Online gambling ambitions for William Hill boss

Key challenge has been getting the online elements of the division back on track

In an interview with London-based finance broadcaster Cantos.com, William Hill plc chief executive Ralph Topping has again underlined the importance of the company’s online operations to its overall success.

The interview marked two years in the William Hill plc hot seat for Topping, who talks about the challenges of getting the ailing online sports betting operations of the company back on track after a disastrous attempt to build its own software, successfully addressed by incorporating Orbis technology under Topping’s direction.

Also on Topping’s watch was the start of a successful online partnership with the major online gambling software specialist Playtech plc, which has started delivering significant revenues.

Topping talks about his ambitious plans for the future, in which he sees online operations continuing to play a major role within the group. These include maintaining the group’s position among the top three online operators in Europe, and its pre-eminence in Europe in the retail (land) sector.

William Hill’s online operations were recently re-located to Gibraltar to make the group’s internet activities more competitive due to lower tax rates

Topping cautions that the consumer will still be under pressure in the coming (2011) year and that the approach to business will be cautious, especially in retail and in the bricks and mortar environment.

However, the sports betting boss expects to see online operations maintaining a strong growth rate throughout 2010.

The interview and transcript are available on http://www.cantos.com.

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