Recognising and rewarding expertise and innovation
in the betting and gaming industries.

 BetConstruct Chairman Vigen Badalyan also assumed CEO duties for the company in November 2017 following the departure of Vahe Baloulian. Formerly the owner of Vivaro Betting, Badalyan was one of the founding members of the company, which now operates development, sales and service centres in 14 countries worldwide. Now headquartered in London, Badalyan has overseen the growth of BetConstruct’s online and land-based gaming solutions, with a product range which includes a fully managed sportsbook and casino, alongside sports data and retail betting shop solutions.

Fred Done recently celebrated 50 years in the betting game. With his brother Peter, he opened the first ‘Done Bookmakers’ betting shop in Pendlebury on 4 September 1967. Heading up the family business, the real growth came in the millennium with a name change to Betfred and the opening of a first shop in London. By 2010, Betfred had a high street presence of 800 shops, which grew to 1,350 with the purchase of the Tote for £265 million, an exclusive seven-year licence to run pools betting on UK horse racing. Fast forward to 2017, Done has consolidated Betfred’s status as a UK betting behemoth, which operates over 1,700 shops and employs more than 11,000 staff nationwide.

 Paris Smith started her gaming career in 1995 by taking bets at WWTS, an offshore sports betting company that was later sold to Betcorp Ltd. Having worked her way up the business to become COO, she joined Curacao-based Pinnacle in the same role from 2006. Pinnacle soon recognised Smith’s efforts in shifting the focus away from North America towards growth markets in Asia and Europe, by promoting her to CEO in 2008. Almost a decade on, Pinnacle continues to flourish under her leadership. The operator emphasised its desire for data driven innovation by launching a revamped eSports portal in 2017.