William Hill chairman Davis to step down next year
Gareth Davis confirms his successor will be sought once he has overseen the process to appoint a new permanent CEO
William Hill chairman Gareth Davis has announced he intends to retire from the company’s board next year after eight years at the London-listed bookmaker.
Davis confirmed a search for his successor will commence once the operator has appointed a new permanent CEO and said he hopes to be in a position to retire from the board prior to the operator’s 2018 Annual General Meeting.
“I have discussed this proposed approach with the rest of the board and they unanimously consider that this orderly and structured process is the best way to proceed,” Davis said in the company’s annual report and accounts.
“With three new non-executive director appointments recently made to the board and the permanent CEO position to fill, any change of the chair must be planned in an orderly manner and with adequate time for induction and familiarisation for a new chair and for any other recent Board appointments.”
Davis’ future at William Hill had previously been subject to speculation after The Times reported last October he would step down from the operator this year following the UK bookmaker’s £6bn failed merger with Amaya.
He is currently in the process of finding a new CEO to succeed former chief exec James Henderson, with interim boss Philip Bowcock currently tipped to be the front-runner.
William Hill was widely expected to announce Henderson’s successor last week to coincide with the release of its full-year results, but instead said an appointment would be made “in a few weeks’ time”.
On Friday, Hills reported a 3% drop in online revenues for FY2016 to £545m, while online operating profits fell 20% to £101m. However the operator said recent changes had led to “encouraging improvements” so far in 2017.