William Hill boss:
William Hill chief executive Ralph Topping said that it was difficult to draw long term conclusions from a trading period where sporting results had not been favourable and that did not include a major football championship during the summer months, and hit out out the British government for not sticking to gambling-friendly policies.
WILLIAM HILL chief executive Ralph Topping said that it was difficult to draw long term conclusions from a trading period where sporting results had not been favourable and that did not include a major football championship during the summer months.
Speaking this morning following publication of William Hill’s financial results and the move of its online and fixed odds businesses offshore, Topping (pictured) said: “We have often mentioned the resilience of the betting industry but the recession has had an impact on all companies in the sector while results have not been kind to us. What we have to do when that happens is to make sure the basics are in place and that the company is operating at its most efficient.”
Topping also criticised the UK government for forcing the bookmaker to relocate its online division to Gibraltar. “The government said the UK would be the place to be for the betting industry: online and land-based, but it didn’t stick to its policy. As a result, none of the pure online operators have returned to the UK.”
Topping said the move offshore was the only way it could make it online division competitive with other operators.He added: “When you’re being prevented from growing your land-based operations due to regulation and anti-monopoly laws, you have to look at other ways to grow your business.”
William Hill Online chief executive Henry Birch said: “Our research has shown that the William Hill brand has presence outside the UK and we will be pushing it out to new markets. We currently offer our products in 16 languages online but we will be targeting some regions more specifically in the months to come through our sportsbook.”