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William Hill appoints Group Finance Director and Brand & Marketing Director

24 November 2009

William Hill PLC (William Hill or the Company) (LSE: WMH) announces the appointment of a new Group Finance Director and the appointment of a Brand & Marketing Director to a newly created role. 

Group Finance Director

After almost four years with William Hill, Simon Lane, the current Group Finance Director, has decided that he wants to seek a fresh challenge to develop his career. Following the successful refinancing, rights issue and the completion of the recent bond issue, the Board was in a position to progress its review of candidates and has been pleased to select Neil Cooper. 

Neil Cooper, 42, will be appointed to the Board of William Hill as Group Finance Director in 2010. He is currently Group Finance Director of Bovis Homes Group PLC (Bovis Homes), where his role encompasses external and management reporting, financing and treasury, IT, Internal audit and investor relations. He joined Bovis Homes in 2007 after an eight-year career with Whitbread plc in various finance roles across a range of businesses. Prior to that, he was a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers' management consultancy practice and qualified as a Management Accountant with Reckitt & Colman plc (now Reckitt Benckiser). 

Neil Cooper's joining date will be confirmed in due course. Simon Lane will be remaining with the Company for the time being to ensure a smooth transition.

Brand & Marketing Director

Kristof Fahy, 39, is appointed to a new senior management position of Brand & Marketing Director, reporting to Chief Executive, Ralph Topping. He will be responsible for development and control of the William Hill brand across all the channels in which the business operates. Mr Fahy has had a 17-year career in marketing and brand communication, most recently as VP, International Marketing for Yahoo! Inc., Prior to that, he was Brand Marketing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Blackberry, and spent five years with Orange, latterly as Head of Brand, Planning and Advertising for Orange UK. He will join William Hill in early January 2010. 

Charles Scott, Chairman of William Hill, commented:

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Simon for his important contribution to William Hill, including his significant efforts in helping to make our balance sheet much stronger during 2009. We wish him every success in his future career. We are delighted that Neil has agreed to join the Board of William Hill. He has highly relevant experience, both in the leisure sector and in terms of managing the financial aspects of a complex, multi-site business."  

Ralph Topping Chief Executive Officer, added:

"We are also delighted to welcome Kristof as the latest appointment in our continuing development of the senior management team. His specialist marketing and branding expertise, together with his online and communications industries experience, will be invaluable as we look to capitalise on the strength of William Hill's 75-year heritage, both online and offline."

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Enquiries:

William Hill PLC 

Charles Scott, Chairman

Ralph Topping, Chief Executive

Lyndsay Wright, Head of Investor Relations 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8918 3600

Brunswick Group 

Simon Sporborg / Justine McIlroy / Tom Williams

Tel: 020 7404 5959

About William Hill PLC

William Hill is a leading betting and gaming company. It is one of the UK's largest bookmakers, with around 2,300 shops in the UK and Ireland that provide betting opportunities on a wide range of sporting and non-sporting events, and offer gaming machines. William Hill Online provides internet-based sports betting, casino, poker and bingo, and is one of the leading European online betting and gaming businesses operated by a listed company.

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