity and lobbying in the last year, and while we may believe that much of the concern is ill founded, we accept that it is only by our actions will be able to win it back. The Social Responsibility Committee, chaired by John Kelly with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the gambling industry, is a significant step in this process.”
As part of plans announced in February, Ladbrokes is also looking to link executive remuneration and responsible gambling from 2015 onwards and to utilise the data from its Odds On loyalty card to learn about at risk behaviour.
