William Hill Names Neil Cooper Finance Director
By Margot Patrick, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K. betting and gaming company William Hill PLC (WMH.LN)
Tuesday said it has hired Neil Cooper from Bovis Homes Group PLC (BVS.LN) to be
its group finance director from next year, as Simon Lane, who had held the role,
looks to leave the company.
Cooper has been group finance director at Bovis Homes Group for nearly three
years, and before that worked at Whitbread PLC (WTB.LN) for eight years.
William Hill said Lane decided he wants a "fresh challenge" after four years
at the company. The move comes after the betting and gaming company's GBP350
million rights issue seven months ago and GBP300 million bond deal earlier this
month.
Chairman Charles Scott in a statement thanked Lane for his "significant
efforts" in helping to strengthen William Hill's balance sheet this year. He
went on to say he is delighted about Cooper joining the firm's board, and
pointed to his "highly relevant experience, both in the leisure sector and in
terms of managing the financial aspects of a complex, multi-site business."
Cooper's start date hasn't been set yet and Lane will stay on in his role for
the time being, the company said.
Meanwhile, William Hill said it has created a new role of brand and marketing
director that will be taken by Kristof Fahy, who is joining from Yahoo! Inc. (
YHOO), where he was vice president of international marketing.
William Hill, which was founded in 1934, operates around 2,300 betting shops
across the U.K. and Ireland, giving it around 26% of the U.K. betting market. It
also has telephone and Internet betting operations.
Company Web site: http://www.williamhill.com
-By Margot Patrick, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9451; margot.patrick@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-24-090248ET
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