Who Leads? William Hill struggling to find a CEO

The Financial Times has reported that FTSE-listed William Hill is struggling to find a new Chief Executive to officially lead the company following the departure of James Henderson in July.

At present, William Hill leadership is being filled by interim-CEO Philip Bowcock, who joined the company last November as CFO from UK cinema chain ‘Cineworld’.

The six-month search for Henderson’s replacement has been led by group Executive Chairman Gareth Davis, with the Financial Times reporting of several approaches initiated by the operator, but with ‘no formal offers’ being  made.

GVC Holdings CEO Kenneth Alexander has been named as a William Hill leadership target, however, Alexander is reported to have turned down Hill’s proposition stating that his focus was on merging GVC and bwin.party assets.

Former Betfair Chief Operations Officer Mark Brooker is another reported target to have turned down William Hill’s governance advancements.

Philip Bowcock remains the leading in-house candidate and has expressed taking leadership permanently. However, Bowcock’s lack of industry experience has divided William Hill’s board as to whether he should lead the firm’s performance turnaround.

Following a six-month search, Industry analysts and commentators have detailed that the bookmaker’s problems in finding a new CEO point to a ‘lack of succession planning’ by William Hill governance.