William Hill names new chair
WILLIAM Hill has appointed Gareth Davis as its new chairman.
Davis, who recently retired as chief executive of Imperial Tobacco Group after 14 years
in the role, will take up his new job from 1 September.
He joined Imperial Tobacco in 1972 as a management trainee and undertook various roles in the business, including managing director of international operations from 1988.
He was appointed chief executive in 1996 and led the successful demerger of Imperial from Hanson and subsequent listings on the London and New York stock exchanges. He played a key role in the development and execution of Imperial Tobacco’s strategy and its development into a leading multi-national business. Since 2003, Davis has also been a non-executive director of Wolseley.
Charles Scott, who announced in January he was standing down, will leave when Davis takes over. Scott has been with the betting group as a director since 1999 and chairman since 2004. Chief executive Ralph Topping said: “We are delighted that Gareth has agreed to join the board. He has strong, relevant experience in terms of managing a complex, regulated business.”