19 December 2018
GVC Holdings PLC
(“GVC”, the “Group”)
GVC Continues Responsible Gambling Drive with EPIC Risk Management and announces Schools initiative
GVC Holdings has signed a multi-year agreement with EPIC Risk Management (“EPIC”), the leading independent gambling harm minimisation consultancy in the UK.
Under the terms of the agreement EPIC will advise GVC and deliver training to Group employees across three key areas:
- Strategic advice on GVCs RG strategy, with a focus on identifying the best approach when interacting with customers who show signs of problem gambling.
- Delivery of responsible gambling workshops across the highest risk populations including selected charitable partners in the field of problem gambling support.
- Delivery of the world’s largest face-to-face gambling awareness and education programme for school children. GVC’s support for EPIC will see them deliver courses to at least 12,000 school children, across 100 UK state schools over the next two years with the aim of enabling them to make more informed decisions around gambling upon reaching the age of 18. The programme will be independently evaluated by a leading UK University.
Within these areas, EPIC will provide services including, key case reviews, policy development, executive support and education.
Commenting on the announcement, Grainne Hurst, GVC’s Director of Responsible Gambling said:
“We are delighted to be working with EPIC and to be able to utilise their expertise to help us to deliver an industry-leading approach to all aspects of responsible gambling. This agreement supports our commitment to create the safest gaming environment for our customers, employees and wider society, including young people.”
Paul Buck, Chief Executive of EPIC Risk Management added:
“EPIC are committed to reducing gambling related harm and helping to advise and educate organisations in the highest risk sectors in how to pro-actively make gambling safer and fairer for all, especially young people. We welcome the opportunity to work with GVC as they aspire to improve standards around responsible gambling and provide a safer environment for their customers and their employees.”
Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by GVC in 2018 under its new Fair Play CSR strategy which comprises three principal pillars; Responsible Gambling, Responsible Employer and Responsible Communities. Under each of these pillars the Group have rolled-out a number of policies:
- Responsible gaming – A commitment to double spending; a partnership with GamCare to focus on educating young people on gambling issues; a call to curb advertising around live sports and; funding for a major new prevalence in the US with the US National Council on Problem Gambling and
- Responsible Employer – launched a new Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) strategy, which outlines a three-year roadmap towards a more inclusive business.
- Responsible Communities – The Group relaunched the Ladbrokes Coral Trust and ran major campaigns for The Bobby Moore Fund and Alzheimer’s Research UK; unveiled a strategic three-year partnership with SportsAid and announced the establishment of a new GVC Community Fund with £2million of funding.
More details can be found in the Group’s 2017-18 CSR Report.
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For further information:
Jay Dossetter
jdossetter@gvcgroup.com
About GVC
GVC Holdings PLC is one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports Brands include bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis. GVC acquired Ladbrokes Coral Group plc on 28 March 2018 and is now the UK’s largest high street bookmaker, with over 3,500 betting shops. The Group, incorporated in the Isle of Man, is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index and has licences in more than 20 countries, across five continents.
For more information see the Group's website: www.gvc-plc.com