Runners race for Ladbrokes top job

Will Ladbrokes take a gamble on its FD as a replacement for chief Chris Bell? While not exactly an odds-on favourite, FD Brian Wallace joins its e-gaming chief John O’Reilly as the two internal candidates in the running for the role.

With experts questioning whether FDs will be the favoured choice for top roles now that businesses are looking at growth strategies as we tentatively move out of recession, the choice for Ladbrokes’ chief executive job could be viewed as a barometer of sentiment for FDs as boss.

Other gambling executives are long-shots for the role, including Gala Coral boss Dominic Harrison and Ed Ware, who runs casino 32 Red.

Michael Sherwin has dealt with orcs and textiles in the past. Now his brand experience has seen him take on another big task – used cars. The restructuring and turnaround expert has been named as the new finance director of Aim-listed Vertu Motors. He was previously at UK-based clothing retailer Courtaulds where he was pivotal in the successful restructuring and refinancing of the business. Sherwin also led the restructuring programme at the Games Workshop where he was group finance director before leaving in 2008.

Nick Davies has taken up a senior role at north Yorkshire accountants Garbutt & Elliott. Davies becomes senior employment reward specialist in the tax team and is the third appointment in the last two months in that division. Andrew Cowe took up residency at the firm specialising in inheritance tax savings for landlords and Samantha Spinks becomes tax senior focusing on research and development tax credits.

Vivienne Oliver has joined Smith & Williamson as associate director in its restructuring and recovery services department. She spent 18 years at Ernst & Young, where she worked on formal appointments including the manufacturing, retail and financial services industries.