John Boyle, founder and chief executive of Boylesports, has announced his intention to step down as CEO and retire from the company he founded in 1982. Boyle (61) is expected to announce a successor from within the family.
Currently, Boyle’s daughters, Orla and Jenna hold senior executive positions in the company and his son-in-law, Connor Gray, holds the position of Director of International Development. Boyle will take up the role of Executive Chairman, maintaining a governance position within the company.
“I’ve been CEO now since 2012, and that’s not my gig; my gig was retail and going out and finding stores,” Boyle explained to the Irish Sunday Independent. “But I’ve gone in and I’ve enjoyed it for five years. I’m ready this year to step back from the frontline of being leader.”
Boylesports is currently the second largest bookmaker in Ireland with more than 200 betting shops across the country. Boyle has stated that he feels it is unlikely his company could continue to grow in the Irish gaming market where it has achieved peak penetration.
In 2014, Boyle announced that he was looking for a replacement as CEO so he could take Boylesports into the saturated UK market. Boylesports was looking to buy 360 Ladbrokes and Coral betting shops in the UK after they were required to sell as part of the conditions for their merger; however, the shops were eventually bought by Betfred.
However, Boyle said: “I would hope within the next twelve months that we would set our sights at having at least 100 shops in the UK.”
At the same time, Boylesports has signed a €1 million deal with IT services company, Nostra Systems. Nostra has been servicing Boylesports since 2011 and this deal extends that partnership for a further four years.