8: William Hill (2017)

It’s been yet another 12 months of ups and downs for UK bookmaking heavyweight William Hill in the aftermath of a tough couple of years for its online business. And on the whole it seems like every time the operator takes one step forward, it then takes half a step back.

Starting with the positives, the bookie has returned to growth since last year’s EGR Power 50. Most recently, Hills reported online revenues were up 5% to £290m in H1 2017, with its gaming arm the standout performer after recording 10% year-on-year growth.

William Hill’s sports betting arm has seen a marked improvement too. Changes to the operator’s mobile sportsbook UX, for example, has seen revenues from the channel climb to 81% compared to 70% in H1 2016, while online sportsbook amounts wagered increased 11% YoY. And features such as Bet Boost and #YourOdds also seem to be picking up momentum among UK punters.

That’s the good news. But the past year has hardly been plain sailing for William Hill, and the fact online sportsbook revenue actually fell 1% in H1 2017 will have been a major disappointment to the company. In this instance, revenues were impacted by a 0.4ppts reduction in gross win margin, while in Italy and Spain, sportsbook net revenue was down 15% after an even more substantial margin decline.

The amount of senior personnel that has left the company will also be a major concern. Only in the last few months, William Hill has said goodbye to director of sportsbook Stuart Weston, chief gaming product officer James Curwen and chief experience officer Juergen Reutter.

Despite this drain of talent, Regulus Partners probably summed up the operator’s year best when it said “William Hill is no longer in an operational tailspin”. The question now is whether the operator can get back to levels of growth that would see it once again climb the Power 50 rankings.