Andrew Lee rejoins Hills as chief troubleshooter
Ralph Topping tempts former employee and City analyst back to bookmaker to troubleshoot underperforming parts of the business.
William Hill CEO Ralph Topping has tempted his former strategic development advisor and experienced City equity analyst Andrew Lee back to the bookmaker to take up a newly created role designed to trouble shoot underperforming areas of the business.
Lee, currently a travel and leisure equity analyst at Jeffries & Company where he has served just a year, is one of the most highly rated forecasters in the gaming sector. He has more than 10 years City experience primarily focused on both the offline and online gambling industries and is known to have been on Topping’s radar ever since he left in April 2010. It is not known when he will leave Jeffries and rejoin Hills.
Although no official job title has been given, his prime objective when rejoining the Leeds and Gibraltar based business, alongside its turbulent online joint venture with Playtech, will be to effectively work as a senior management consultant and resolve issues surrounding underperforming parts of the company.
William Hill has a call option on its online JV with Playtech next year and is thought to be currently considering its options on whether or not to lodge a bid for its partner’s 29% share in the highly profitable venture.
Lee originally qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and worked as a strategic management consultant with Arthur Andersen Business Consulting.
“William Hill has achieved an enormous amount in the past few years and the dynamic nature of the industry, in particular online, continues to provide exciting opportunities, as well as challenges, across products, channels and geographies,” Lee said.
“William Hill’s impressive momentum, strong brand and scale puts the Group in an attractive position as the market evolves. I am delighted to be joining at such an exciting time in the Group’s history,” he added.