[P E O P L E
NEWS
]
NEWS IN BRIEF
New director of trading for Betfair
Former Ladbrokes head of sports trading product Craig Mucklow has joined Betfair as the new director of trading. 38-year-old Mucklow, who headed up a team of 60 with Ladbrokes, will lead a trading team in Dublin in preparation for Betfair’s launch of a fixedodds sportsbook alongside its core exchange offering. Before joining Ladbrokes in 2007, initially joining as head of US/ Nordic sports, Mucklow was head of US sports at Paddy Power. He had earlier held trading roles with Stan James and BetOnSports.
HILLS EXEC BONUSES SCRAPE THROUGH
Just 50.11% of shareholders approve remuneration report at operator’s AGM
William Hill’s remuneration report only just
received the majority it needed to pass at the operator’s annual general meeting. The report, which contains provisions for a retention bonus worth £1.2m for chief executive Ralph Topping, was passed by 261,059,706 to 259,951,884 or 50.11% to 49.89%. Accounting for the 17,593,989 abstentions, less than half of all available shareholder votes were in favour of the remuneration package. However, 99.76% voted to keep Topping on as CEO. The opposition follows a similar uprising in response to Topping’s 13.5% salary hike from 2010 to 2011, with the remuneration report in last year’s AGM receiving just under 176m votes against. In a statement, William Hill chairman Gareth Davis said: “Ralph Topping has been instrumental in revitalising the fortunes of William Hill since taking the CEO job in difficult circumstances four years ago,” citing the eGR Operator of
the Year’s 12% revenue growth and 19% operating pro?t growth in Q1 2012. “The board believes this exceptional delivery should be re?ected in Ralph Topping’s remuneration and has affected the catch-up in his salary over the last couple of years. As the board manages the succession highlighted to shareholders last year, we believe it is in shareholders’ interests to ensure Ralph remains with William Hill at a critical time in the group’s evolution and last year put in place a oneoff retention package that secures Ralph at least through the end of 2013,” Davis added. Over the last year, Topping has helped Hills rise to second spot in the eGR Power 50, while in January it entered into a “signi?cant” partnership with the Football Association. The narrow approval from Hills shareholders came on the same day that Andrew Moss, CEO of insurance group Aviva, resigned after the rejection of his ?rm’s remuneration report.
Mr Green poaches Jackpot Joy marketing chief
Casino operator Mr Green has appointed Ella Hall as its firstever chief marketing officer as part of the restructuring of the group into three divisions. Hall joins from Gamesys where she served as head of marketing for the operator’s core bingo brand Jackpot Joy. Commenting on her appointment, Hall spoke of her desire to boost Mr Green’s growing profile in the sector: “Mr Green is an instantly likeable brand where the focus on the overall gaming experience and responsible gaming constitute major parts. A brand with those strong foundations offers unlimited opportunities,” she said.
BET365 LEADS EGAMING RICH LIST
Peter and Denise Coates again named richest gambling operators in UK
Bet365 founders Peter and Denise Coates
have dropped two places in this year’s edition of the Sunday Ti