William Hill unveils James Henderson as new CEO
Bookmakers William Hill have announced the appointment of James Henderson as the company's new chief executive officer, effective from 1 August 2014.
Henderson currently serves as the group director, operations, with oversight for the UK retail business, online, William Hill Australia and William Hill US and has been with the bookies for 29 years.
Gareth Davis, chairman, commented: "His established relationships, both with the strong cadre of senior managers and within the wider industry, ensure he is the best person both to sustain the momentum William Hill has achieved under Ralph and to progress further the digital and international diversification of the Group."
Henderson will be replacing veteran Ralph Topping, who is standing down after 44 years with William Hill and six as its CEO.
The company has experienced mixed fortunes this year, announcing back in April that it would be closing 109 shops as a result of the government's decision to hike machine games duty to 25 per cent.
However, in the 13 weeks ended 1 April, the bookmaker enjoyed strong growth in online gaming net revenue of 16 per cent. Online gaming benefited substantially from the 142 per cent growth in mobile. Online sportsbook also continued to grow with turnover up 39 per cent.
After the company's first quarter results were released, stockbroker Numis commented that the concern over regulatory risk is at a peak and government policy changes will not be as bad as originally feared.