Simon Reynolds Appointed Non-Executive Director at GAMSTOP

UK self-exclusion register GAMSTOP announced that it appointed Simon Reynolds as Non-Executive Director to further strengthen its senior leadership team.

Cross-Industry Experience

The new addition to the National Online Self-Exclusion Scheme, Simon Reynolds, brings over 30 years of cross-industry knowledge and experience in compliance and regulatory affairs to the responsible gambling awareness organization.

We are delighted that Simon has agreed to join the board and look forward to working with him in the future. We will always put the consumer at the heart of our service but it is important for us to also hear from operators and I know Simon will bring welcome insight to our discussions.”

Jenny Watson, Chair, GAMSTOP

Simon Reynolds, who most recently served as chief compliance officer at Buzz Bingo and has another former position as compliance director at gambling group Entain, will be tasked in his new role at GAMSTOP to provide assistance to the group’s operational team and facilitate the implementation of guidance and best practices for operators as part of integrity improvement efforts of the online self-exclusion team.

The appointment of Reynolds will see him replace the single organization’s non-executive director at the 5-member Board of Directors Roger Parks, where Reynolds will be expected to deliver insight and environmental overview to the organization’s leadership, provided by operators who are obliged to integrate with the online self-exclusion scheme.

Growing Gambling Awareness

UK’s national self-exclusion scheme marked significant growth in the number of registrations in the first half of the year as compared to the respective 6-month period in 2020. GAMSTOP announced a total of 40,000 new registrations for the first six months of the year, with the peak of registrations made in March.

The increased demand for the services provided by the responsible gambling organization registered so far this year sparked hopes that people in the UK are becoming more aware of their gambling behavior, as well as the tools at their disposal to mitigate any gambling-related harm.

At the time of the report, GAMSTOP announced that the new registrations featured people from all ethnic groups, gender and backgrounds, pointing out that no one is exempt from gambling harm and the importance of continuing efforts to further raise public awareness of the issue.

An independent evaluation report of GAMSTOP in July revealed that a significant amount of people who registered with the online self-exclusion scheme completely stopped or reduced gambling since registering. Research consultancy Sonnet estimated 82% of the consumers have been positively affected after registering with the service.