Jamie Hart has officially confirmed his departure as Director of Innovation & Customer Experience at gambling operator William Hill.
Mr. Hart has been taking his post at the major provider of gambling options since 2008. Generally speaking, he has been responsible for in-house development and his involvement in the company has been instrumental to the creation of WHLabs, known to be William Hill’s experimental division for introducing innovations aimed at improving customer experience.
Mr. Hart’s experience in the gambling industry has not just been limited to his work for William Hill. Prior to joining the company, he had spent five years at rival operator Gala Coral Group. Mr. Hart has taken the position of Trading Director there.
Most recently, the official oversaw the creation and the successful integration of Project Trafalgar. William Hill has repeatedly pointed out that the project is its biggest one to have ever been undertaken by the company and is essentially centered around overhauling its whole web architecture and the introduction of a new sports betting platform.
Reportedly, the gambling operator would not appoint immediately a permanent replacement for Mr. Hart. Instead, the company will opt for dividing the official’s current responsibilities between several senior management functions.
The announcement about Mr. Hart’s departure comes at a time when William Hill is in the middle of a restructuring of its senior management team. In January, Crispin Nieboer, former Corporate Development Director and stakeholder in WHLabs, was appointed as Digital Managing Director at the operator. He replaced Andrew Lee, who announced his departure from the company at that time.
Recently, William Hill posted its financial results for the year ended December 29, 2015. Group revenue amounted to £1.59 billion, up 1% year-on-year. The company also reported a major decrease in operating profit due to the recently introduced additional gambling taxes. It amounted to £291.4 million, representing a 22% drop from the £372.2 million posted for the previous year.
However, operating profit would have increased 2% year-on-year, if it were not for the said gambling taxes. Operating cash flow amounted to £300.9 million in 2015, down from £368.2 million posted for the previous year.
