James Boje has joined Aristocrat to become managing director of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, it was announced yesterday.

James Boje

Boje has been in the gaming industry for 30 years, holding senior executive positions with some of the biggest brand names in the industry and also taking in roles spanning manufacturing, live gaming, lotteries, money handling, operating and distribution.

From Sun International’s Sun City resort in South Africa, where he began as a slots technician, Boje moved into scratchcards and VLTs with Score-a-Lot, then Sybertronix Gaming for experience in distribution.

It was in 1999 that he became sales and marketing manager for IGT’s South African office, moving on to handle the managing director’s role two years later. He also became managing director Europe for the company.

In the past three years, Boje has taken on senior roles with MEI, Zitro and Crane Payment. As managing director EMEAA, Boje will report to Maureen Sweeny, Aristocrat’s chief commercial officer.

She expressed her pleasure at being joined by such a well-known and well-qualified executive with a proven track record of “driving strategic growth initiatives and balancing commercial and customer requirements while maintaining a strong focus on people and a high performance culture within the business.”