Nick Harding launches European industry talent pool of C-Level consultants and service providers

Nick Harding, one of the best known and respected personalities in the UK gambling industry, has launched Spray Lakes Consultancy, a specialist digital hub comprising a talent pool of C-Level consultants and specialist gambling industry providers. Spray Lakes, which takes its name from the lakes in Alberta, Canada, matches industry experts  – all of whom have been personally vetted by Nick – with companies wanting to hire proven experience on a temporary, part time or consultative basis, including the appointment of Non-Executive Directors. As well as providing direct access to a pool of executive talent, Spray Lakes also serves as a digital market-place for organisations and individuals wishing to buy or sell businesses.

Explaining the vision, Nick Harding who in his 40-year industry career, has led corporate transactions with a value of £500m working across multiple verticals from betting to bingo, single site to seaside attractions and arcades to adult gaming centres, said: “We are putting together a group of experts in the European Gaming Sector, all working as individual Consultants in their own right. The strength of Spray Lakes is in our ability to ultimately provide the right person for any project, in any country. The Spray Lakes Consultancy is designed to be the ‘go to’ place for anyone looking for specialist support.”

He added: “I was keen to create a robust and trusted resource for the industry, somewhere the industry can reach out to safe in the knowledge that the executives and the service providers we feature are among the very best in the business putting a wide range of expertise on their desk top or mobile, in the process, speeding up selection and hiring. 

“We can also put together a team of experts who can go in to a business, analyse it, report to stakeholders on a number of levels and if necessary, pick up the reins and run that operation. The website also has a dedicated section for service providers to the European Gaming industry with links to Law firms, Accountants, Compliance Providers, Security Providers, Designers – in-fact the full gamut of specialisms a business could require. Ultimately, it’s all about delivering one stop shopping for relevant expertise.”

Harding believes the response to Covid has crystalised the need for Spray Lakes with organisations faced with significantly diminished or non-existent revenues forced to reduce headcount and as part of that process strip-out expertise. “As someone who has run numerous businesses of scale, I know only too well the balance between controlling costs and remaining competitive and relevant. This is where the help and advice from a third-party expert, for maybe only two or three days a month, can be so cost effective.”

“Spray Lakes is relevant to you if you are a consultant looking for the next challenge, an organisation in need of a replacement senior executive(s), an organisation looking for a proven and trusted service provider or a business owner seeking an exit strategy. I would be delighted to talk through the opportunities.”