Sky Bet names Neil Banbury Managing Director amid Flutter shake-up
Flutter Entertainment has installed Neil Banbury as the new Managing Director of Sky Betting and Gaming, as the parent group overhauls its senior leadership following a sharp share price decline.
Sky Betting and Gaming has a new Managing Director in Neil Banbury, who took up the post on 29 September and announced the move publicly the following week, SBC News reported.
Banbury arrives from Kindred Group, where he spent sixteen years rising from a financial analyst position in 2010 to Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer by 2024, departing the operator earlier this year. His time there spanned Kindred's €2.45 billion acquisition by FDJ United in 2023.
In his new role he will oversee Sky Bet, Sky Casino, Sky Poker and Sky Bingo, a portfolio that keeps Sky Bet ranked among the UK's five largest online betting brands by web traffic, according to data from Blask cited by SBC News.
Speaking to the trade title, Banbury described Sky Betting and Gaming as having "a genuine connection to entertainment and to sports fans" and said his priority is to "make the most of the group's scale" as he settles into the job.
The appointment lands at a turbulent moment for the UK betting sector, where operators including Flutter are bracing for consolidation following the tax changes introduced in April this year.
It also follows a broader reshuffle at the top of Flutter Entertainment. Long-serving group Chief Executive Peter Jackson handed over to Dan Taylor, previously head of Flutter International, on 1 October, while FanDuel's long-standing CEO Amy Howe was confirmed earlier this year to be stepping down from the US sportsbook that is Flutter's single most valuable business by revenue.
SBC News noted that these changes have come as Flutter's stock on the New York Stock Exchange has fallen more than 63% over the past year, though none of the leadership moves have been formally linked to that decline.
The Managing Director post at Sky Betting and Gaming has changed hands repeatedly in recent years, with the unit run by a succession of Commercial Directors and Managing Directors rather than a dedicated chief executive.
Banbury succeeds Steve Birch, who left the business in December 2025 after nearly two decades at the company. Birch joined as a marketing analyst in 2007, became Managing Director of Sky Bet UK in 2018 and Chief Executive Officer in 2020, before taking on the Chief Commercial Officer role for the division after Flutter Entertainment's formation in 2019.
Birch has since exited the gambling sector entirely, taking up the post of Chief Digital Sales Officer at Great British Rail Journeys.