Board
Michael Buckley
Executive Chairman
Michael was Executive Chairman of Cashcade, which he founded with Patrick Southon and Simon Collins in 2000. Amongst a number of functions he performed for the company during this period, Michael was responsible for raising the £7 million equity needed for the company’s development, created a number of important commercial relationships for Cashcade, and led the sale process which generated an aggregate sale consideration of approximately £96 million for shareholders.
He has invested in and been Executive Chairman of a number of public companies. These include SelecTv plc, a producer of comedy and comedy drama series for television such as Lovejoy, Birds of a Feather and The New Statesman. SelecTv invested in a consortium which in 1991 won the franchise to create Meridian Television, of which Michael was a founder director. He was also Executive Chairman of Pacific Media plc, which invested in a number of internet backbone companies in Asia during the 1990s as well as creating a chain of movie theatres in South East Asia in partnership with United Artists Theatre Circuit Inc.
Jim Ryan
Non-executive Director
Jim was the Co-CEO of bwin.party digital entertainment plc and has spent the last 17 years of his career in leadership roles within the online gaming sector and led a number of the industry’s largest merger and acquisition transactions, including the merger of PartyGaming plc and Bwin; the acquisitions of Cashcade and the World Poker Tour; and the sale of St. Minver Limited.
Jim has held senior management posts at SXC Health Solutions Corp., Procuron Inc., Metcan Information Technologies Inc. and Epson Canada Limited.
His is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Public Accountant, accredited with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Mark Wilson
Non-executive Director
Mark Wilson is currently a partner of NMG, a slot machine distributor and route operator in New Mexico, and parent company to a gaming supply subsidiary in other southwestern US markets. He previously served as executive chairman of Music Choice International, a pan European digital music provider to over 30 cable, satellite, telecommunications and IPTV providers, where he oversaw the turnaround of the business and subsequent sale to Stingray Digital in 2011.
Mark also served as founding president and chief executive officer of Television Games Network (TVG) the leading interactive US horseracing network. TVG was incorporated in 1998 as a Liberty Media-backed company, which was subsequently sold to TV Guide in 2004.
He trained as a lawyer after having attended Western Kentucky University and obtaining a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville.
Chris Ash
Non-executive Director
Chris is one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and experts on the gaming industry. In a career of over 18 years in the industry, Chris built and sold Ash Gaming Ltd to Playtech plc for £23m, which, at the time, was one of the leading gaming content developers in the UK.
Whilst at Playtech plc, Chris also ran the content aggregation business with 25 partner studios and assisted with M&A. Chris is now an investor in, and advisor to, a range of software businesses.
Mark Blandford
Non-executive Director
Mark was the owner of a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ bookmaker’s chain for over 15 years, then recognised the potential of the internet in the mid 1990’s. In 1998 he founded Sportingbet.com, and in 2001 floated the company on AIM. Mark stepped down from the Board of Sportingbet in 2007 before its eventual sale in 2013 for £485m, with the assets being split between William Hill and GVC. In 2002, Mark was awarded AIM Entrepreneur of the Year.
After stepping down from the board of Sportingbet, Mark has become an active, successful and widely-followed investor in the digital pay2play entertainment space.
Mark Segal
Chief Finance Director
Mark worked as Finance Director of bwin.party bingo division, having been Finance Director of Cashcade until it was acquired by PartyGaming plc in July 2009. Mark was responsible for the full finance function, including commercial negotiations, business intelligence and operational support in the business and took the lead in the sale to PartyGaming plc and acquisition of Independent Technology Ventures in July 2007. Prior to joining Cashcade, in May 2005, Mark spent five years at the accountancy firm Martin Greene Ravden, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2003.
