IGRG appoints new Chairman

The IGRG, which is comprised of the five main trade associations from the gambling industry, has today appointed Barry Hardy as its new chairman.

The IGRG provides a structure to promote socially responsible gambling in the licensed UK gambling market. Building on existing relationships and work streams, it also provides a cross-sector forum to consider matters of common interest associated with the three licensing objectives in Section 1 of the Gambling Act 2005.

Clive Hawkswood, who has presided as chairman of the Group since its establishment in March 2014, said that: ‘Our original intention was to rotate the chairmanship on an annual basis between each of the trade associations, but we soon decided that it would be beneficial to have an independent chairman if a suitable candidate could be identified and Barry fits the bill perfectly.

I and my trade association colleagues were obviously delighted when he agreed to accept our invitation. I am sure we will all work well together as we take forward a range of initiatives that are currently being finalised.’

Commenting on his appointment, Barry Hardy stated that: ‘The wider gambling industry has done much over the years to promote socially responsible gambling and those developments should be acknowledged. However, we must proactively strive to identify and implement further improvements where we can.

The IGRG has unmatched reach across the UK gambling industry and I have been pleasantly surprised by how well the associations have been working together. I am very much looking forward to the coming months as we begin to do more detailed work in areas such as staff training, customer interaction, and messaging.’