Exclusive: William Hill International names new MD amid executive team reshuffle

William Hill International has named Nir Hakarmeli as its new William Hill International managing director, EGR can exclusively reveal. Hakarmeli replaces Hills’ current chief operating officer Stephen Parry, who had fulfilled the MD role on an interim basis following the departure of former MD Patrick Jonker, who left Hills at the end of October 2021 after less than three years with the firm. EGR understands Parry left his COO role at Hills and MD of the international business at the end of January to explore other opportunities that “offer both the operational and commercial” elements. Hakarmeli joined William Hill in February 2014, working out of the firm’s Gibraltar office as head of gaming before leaving the firm in July 2016 and moving to Ladbrokes Coral Group as a gaming operations director. Hakarmeli later moved to MoPlay parent company Addison Global in a chief marketing officer role in August 2018, leaving in 2020 following the firm’s collapse into administration. Hakarmeli returned to his former employer William Hill in March 2020 as a gaming director. William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said he was delighted to bring on Hakarmeli to the operator’s executive team, highlighting his track record in the business. “He has done an excellent job leading our gaming centre of excellence, and more recently, with our Italian business,” Bengtsson told EGR. “The step up to the MD of International role seemed like a natural progression for him, and I’m proud we’ve been able to appoint someone from within again,” he added. In a statement regarding his promotion, Hakarmeli expressed his appreciation to Bengtsson and the rest of the  Hills board for his executive level appointment. “This is a great opportunity for me and one that I am relishing,” Hakarmeli said. “The future is bright for William Hill International and I am excited to be working with our talented teams across the world,” he added. EGR has learned the promotion of Hakarmeli to MD came as part of Hills’ ‘internals first’ recruitment policy in which the firm has committed to prioritising internal promotions over external hires in new roles. William Hill chief people officer Mark Skinner, who was appointed in July to launch the firm’s new people strategy including the facilitation of the firm’s ‘Balance’ return-to-work initiative following the Covid-19 pandemic, and Hills group general counsel and company secretary Verity Young have also previously been promoted to the executive team under this policy. William Hill’s non-US business is currently in the final stages of being absorbed by 888 following its £2.2bn acquisition by the London-listed operator from owner Caesars Entertainment in September 2021. Efforts to disentangle William Hill’s non-US business from its American assets have been proceeding apace since then, with Caesars shedding much of its William Hill identity in the US and 888 holding integration-led reviews of Hills’ businesses and operational footprint. To facilitate this, 888 appointed Guy Cohen as SVP, director of integration to work alongside a senior team from William Hill to advance integration preparations. Cohen reports directly to 888 CEO Itai Pazner. The proposed reorganisation of the Hills business must first clear the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which must also approve re-admission of 888 to the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) main market for listed securities, and the premium listing segment of the LSE’s official list. To finance the deal, 888 has plans to kick off a $500m capital raising exercise this quarter, ahead of a Q2 2022 completion.