This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
EMBATTLED casino operator The Star Entertainment Group Limited has nabbed former Crown Resorts chief operating officer Mark Mackay to be its CEO of The Star Gold Coast.
Mackay will begin with The Star today.
The company remains suspended from quotation after failing to lodge its full-year results by the end of August. In June – as it announced it had enlisted former Lendlease and Crown chief Steve McCann to guide a turnaround – it warned of a revenue decline due to challenging trading conditions and elevated operating expenses as a result of ongoing remediation and $100 million penalties from the Queensland and NSW governments for operational and cultural issues.
The Star has been on the brink of losing its licence to operate its Sydney casino, with the NSW regulator having launched a surprise inquiry into the company’s progress in remedying cultural issues that saw it heavily punished following the initial inquiry in 2022.
Mackay has over 18 years of experience in integrated resorts and gaming. In his most recent role as COO for Crown Resorts Melbourne he was responsible for managing the operation and strategic direction of Crown Melbourne.
The appointment marks a return to the fold for Mackay. Prior to joining Crown Resorts in 2017, he was chief operating officer of The Star Gold Coast (then Jupiters Hotel and Casino), and originally joined Jupiters Casino (then part of Tabcorp, now The Star) across various roles between 2006 and 2017.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Mark to The Star as chief executive officer of The Star Gold Coast. Mark has a deep understanding of what it takes to run a leading integrated resort development and brings a lot of capability to this role,” said chairman of The Star, Anne Ward.
“This appointment completes the new leadership team structure of decentralised management across our three integrated resort developments in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney,” she said.
She added, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Ian Brown, general manager gaming at The Star Gold Coast, for his leadership, support and significant contribution leading the Gold Coast team through the past four months.”
On Friday, The Star announced that it has sold the leasehold interest in the Treasury Brisbane Casino building to Griffith University for $67.5 million plus GST.
Through its 50% owned subsidiary, The Star sold the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort on the Gold Coast for $192 million in June last year, of which it pocketed $60 million in net proceeds.
