888 William Hill Names Phil Walker as UK and Ireland MD

888 William Hill, the entity formed in the wake of 888 Holdings’ acquisition of William Hill, has designated Phil Walker as its managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Walker, a former William Hill director, will essentially carry on with his duties as a part of the newly-formed company.

Walker to Serve 888 William Hill after the Merger

Phil Walker served as the UK managing director of William Hill prior to the latter’s acquisition by 888. The experienced director boasts 20 years of experience across stores, catalogs, internet, telephone and mobile channels, thanks to which he was selected to support 888 William Hill.

Walker made the announcement on his LinkedIn account, sharing that he will now be serving as the UK and Ireland MD at 888 William Hill.

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as UK & Ireland managing director at 888 William Hill!

Phil Walker, UK & Ireland MD, 888 William Hill

The MD Has a Lot of Experience

Walker has a lot of experience in high-profile positions, having previously served as the group chief operating officer of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, a non-exec chair at KeyCom Limited and the owner of Sandstar Consulting.

He is no stranger to the gaming industry either and has previously worked for Ladbrokes Coral and Gala Interactive. At Gala Interactive, Walker occupied a variety of important positions, including online director, managing director of remote gambling, a management consultant for Eurobet Italia and marketing and customer operations director. Following the Ladbrokes-Coral merger, Walker served as a chief marketing officer and MD of sports brands.

His earlier career included tenures at a variety of companies.

Walker joined William Hill in 2019, first serving as online managing director before taking the mantle of UK managing director. The specialist’s responsibilities have now been extended to include Ireland as well.

888 Struggling to Consolidate Revenues

Several days ago, 888 posted its financial results for the last quarter of 2022. The company recorded disappointing results in spite of the World Cup boost. According to the company, the suboptimal performance was due to the regulatory headwinds in the United Kingdom, which affected its online business negatively.

The company’s annual revenue from online gambling took a 5% dip year-on-year in 2022. Meanwhile, the company’s overall revenue for the year declined by 3%.

Amid the aforementioned financial troubles, 888 announced that it is parting ways with its chief financial officer, Yariv Dafna. The latter is scheduled to depart from the company at the end of the fiscal year on March 31.

In December, 888 Holdings welcomed Anna Barsby as its new chief product and technology officer.