GBC Time has interviewed – Ian Perrygrove, Chief Risk Officer at kwiff, an online bookmaker which launched in 2015 and quickly attracted attention due to their new way of betting.
Why did kwiff choose Malta as an operational hub, and how does this location support the company’s growth?
Malta is truly unique. It is a small island in the Mediterranean with a population of over 550,000. That context is lost on a lot of people. The island is smaller than the Isle of Wight but with three times the population. The country has growing pains which everyone who lives here sees, and yet, whether it’s the sun or its sunny people, Malta remains a thriving, exciting place to live.
iGaming is a significant contributor to the Maltese economy, making up 12–13% of the country’s GDP, so it’s fair to say that Malta established itself as a hub for iGaming businesses and professionals. That connection is most noticeable during major industry conferences, when the influx of people turns traffic into headline news for a week!
The industry provides reliable jobs paying way above the national average salary and contributes good tax revenues through direct (corporation, gaming and income tax) and indirect (VAT) means. Malta has a top income-tax rate of 35% and an 18% VAT rate. There’s free national healthcare, free child care for working parents and free public transport: no air passenger duty, and no fuel duty to fill up your petrol tank. Not many EU countries can boast these incentives which make this little island both a very business-friendly country but also an attractive destination for employees who benefit from a high level of social welfare.
It was therefore a no-brainer for the kwiff team to seek to make Malta its operational hub. We recognise the opportunity of offering more than a job, but a different way of life, with a respectable standard of living without other European countries’ cost-of-living price tag. From a business perspective, being incorporated in Malta means access to the EU’s single market – tapping into the free movement of people to employ expertise from other member states. Since 2004, the start of the igaming here, Malta has not only attracted foreign talent but also nurtured a strong employment market of skilled and qualified nationals, who are motivated to join this strong industry.
How has kwiff’s presence in Malta evolved over the years, and what role does the office play in the company’s overall strategy?
The most obvious evolution of our presence in Malta is the increase of the physical footprint of our Malta office over the years. Naturally, such a step is only made to cater for a growing number of employees. The Malta team has grown as our business has changed, but from the outset, it’s been our operational heart. All the player-facing elements come from our Malta team, from critical services to an iGaming business like payments and marketing, to the functionality of our unique sports betting product and to basics like resetting your account password. The international team working from the Malta office handles our relationship with our customers in all its facets, and that’s at the core of our brand. We’ve brought together teams with a wide range of skills and perspectives that make an excellent foundation to solve headscratchers faster and deliver an excellent and smooth player experience.
What are the key advantages of operating in Malta compared to other iGaming jurisdictions?
Well, it’s a Mediterranean island with fantastic connections for one! Malta remains ahead of other iGaming hubs with beautiful long summers, a culture that encourages an outdoor life and dazzles with its traditional village life. When a village celebrates its patron saint it does it wholeheartedly with a normally-sleepy village transforming into a world record-breaking fireworks masterpiece, and hosting street parties every day, for a week. Just like me, people lucky enough to make Malta their home, are very confused when hearing fireworks during the bright sunny summer days on their arrival but, then it quickly becomes a wake up call in the Summer months as the first booms are let off at 8am sharp.
Malta draws talent internationally and grows it nationally, which in turn attracts more talent. The competition is rife, both product-wise but also, people-wise. Why go to a mini version of the UK on the sea, when you can come to a truly unique location (still with a tiny hint of the UK) which is incredibly accessible?
How would you describe the company culture within kwiff’s Malta office?
You’re probably asking the wrong person. I wish the team could answer that first-hand instead, but I think it’s relaxed but focused. Our retention rate is a solid indicator and that those who leave often reach out for opportunities to return. We recently ran our first engagement survey and I was blown away with the feedback. The sentiment here is great and I put significant effort into not upsetting that balance. I think people know what their role is and the importance it has and that there are strong internal mobility options to keep progressing. The atmosphere is fun, and while the office remains an integral part of our operations, there is a great sense of flexibility built on trust and professionalism. We hope more great people will join us, so keep an eye on our website for opportunities.
We are part of a wider group and we are well connected so that we take continuous steps to improve our products and workflows, which is super interesting to be part of; with the whole group being less than 100 people, everyone is significantly exposed to it.
What makes it a unique place to work? What benefits does Kwiff offer employees in Malta, and how do you attract top talent?
In comparison to companies with hundreds of employees, kwiff is on the smaller side of the spectrum – however, as opposed to other companies (including much bigger players) we have built our own back office platform and our own unique sports betting product. This puts us in the driving seat of the development of our offering. With our prominent product being sports, owning our own technology gives us a very important advantage over other companies who rely on third party technology. This autonomy on our offering, gives great opportunities to our workforce.
I want us to always be listening to our people, I feel like this gives employees a sense of belonging. Our lean, efficient workforce flattens the hierarchy structure and makes communication channels shorter.
I won’t be breaking any news if I refer to the iGaming industry as cutthroat. As a company, we can not let the pressure of competition lead to burnout, yet we can handle the challenges which come with growth. Many of us have seen how tough and, at times, toxic the industry can be, and that awareness has become a guiding principle for us at kwiff. It’s shaped a culture where people can grow, feel supported, and do their best work without continuous stress. We can be ambitious but set reasonable targets that challenge us to go the extra mile without compromising the work-life balance.
Over the years we’ve built an open environment with the right amount of hard work and relaxation. Every Friday the whole company comes together and we share things that are normally kept in boardrooms in the majority of organisations. Most companies won’t have the CFO explain the actual income and costs of the business. At kwiff everyone knows how much GGR we made last year, last month, last week, how much it costs to generate it. That brutal and open honesty provides context for people and growth.
kwiff therefore offers an environment which encourages growth, openness and fun. It champions internal mobility, and seeks to be transparent with its workforce so that everyone understands their role in the success of the company.
With increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, how does kwiff stay ahead of compliance challenges while maintaining a seamless player experience?
Compliance is not difficult; in its purest form it’s actually quite simple. That’s because it’s easy to take a very strict approach and remove all regulatory risk. It becomes more complicated when running a commercially savvy business which needs licences.
Obtaining licences is normally the easiest part of the job, it’s in maintaining them where the real work lies. The compliance challenge is how to operate within the known rules and the often very opaque guidance. I would never advocate for rule-breaking or even for pushing the so-called ‘spirit’ of them, but a deep consideration with internal stakeholders for each rule that creates friction for players is the key to a balancing act of the different risks a for-profit licensed company faces under such increased scrutiny and ever-growing industry.
When the teams are all contributing to developing processes that are compliant, it means they are growing, not just mindlessly following rules. Too many times our industry has heard senior staff parrot things like “closed-loop payments to meet UKGC rules”. If that happens at kwiff, then it shows a real failure by me to embed the real reason why we have such business rules in place, and it’s not because that phrase is written in the LCCP, the AML regulations or even the UKGC guidance.
Looking ahead, what are kwiff’s key priorities in risk management and compliance to ensure sustainable growth in a highly competitive industry?
We want to invest in knowledge, the more the team understands the rules we operate with, be them regulatory, AML and data protection, the more well-positioned they will be to take the wheel and help the business maintain its licences and grow. I believe that with knowledge and awareness, the pieces of this very complex puzzle will be so much easier and people won’t just follow a rule they heard someone say without being able to challenge it from smart angles.
With enhancing the employees’ skills set, regulatory compliance will continue to support our everyday operations but we will also be in a position to think deeper than the letter of the law – be it in the area of marketing, customer experience, product or payments. We believe that a competitive advantage lies in having a skilled workforce who are able to make the rules work for them rather than the other way round.
I hope that our eagerness to grow, to expand our product will keep our teams intrigued enough to stay with us until the time is right for them to take their next step on to great things and always look back at their kwiff experience as an enriching one in their career.
