The mastermind behind one of the biggest names in the online bingo industry has won the Durham & Wearside Business Executive of the Year 2011. No doubt anyone working in the industry will need no clues given of who it is given the location.

Phil Cronin is well known given the success he has turned Tombola into. Even in the highly competitive industry, the online bingo site attracts thousands of players each day and pays out more than £4 million each week. As chief executive, Cronin, is reportedly looking at expanding operations to Italy to strengthen its positions as one of the biggest names in the European as well as the UK bingo industry.

Cronin added: “With luck, good ideas and good people we have a good chance of succeeding in new markets.”

The company has gone from revenues of less than £50,000 in 2005 to a predicted £26 million this year and it now employs 150 people. Last year Tombola was awarded the Online Bingo Operator of the Year, and this year Cronin was named North East Entrepreneur of the Year. The 47 year old who is married with three sons graduated in computing and electronics from Durham University in 1986. He then worked in his fathers business, Edward Thompson, which is the UK’s largest supplier of bingo tickets. At 28 years old he took on the role of managing director while his Dad was the chairman of the company.

In 1995 he left to set up Intermedia Games, creating and selling promotional game cards produced by Edward Thompson and in 2000 he created Tombola as an internet business featuring not only as tombola.com but on other sites too. As the dot com bubble burst the business struggled. Cronin studied at Harvard Business School then returned to Edward Thompson in 2002 as chief executive.

In 2006, Tombola made profit as it launched its first bingo site in partnership with one of the UK’s biggest national newspapers. Cronin again left Edward Thompson to concentrate on the venture and two years later Tombola split from the partnership with the newspaper operator and both parties went their separate ways running their bingo brands. Tombola has gone from strength to strength and now has twice as many players as its nearest rival in the UK.

In 2010, Tombola agreed to sponsor its local football team Sunderland AFC for two years. The agreement sees the Tombola brand showcased around the Stadium of Light and on the shirts worn by the players. Cronin added: "Sponsoring Sunderland AFC is a fantastic opportunity for tombola. With our own head office here in Sunderland we have been able to see the work that Niall and his team have done to transform the fortunes of the club. We're really looking forward to working with Sunderland and we're confident that this sponsorship will help us achieve our own ambitions.". As you might have guessed Cronin is a Sunderland fan!

As a bingo site Tombola has been a shinning example to other operators. We commonly see gambling sites appearing that are based on business models which have unfair terms and conditions and damage the image of the industry by trying to make short-term financial gains with nothing short of ripping off customers. With the exception of a criticism from the ASA over one of its TV advertisements the Tombola brand has operated to the highest standards which include having policies to ensure that bingo is enjoyed by players and that problem gambling is avoided through limits. From a bingo players point of view there is no better bingo site.

Phil has a lot to be proud of!