William Hill appoints new CEO

William Hill 1

The Board of William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) announces that Philip Bowcock will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of the Company with effect from 30th September 2019.

Ulrik Bengtsson, previously William Hill’s Chief Digital Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer Designate and a Director of the Company with immediate effect. He will assume full CEO responsibilities from 30th September. In order to assist with the transition, Philip will continue as an employee of the Company until 31st December 2019. This change is part of William Hill’s succession planning and consistent with the Group’s strategy of becoming a digitally led and internationally diverse gambling company.

Ulrik joined William Hill in April 2018 and was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Betsson AB, a gaming company listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap list.

Roger Devlin, Chairman of William Hill, said: “I would like to thank Philip for his important contribution to William Hill over the last four years, both as CFO and for three years as CEO. During that time, Philip has built a great team, with real depth and a strong culture and overall the business is in good shape. He has led the business through a period of unprecedented change including the challenges of the Triennial Review and has set a clear strategy, driven our expansion in the US and reinvented our approach to safer gambling.

“The Board is pleased to appoint Ulrik to the role. Having overseen the Group’s digital operations for 18 months, he knows the business well and is ideally suited to lead our next phase of growth. Ulrik has deep understanding in digital and has the international and sector experience we need to deliver on our strategy. His appointment will provide continuity, stability and operational digital leadership as we deliver on the strategy we have set.”

Ulrik Bengtsson said: “I am delighted to be taking on the CEO role at such an exciting time for William Hill and look forward to working with the team to deliver our strategy. We have a great opportunity to build William Hill as a digital and international business by driving Online growth in the UK and internationally, growing a scale US business, remodelling Retail and delivering our Nobody Harmed ambition.”

Philip Bowcock said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at William Hill. It has been an intense period with the industry and business experiencing significant structural and regulatory change. After all the work the team has done I believe the business is now well placed to take advantage of the opportunities presented in the US market as well as continued growth in digital. Having recruited and worked with Ulrik for the last year and a half, I am confident he will take advantage of the opportunities ahead and we will see William Hill go from strength to strength.”

Full details of Philip’s leaving arrangements in respect of fixed pay, annual bonus and the treatment of share awards which are consistent with his current service contract and the Company’s shareholder approved Remuneration Policy, will be disclosed on the Group’s corporate website (www.williamhillplc.com) in line with Section 430(2B) of the Companies Act in due course. The remuneration package for Ulrik, which is consistent with the Remuneration Policy, is summarised below and will be disclosed in detail in the next Directors’ Remuneration Report.