William Hill Online boss: Have faith in our long-term strategy
Crispin Nieboer speaks exclusively to EGR about his plan for the business after today being named Online MD on a permanent basis
William Hill has confirmed the appointment of Crispin Nieboer as its Online managing director, who today said he was “very confident” his strategy would put the operator back on the path to success.
Nieboer had held the role on an interim basis since January following the departure of former Online MD Andrew Lee and has spent the last few months conducting a review into the business to improve online performance.
According to a trading update released today, Q1 online revenues were down 11% year-on-year following a 17% decrease in sportsbook revenues and a 4% decline from its gaming business.
And speaking exclusively to eGaming Review this morning, Nieboer re-affirmed his belief in the operator’s three-pronged growth strategy of international expansion, product innovation and improved customer acquisition.
“The first few months have been about looking under the bonnet as it were and looking right across the business by getting up to speed on what is working well and the areas where there is room for improvement,” Nieboer said.
“I’m very confident in the strategy and I think we’ve got exactly the right priorities. However, there are some challenges here and it’s not going to happen overnight but I am confident in the plan that we have,” he added.
William Hill first revealed its three-pronged growth strategy in March after the operator was forced to issue a profit warning to the City due to an acceleration in the number of time-outs and self-exclusions, as well as the impact of lower gross win margins.
However, Nieboer also said despite being pleased with developments since becoming interim Online MD earlier this year, the operator remained cautious of a number of headwinds including regulation, industry consolidation and potential market closures.