William Hill loses FD

Simon Lane is stepping down as finance director for bookmakers
William Hill.

He leaves the company after almost four years according to a statement from
the bookies that said he was seeking a “fresh challenge”.

Lane was instrumental in the company’s refinancing agreements and secured an
estimated £539m, managing to raise £350m from a rights issue.

He has held senior finance roles at Center Parcs, Albert Fisher Group,
Safeway and various titles at Mars Confectionary.

Lane will be succeeded by Neil Cooper, the current
Bovis Homes
finance director, following a handover period.

Cooper joined the housebuilder having spent eight years at Whitbread where
his role included responsibility for IT and investor relations. Prior to that he
was a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers in its management consultancy
practice. He qualified with Reckitt & Colman, now Reckitt Benckiser.

Ralph Topping, the chief executive, said the FD role was now more operational
and one of Mr Cooper’s tasks will be to seek acquisitions for the company.
Cooper takes up the role early next year.

Further reading:

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