Adrian Marsh u-turns on joining William Hill as CFO

William Hill has confirmed that it will recommence the executive search for its Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) after Adrian Marsh revealed his intentions to remain with his current employer.

Marsh, who intended to join William Hill’s executive team during Q1 2020, informed the operator that he would remain as Group Finance Director of international packaging business DS Smith.

In his notice, Marsh emphasised that his decision was undertaken due to the ‘current unprecedented circumstances’ in which he would remain in his current role.

Roger Devlin, Chairman of the Board at William Hill, said: “Whilst we note the reasons for Adrian’s decision, William Hill is focused on taking the necessary steps required in these unprecedented times to protect the interests of its stakeholders. We will provide an update in due course.”

The update means that Ruth Prior, who is currently serving out her notice period, will continue to serve as William Hill’s group financial lead. Prior joined William Hill in 2017 as a member of the Board and Group Executive team, and announced her departure in January 2020

Issuing a COVID-19 guidance this March, William Hill  took the drastic option of suspending 2019 shareholder dividends, seeking to bolster the group’s cash reserves.

William Hill  underlined that it was too early to determine COVID-19 long-term impacts, but had anticipated that sporting disruptions would reduce group-wide EBITDA performance by £100-110m range.