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How 2 Bolton Based Businesses are Tackling Addiction in the Aftermath of Lockdown

Published

5 years ago

October 29, 2020

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Two Bolton based businesses, Acquiesce and WHYSUP, recorded a podcast discussing addiction, and how they are tackling it following the coronavirus lockdown.

Acquiesce is a private rehabilitation centre, offering luxury accommodation and an urban recovery model that integrates recovery into everyday life. Tina, the senior practitioner at Acquiesce, oversees each individual’s entire journey.

WHYSUP was founded by Mark and Liam. They work to deliver presentations, workshops and keynotes to schools and businesses across the UK to educate and raise awareness of mental health and addiction.

Mark’s Story

Mark begins by explaining his battle with a gambling addiction that started with a bet when he was just sixteen. By 21 he realised he needed help and attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

“I remember going to a GA meeting, looking around and thinking ‘Well I’ve not lost my house, not lost my wife, not lost my family. I’m not as bad as these so I don’t need help.”

By 25 he had a girlfriend and a professional job. Everyone around him thought he had left his old life behind and was on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.

At 29, he was kidnapped and held hostage by a group with machetes who were demanding ransom from his mother. Luckily, the police tracked his phone and rescued him.

Mark finally hit rock bottom when his family turned their backs on him. Without his family, he felt that suicide was the only way out of his mess but knew the impact this would have on everyone around him, including his children.

With help from his mum, Mark went to rehab in Birmingham. He took part in the fourteen week programme but stayed there for another five and a half months.

In rehab, Mark wrote down all of his debts. He initially thought he owed a total of £100,000 but now says it was closer to £306,000.

“It’s like I’m talking about a different person now when I look back. Thankfully that’s where it turned around for me. Rehab saved my life.”

Liam’s Story

Around the age of 13, Liam started to experiment with alcohol and drugs like many teenagers at the time.

“There was no prevention or awareness, no knowledge of addiction. My decisions were based on ‘Am I going to get caught?’”

“By 15 I was taking Class A drugs several times a week. I thought drinking and drugs were a normal part of life. I also thought I was good at it because I could do it and still do what I was supposed to be doing.”

Liam got his GCSEs, enjoyed Thai boxing, got his A levels and had a long term girlfriend, all whilst taking drugs.

“I was living a double life. No one knew. From the outside I was seen as popular and successful, the things that you don’t associate with addiction. That’s why I never thought I had a problem.”

He also started struggling with his mental health, dealing with feelings of shame, guilt and paranoia. Liam finally acknowledged his problem after crashing four cars in one week and his family started to ask questions.

“From the minute rehab was mentioned I booked myself in. I pretty much destroyed everyone I loved because I had to tell them what had been going on. When I came out, I went back to normal life, the life where I’d taken drugs for 19 years.”

Following rehab, Liam continued to take drugs after he relapsed at a funeral. His wife became frustrated with the chaos and arranged for him to stay with Mark.

“It wasn’t easy but I was given a safe place. I was able to build a recovery in the real world, which is very important because you can’t just live in a bubble.”

Mark encouraged Liam to make weekly plans, give up his cash card and attend the gym in the same way that he did when he was in recovery at the halfway house.

“I didn’t need to change my location, I needed to change my mindset. People, places, routine, structure- I had to relearn it all to get where I am today. This is why we got in touch with Acquiesce. It integrates the real world into your recovery.

Acquiesce

Acquiesce provides a discreet, highly supported and safe environment within the community to recover in. Without being hidden from the real world, the urban recovery model allows individuals to gain all the tools and experience necessary whilst maintaining a carefully monitored level of responsibility over their own recovery.

This makes the transitional period from treatment a much smoother process, resulting in a more sustainable recovery journey.

WHYSUP

Mark and Liam started WHYSUP after discussing how their addictions started and the mental challenges they had faced. They wondered if anything would have changed had they been given a talk in school.

Three years later, their service is well established and works in three different sectors; education, business and sport.

They have spoken to over 30,000 people nationwide. Over the last 18 months, people with some form of experience have joined the team. Initially their key focus was addiction but they now focus more on mental health and wellbeing.

Support During Lockdown

The team were managing the number of calls well, especially once they hired a professional who helped with more severe cases. Unfortunately, when lockdown started, calls quadrupled and they could no longer meet the demand.

“We underestimated how many and how severely people were declining. They were threatening suicide and we had to drop off flowers at funerals of people who would likely still be here if it wasn’t for lockdown.”

Acquiesce also had an increase in calls, with people experiencing anxiety and fear from a loss of jobs and uncertainty about the future. Tina explained that the number of individuals at high risk from drinking has doubled according to Public Health England.

“We found that some clients have relapsed after being clean for many years and have had to come back into treatment.” Tina added.

When defining addiction from a professional point of view, Tina says they look at withdrawals, tolerance, loss of control, broken promises and consequences, but that in reality it’s a much wider perspective.

“I define addiction as a compulsive behaviour that is impossible to stop without professional help and support. As much as you try to convince yourself you can do it alone, I know from experience that you just can’t.” Added Mark

Liam’s definition of addiction has changed over time. He said, “Two and a half years ago, I’d have talked about drugs. For me now it’s more than a substance or behaviour, it centres around thinking and feeling.”

Tina explained that the Acquiesce programme is very much about positivity, positive self talk, self esteem, gaining confidence.

“When clients come in, their addiction has robbed their self esteem and we work to get it back.”

If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction or mental health issues, please book a callback with Acquiesce at acquiesce.org.uk/contact or 01204 771940, or get in touch with WHYSUP at whysup.co.uk/contact

To listen to the whole podcast, please visit acquiesce.org.uk/how-2-bolton-based-businesses-are-tackling-addiction-in-the-aftermath-of-lockdown/

Compliance Updates

SuperPot, the Unique Sports Betting Jackpot, Now Available in the UK

Published

35 minutes ago

October 23, 2025

George Miller

superpot,-the-unique-sports-betting-jackpot,-now-available-in-the-uk

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Delasport’s groundbreaking sports betting jackpot game, SuperPot, has received full certification from GLI in the UK. With this authorization, SuperPot becomes a one-of-a-kind, dedicated Sportsbook Jackpot solution on the British market.

The news comes just days after the revolutionary solution became certified for Ontario and marked its debut integration there and soon will go live with several brands in the market. SuperPot gives players the chance to predict the outcomes of major sporting fixtures.

Each ticket purchase contributes to a growing jackpot, and the winner is the one with the most correct picks – even without a perfect score. This “Must-Win” mechanic sets the product apart from traditional sportsbook offerings, appealing both to sports bettors seeking new thrills and casino players looking for an accessible entry point into sports wagering.

Advantages for UK Operators

SuperPot introduces an always-awarded must-win mechanic: each round’s pot is paid to the top predictor – players compete against their peers, and the most correct predictions win. This sets it apart from The Tote and free-to-play predictors and broadens appeal beyond horse racing into football, basketball, American football, and ice hockey. UK operators gain an assured strong turnover margin, while players benefit from a guaranteed payout to someone every round.

In addition, licensed operators in the UK, SuperPot represents a new way to grow engagement and extend player lifecycles, while securing stable margins from turnover without added exposure.

“Securing approval in the UK marks a major step forward for us,” said Delasport’s Global Sales Director Reece Calderbank. “SuperPot blends the excitement of jackpots with the passion for sports, offering players an easy-to-understand, highly rewarding experience. It’s designed to stand out in a mature and competitive market and ensure risk-free high margin for Operators.”

Market Outlook

The UK gambling market remains one of the largest and most established worldwide. According to the UK Gambling Commission, the total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in iGaming for April 2023–March 2024 reached £6.9 billion, with online Sports betting accounting to £2.4 billion GGY, driven primarily by football and horse racing.

The Tote pools enjoy durable racing liquidity is growing year by year to hundreds of millions and SuperPot gives operators that same mass-appeal mechanic as a paid, must-win product they control and extend it to additional sports and to new segments of players.

Industry research indicates that the UK sports betting market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 11.4% between 2025 and 2030. Meanwhile, quarterly reporting from the Gambling Commission shows continued growth: in Q1 2025, online GGY rose 7% year-on-year to £1.45 billion, with record levels of active accounts and betting activity.

In such a competitive environment, a product like SuperPot has the potential to deliver an incremental ~2% revenue boost for operators who adopt it, further differentiating their sportsbook offering in the UK’s crowded marketplace.

The post SuperPot, the Unique Sports Betting Jackpot, Now Available in the UK appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Dominic Le Garsmeur Chief Product Officer at Fincore

How to get your product roadmap moving

Published

35 minutes ago

October 23, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Dominic Le Garsmeur, Chief Product Officer at Fincore, says product roadmaps often stall, but they don’t need to. Not if operators and suppliers design for adaptability and build on the right foundations.

Why do product roadmaps usually stall?

Product roadmaps are full of ambition – and rightly so. They capture bold ideas and big strategic bets; they’re the blueprint for the future of the business. But even the best plans can stall before they deliver real impact.

There are plenty of reasons. From shifting regulations to legacy tech, overloaded teams, or unclear ownership. The most damaging is outdated technology. Technical debt eats up development capacity, forcing teams to spend their time firefighting stability instead of building the next feature.

Fragmented ownership is another killer. When product, tech, compliance and ops aren’t aligned, there’s no shared direction. Work keeps moving, but what ships isn’t aligned to real needs—busy output rather than product that drives results.

What impact does regulation have on product roadmaps?

Regulation can force teams to switch focus, diverting resources from innovation to compliance. When every sprint turns into a regulatory emergency, progress halts.

That said, regulation doesn’t have to kill innovation. If an organisation designs for adaptability — with modular systems and clean architecture — it can absorb regulatory change without derailing strategic goals.

If a product roadmap stalls, what should operators and suppliers do?

Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Create forward motion now. At Fincore, we see four core tactics that make the difference:

1. Start with outcomes. Work backwards from the results you need, then design the tech strategy and architecture to deliver them.
2. Modernise surgically. Target the real bottlenecks — technical or procedural — and fix what unlocks the most progress first. Our modular IP components can be integrated quickly to deliver visible gains.
3. Automate with intent. Introduce automation where it frees up people and accelerates throughput.
4. Partner for momentum. Choose a partner that embeds with your teams. Not as a consultant, but as part of your delivery engine. That’s how we operate at Fincore: hands-on, aligned, and built to move things forward without disruption.

How can organisations prevent their product roadmaps from stalling in the first place?

Prevention starts with intent. Build your roadmap around adaptability, not just speed.

That means aligning tech strategy with business goals and reviewing that alignment often. Design systems for interoperability and flexibility, not minimum viable survival. Prioritise foundations such as clean data, seamless integrations and real-time monitoring. Deliver in tight loops to stay responsive and realistic.

When you do that, momentum accelerates. Teams move faster, releases land cleaner, and regulatory shifts stop being roadblocks. They just get handled.

What are the benefits of a product roadmap firing on all cylinders?

Momentum changes everything.

New features, channels and jurisdictions go live faster, without the drag of platform instability. Teams feel energised, focused, and proud of what they’re shipping. Regulatory changes stop being crises. Innovation becomes continuous.

And with that rhythm comes confidence across departments, across leadership, across the entire organisation. Everyone can see and feel progress.

How does Fincore help operators achieve this?

We don’t just unstick roadmaps. We build systems that keep them moving.

That starts with stabilising architecture and clearing technical debt. Then we go deeper: modernising code, streamlining processes, and aligning culture around delivery. Our modular software toolkit accelerates progress without risk. Clean integrations, real-time data, and automation that scales.

We embed alongside internal teams, taking ownership of outcomes and shipping value fast. The result? Sustainable momentum.

Unlocking a roadmap isn’t just about fixing delivery. It’s about reigniting progress and keeping it burning. Clean builds. Confident teams. Continuous flow. That’s progress done right.

The post How to get your product roadmap moving appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

eSports

HAVIT Partners with Legendary Galatasaray Esports

Published

2 hours ago

October 23, 2025

Niji Narayan

havit-partners-with-legendary-galatasaray-esports

Reading Time: < 1 minute

HAVIT, a leading global consumer tech brand, announced a strategic partnership with Galatasaray Esports, one of Turkey’s most iconic and influential esports teams. This collaboration aims to energise the rapidly growing Turkish gaming ecosystem with cutting-edge gear.

Galatasaray, a symbol of pride, passion and excellence with over a century of sporting heritage, has extended its winning spirit into the digital arena through Galatasaray Esports, now a powerhouse in competitive gaming. By partnering with Galatasaray Esports, HAVIT is not only equipping the team with cutting-edge gaming gear to enhance professional performance but also bringing more high-performance gaming gear to redefine the esports experience in Turkey.

With this partnership, HAVIT and Galatasaray Esports will work together to open a new chapter for Turkish esports. In upcoming competitions, Galatasaray Esports will continue to showcase its strength and team spirit, representing Turkey with pride on the international stage. Meanwhile, HAVIT will provide full support with its outstanding gaming gear, empowering the team to reach new heights.

The post HAVIT Partners with Legendary Galatasaray Esports appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.