We recently had the pleasure of hosting Kirsty Caldwell, CEO & Founder at Betsmart Consulting on our All Things Change podcast. Kirsty, the vibrant force behind a business that’s been on a whirlwind of growth and change over the last year, shared her experiences, reflections, and insights from the field of Regulatory Change.
We had a glimpse into the fast-paced journey her company has undertaken recently:
“The last 12 months have been interesting for us – really fast-paced. We’ve seen a lot of growth over the last 12 months and for us, that’s meant more staff, more clients, more ongoing contracts.”
This surge in business also brought along the challenge of managing the increasing administrative complexities.
Kirsty highlighted the development and release of new products recently. A standout in their array of offerings is a service named ” Prepsmart Evaluation,” designed to assist operators within the gambling industry in assessing their business’s regulatory compliance, helping them identify strengths and weaknesses in their operational processes and make real tangible improvements to those processes.
She also shed light on their strategic expansion into different jurisdictions, driven by the changing regulatory landscape.
“What would you say has been the biggest change that you’ve been part of in the past 12 months?” Kirsty candidly shared the transformative impact of business growth on her role. Initially hands-on in contract work and compliance, she now finds herself overseeing multiple contracts and managing people, necessitating a shift in her skill set from compliance to people and risk management.
“The team is really great because we all have very different backgrounds and skill sets. We very much learn from each other, we are a very strong team because of the diversity of our backgrounds and experience.
When talking about navigating the complexities of compliance changes, Kirsty discussed how companies, especially smaller ones, often struggle with the regulatory burden.
Taking the UK as an example, the regulatory landscape is complex, with various bodies and rule makers frequently updating their guidance and requirements. This dynamic environment demands operators to respond promptly.
This is where her consultancy firm steps in, providing temporary expert compliance resources to support companies through periods of significant change, whether due to regulatory shifts or changes in personnel.
“The regulatory burden for compliance teams generally is big. Companies, as a rule, don’t necessarily invest in Compliance teams in the same way as they might invest in more commercial teams and with the ebb and flow of compliance workload in terms of regulatory change, that’s really where we come in, because we’re able to provide temporary expert compliance resource for companies to support them through periods of significant change.”
Discussing the forecast for forthcoming changes, the conversation touched on the UK Gambling Act updates outlined in the government’s white paper.
Finally, when talking about recommendations, Kirsty shared her personal connection to change through a particular song as well as the books she enjoyed reading.
Click the link below to listen to the whole podcast and make sure to add us to your favourites to keep listening:
Perform Partners – All Things Change Playlist
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