William Hill : Appointment of three Non-executive Directors

William Hill appoints three Non-executive Directors

14 November 2016

William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) (William Hill or the Group) has appointed three new Non-executive Directors bringing extensive digital, multi-channel and gambling industry experience to its Board.

· John O'Reilly, former Managing Director at Coral Interactive: joins 2 January 2017

· Robin Terrell, former Chief Customer Officer at Tesco PLC: joins 2 January 2017

· Mark Brooker, former Chief Operating Officer at Betfair: joins 3 April 2017

Gareth Davis, Chairman of William Hill, commented: 'These appointments significantly enhance the Board's digital, multi-channel and gambling industry experience. John's, Robin's and Mark's collective expertise will strengthen the business as we implement our strategy of digital and international diversification.'

John O'Reilly has over 24 years' experience in the betting and gaming industry having established Ladbrokes' digital operations and initiated the turnaround of Coral's online business. John was a Board member at Ladbrokes until August 2010 and has served as a Non-executive Director of Telecity where he was Chair of the Remuneration Committee. More recently he was Chairman of Grand Parade Ltd, which William Hill acquired in August.

Commenting on his appointment John said: 'I am looking forward to making my contribution towards re-establishing William Hill as the leading performer in the sector.'

Robin Terrell has extensive experience in leading online and retail businesses ranging from Amazon, where he was Vice President and Managing Director UK, to John Lewis, where he was Managing Director of John Lewis Direct. Most recently he was Chief Customer Officer at Tesco, where he also served as Interim Managing Director, UK and Group Multi-channel Director. Prior to that he served as Executive Director of Multi-channel and International at House of Fraser.

Robin commented on his appointment: 'With its strong retail footprint and one of the industry's largest online businesses, William Hill has exciting multi-channel opportunities and I'm looking forward to helping the business to develop to meet the changing needs of its customers.'

Mark Brooker was formerly Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Director at Betfair Group having previously held the position of Managing Director of the company's Sports business. Prior to joining Betfair Mark had extensive experience in corporate broking at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and NatWest Markets.

Mark commented: 'William Hill has achieved a tremendous amount in the sector in recent years. The challenge now is to fully capitalise on the opportunity the Group has from one of the best brands in the industry and a very capable team of people. I look forward to joining the Board in April.'

In accordance with obligations under Listing Rule 9.6.13R, the following directorships of a publicly quoted company were held in the previous five years: between 5 October 2007 and 15 January 2016, John O'Reilly was a Non-executive Director of Telecity Group plc, which was a UK publicly listed company for the duration of John's appointment; Mark Brooker was an Executive Director of Betfair Group plc between 1 June 2015 and 2 February 2016, which was a UK publicly listed company for the period of Mark's appointment.

There is no other information required to be disclosed under Listing Rule 9.6.13R in respect of Mark Brooker, John O'Reilly or Robin Terrell and none of them holds any interest in the ordinary shares of William Hill PLC.

This announcement contains inside information.

The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of William Hill is Philip Bowcock.

William Hill, The Home of Betting, is one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies, employing around 16,000 people. Founded in 1934, it is one of the UK's largest bookmakers with around 2,370 licensed betting offices that provide betting opportunities on a wide range of sporting and non-sporting events, gaming on machines and numbers-based products including lotteries. The Group's Online business (www.williamhill.com) is one of the world's leading online betting and gaming businesses, providing customers with the opportunity to access William Hill's products online, through their smartphone or tablet, by telephone and by text services. William Hill US was established in June 2012 and provides land-based and mobile sports betting services in Nevada, and is the exclusive risk manager for the State of Delaware's sports lottery. William Hill Australia is one of the largest online betting businesses in Australia after the Group acquired Sportingbet and tomwaterhouse.com in 2013. It offers sports betting products online, by telephone and via mobile devices. William Hill PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Group generates revenues of c£1.6bn a year.