Ruth Prior has been named chief financial officer at British bookmaker William Hill. Currently Prior serves as chief operating officer at Worldpay, where previously she was deputy chief financial officer and led the implementation of a multichannel payment platform there. She will join William Hill later this year, a spokesperson said.
Cenkos analyst Simon French noted, “We are encouraged to see another CFO appointment from outside the industry.” He added Prior’s payment processing experience will prove to be valuable as William Hill increases revenue from outside Britain.
Several weeks ago Philip Bowcock was named chief executive officer at William Hill. Recognized British business leader Gareth Davis announced he will step down as chairman, a position he has held since 2010. In William Hill’s latest annual report, Davis wrote, “I would envisage to be in a position to retire from the board before the time of the 2018 annual general meeting.”
Bowcock, Prior and the William Hill leadership team are charged with reversing the company’s struggle to keep up with online gambling’s rapid growth. William Hill pulled out of merger talks with Canadian online gambling company Amaya Inc. in October and also rejected a takeover approach from smaller competitors 888 and Rank Group last year. Rivals have grown through the mergers of Ladbrokes and Coral, surpassing William Hill as the nation’s largest High Street bookmaker.
