News UK appoints Garmston to lead Sun Racing

UK newspaper publisher News UK has appointed James Garmston to head up its Sun Racing sports news brand.

Garmston joins from odds comparison site Easyodds.com, where he served as chief executive from 2011.

Prior to his time at Easyodds.com, Garmston spent seven years as head of racing and betting at UK-based news agency Press Association Sport. He also had a spell as a publisher for the Institute of Physics.

Garmston joins News UK after a challenging 12 months for the group’s gambling business, following the collapse of it Sun Bets online sports betting brand.

Sun Bets launched in 2016 under the branding of News UK newspaper title The Sun via a joint venture with Tabcorp. However, after the businesses failed to perform as expected, Australia-based Tabcorp sought to end the relationship, eventually exiting the venture in a move worth £39.5m (€43.9m/$49.9m).

News UK continues to operate various other betting services such as The Sun Bingo and The Sun Play online gaming platforms, as well as The Sun Dream Team fantasy football competition.

Sun Racing offers a range of horse racing tips, odds, news, results and insight to punters.

Image: Paul