HireStakes launches as global igaming headhunting and recruitment firm

Hannah Gannagé-Stewart

7 November 2025 at 9:28am UTC-5

Source: HireStakes

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HireStakes has launched as a global recruitment firm, with emerging markets like Asia and the UAE firmly in its crosshairs, alongside North America, Latin America and Europe.

The Glasgow-based business has been co-founded by former BettingJobs senior recruitment consultant Stuart Armstrong, alongside marketing agency Boyd Digital’s Colin Boyd and Chris Lowden and Gorden Brown, who founded tech recruitment firm Nine Twenty Recruitment in 2004.

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The business will combine the founders’ expertise across igaming, fintech, data, and crypto to address the booming emerging markets in igaming and its adjacencies, while continuing to serve the more established European market.

Speaking to COMPLETE iGAMING, Armstrong said, “We’ve been live a couple of weeks now and getting lots of engagement. The European market and Malta have a steady stream of jobs coming through, but the UK market is a little more cautious as people await news of potential tax rises.

“In other regions it’s an interesting time. With the Philippines overhaul of POGO licenses, and growth in Brazil, Ontario as well, it’s a great time for these new markets. We’re also expecting to see a lot of activity in the UAE as investors and executives are setting up operations there.”

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Armstrong said the business would focus on gambling to begin with, but is keen to move into related areas, such as prediction markets, crypto, and fintech.

The HireStakes team also includes recruiter Nyomi O’Dowd, moving over from Nine Twenty.

HireStakes is using smart recruitment technology to make hiring more efficient and transparent for both clients and candidates. This involves tech-enabled preliminary interviews, which fast-tracks the process and frees up time for hiring managers.

Earlier this year, EvenBet Gaming Chief Executive Dmitry Starostenkov and HR Director Daria Fot spoke to COMPLETE iGAMING about how recruitment concerns differ by region and how companies can tailor their approach.

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The Backstory

Why recruitment is back in the spotlight

Global hiring in igaming is shifting from opportunistic to strategic. The industry’s expansion into new jurisdictions is colliding with uneven talent pools, stricter compliance demands and rapid product cycles. That tension has pushed recruitment to the top of executive agendas and opened space for specialists promising faster, localized hiring.

Software supplier EvenBet Gaming captured the scale of the challenge in its latest trends review, noting that demand is outpacing supply in mature hubs while emerging regions grapple with skills gaps and cultural barriers. In an interview about its survey of more than 350 professionals, EvenBet’s leadership said North America faces intense competition for qualified specialists, Latin America is constrained by educational pipelines and Asia offers depth but varied expectations across markets. The company’s executives also described how Gen Z priorities are rewriting playbooks, with candidates weighing culture and social impact alongside pay. Read more in EvenBet Gaming: Tackling Recruitment Challenges.

That backdrop explains why new entrants are positioning around speed, regional fluency and technology-enabled screening. It also clarifies why hiring conversations are bleeding into adjacent areas like fintech, data and crypto, where compliance-heavy roles and country-specific knowledge have become nonnegotiable.

Emerging markets reshape the talent map

The most aggressive growth is outside Europe’s traditional hubs. Brazil’s launch of a regulated framework, Ontario’s open model and churn in Southeast Asia are redrawing org charts and forcing companies to rethink where they build teams. Industry executives say the United Arab Emirates is attracting investors and senior operators, a trend that dovetails with the shift of corporate functions to business-friendly bases in the region.

Event agendas reflect the pivot. SBC is adding Global Markets and Emerging Markets stages to its 2025 summit, signaling distinct operator playbooks for established versus high-growth regions. The new tracks will cover Latin America with a focus on Brazil, Western Europe and North America, while the emerging track spotlights Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East and Asia. Organizers said attendance from Latin America, Asia and North America grew sharply last year, a signal that the center of gravity is spreading. Details are in SBC announces two new stages focusing on global and emerging markets.

This globalization complicates hiring. EvenBet’s analysis points to language, cultural fit and retention as the real constraints in newer markets. Compensation benchmarks vary widely, especially in Latin America, while candidates in North America gravitate to culture and team dynamics when salaries are comparable. Asia sits between, with deeper talent pools but uneven market maturity.

Case study: DigiPlus builds around hubs and local leadership

Philippine technology firm DigiPlus offers a snapshot of how operators are organizing for cross-border growth. The company is establishing a Singapore entity to serve as a regional hub for partnerships, talent acquisition and international expansion. The move centralizes support functions without running afoul of Singapore’s strict igaming restrictions, allowing the firm to tap a global talent base and connectivity while keeping operations in compliance. See Philippine gaming technology firm DigiPlus setting up Singapore office to drive global expansion.

DigiPlus is also scaling in Brazil. The company recently secured an igaming license there, then named veteran executive Graham Tidey as country manager to translate regulatory rules into go-to-market execution and team building. Tidey’s background in government advocacy and market entry underscores how regulatory fluency has become a hiring requirement rather than a nice-to-have. His appointment reflects a broader strategy that blends local leadership with centralized support. More on the leadership move in DigiPlus names market veteran Graham Tidey to oversee Brazil igaming operations.

For additional context on the licensing milestone, Inside Asian Gaming reported DigiPlus had secured approval to enter Brazil earlier this year, illustrating how Philippine operators are exporting know-how to higher-growth jurisdictions. Read Inside Asian Gaming’s coverage: Philippine technology firm DigiPlus secures Brazil igaming license.

The model is instructive for recruiters. Singapore’s role as a corporate hub can widen candidate funnels for compliance, data and partnerships, while on-the-ground leaders in Brazil, Ontario or the Middle East can localize product, manage regulators and build teams attuned to consumer behavior. That split reduces risk and accelerates hiring cycles, especially when paired with tech-led screening that trims time-to-hire for scarce roles.

Leadership churn tightens the talent market

Executive movement at suppliers is amplifying competition for experienced leaders who can steady growth and navigate capital cycles. Games Global’s chief financial officer, Tim Mickley, resigned after more than four years, prompting a search for a successor as the company integrates assets and expands in the United States. The change follows the exit of the firm’s chief legal officer earlier this year. Such departures ripple through hiring plans industrywide, as operators and vendors chase a finite pool of finance, legal and compliance heads with public-market and M&A experience. Full details are in Games Global Chief Financial Officer Tim Mickley resigns.

EvenBet’s findings suggest salary alone will not solve the squeeze. In markets where compensation bands are leveling, companies that showcase team support, internal ambassadors and community engagement are winning candidates. In Latin America, programs tied to social impact can lift retention. In Asia, hybrid structures and clear development pathways are proving decisive. These priorities are filtering into employer branding and onboarding, with visual, bite-size materials now standard for younger cohorts.

For search firms and in-house recruiters, the upshot is clear: placements are increasingly multidimensional. Technical skill, regulatory credibility and cultural fluency must be balanced against retention levers that vary by region. The firms that can articulate that mix early in the process are moving faster and reducing falloffs.

What comes next as markets mature

The next 12 months will test whether companies can synchronize international hiring with market entries that are happening in parallel. Brazil’s rollout, Middle East regulatory shifts and continued adjustments in Asia will pressure timelines. Conference programming, including SBC’s regional tracks from Sept. 16 to 18, 2025, will likely harden best practices around local partnerships, responsible gaming frameworks and cross-border structure.

Expect more operators to anchor corporate functions in hubs like Singapore or the UAE while staffing product, marketing and compliance locally. Suppliers will keep reshaping leadership benches as they pursue U.S. and Latin American growth, with finance and legal talent in highest demand. And as EvenBet’s research signals, companies that codify culture, invest in internal ambassadors and align benefits to local expectations will have an edge when compensation alone cannot close candidates.

The broader stakes are straightforward. Hiring speed and quality will determine how quickly brands can capture share in new jurisdictions and sustain compliance as rules tighten. Firms that blend centralized rigor with local autonomy will be positioned to execute. Those that do not will spend more to stand still.