GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 35 - June 2016

How do you manage your to-do lists? Do you use any special software to help you out? I like good old-fashioned pen and paper! Each day I use a diary to plan. As a company we use Agile Project Management; this allows us to track proj- ects closely. How much time do you devote to social networking for your sites? We started this business with just social media, and still work hard in this area. Several members of our staff work only on social media. We have millions of likes and followers spread out over our pages. We have several gam- bling pages with over 100k likes and fol- lowers and some non-gambling-related pages with over 500k likes and followers. What’s the most difficult thing about running your sites? Expanding. Growing has presented some huge issues, mainly server changes and growth. What’s the best thing about running your sites? Seeing my ideas start to work. Being a little geeky, I always wanted the best stats for football games. Seeing it work brings a smile to my face — then, it’s on to the next idea. What do you do with your spare time? I still try to play football, though my legs are starting to feel it. Running the kids around out of work takes a huge chunk of my time, and I want to make sure they have the opportunity to try new things. If I have any spare time after that, my other half tends to demand it. What did you dream of doing, both pro- fessionally and personally, when you were a kid? I wanted to be a footballer! But I’ve always seen myself as a business- man. From a very young age I was trying new ideas and no matter the results, I was never scared off. If someone from out of town were visit- ing you, what’s the one place you’d defi- nitely take them to see? Andover is the worst place ever to visit. I would probably take them for food in Winchester, or to see Southampton FC if they had a game. When you need to get as far away from work as possible, where do you go? Walking the dogs for miles normally works, anywhere without a signal. Though my chill-out room with the Rat Pack and a book can chill me out. It’s been about a year and a half since Scotland voted “no” on independence. As someone who was born in Scotland and now lives in England, what were your thoughts on that referendum? Do you think the voters made the right decision? This is a subject I’ve avoided. I looked into oil, military and currency issues and still have a vested interest in Scotland. After a lot of people got irate over my opinions, I kept them closely guarded. What’s your all-time favorite movie? Happy Gilmore ; amazing film. I’m more of a boxset man, though, so Suits is the ulti- mate winner. If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Paul Gascoigne, Ally McCoist, my gran- dad, Richard Branson and Cameron Diaz. Gazza and McCoist are my heroes from the Rangers; the fall of Paul Gascoigne saddens me. My grandad has passed, but his busi- ness ideas and thoughts on life always intrigued me. For me, the man is a legend. Richard Branson — reading his books, he intrigues me more and more. His contri- butions to the business world, especially in large companies, is amazing. Cameron Diaz — Anita, my wife, would hate this one. But I love her. Name three things that people reading this magazine don’t know about you. 1. I was once selected to play chess for England, but sadly at the time I turned it down, because my football mates ribbed me. 2. My obsession with fast cars has not disappeared with age. 3. One day I would like to own a dog home and be a crazy old man with 200 dogs. AGE 35 HOMETOWN Livingston, Scotland, U.K. LIVING IN Andover, Hampshire, U.K. FAVORITE FOOD Indian MUST-READ BOOK Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography SITE www.sbat.com Gary and his wife, Anita, and their kids. 57 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series