New Star CEO takes up challenge on Monday

The new CEO at the troubled Australian casino operator Star Entertainment Group, Robert Cooke, takes up the hot seat at the company on Monday.

The state of Queensland has given regulatory approval to his appointment, while that of New South Wales – Star has casinos in both states – remains pending.

From Monday, chairman Ben Heap returns to his non-executive directorship.

Cooke was announced as the incoming CEO at the end of June, replacing the acting CEO Geoff Hogg. His considerable experience in gaming technology and operations made him an ideal candidate to help Star overcome the scandals that have littered its history in recent years, notably a failure in AML procedures that resulted in Star being rated as unfit to hold a licence.

With a considerably reconstituted board, it is hoped that Cooke will lead the casino operator to better fortunes. He came to Star from Tyro Payments, the fintech company and was previously CEO at Tatts Group when it merged with Tabcorp.