Gaming and betting provider Ladbrokes PLC (LON:LAD) today announced the appointment of John Kelly as Chairman of the Board, with the appointment effective immediately.
The management move happens several months after Peter Erskine announced his intention to step down from the Board. Following a successful shareholder vote for the proposed merger with the Coral Group, Mr Erskine formally left the Board and handed over the role to John Kelly.
Mr Kelly will also be the chair of the proposed merger entity Ladbrokes Coral Plc.
John Kelly
Commenting on his new role at Ladbrokes, John Kelly said:
“It is a great honour to take on the role of Chairman of Ladbrokes at such an exciting time in the Company’s history. We have an aggressive organic plan for growth under our new Chief Executive, Jim Mullen, and are working hard towards the proposed merger with Coral Group. While there has been much to do, the Board and the executive team are focused on delivering for shareholders and I remain confident in the direction and momentum in the business.
“Peter has worked extremely hard to steer the business through a much needed modernisation and had to help the business face up to some very significant challenges. Peter’s commitment and endeavour has been crucial to getting the business to a point where we have two strong options open to us for growing the business.”
In addition, Ladbrokes has also named Mark Pain a Non-Executive Director and chairman of the Audit Committee with immediate effect. He is set to the retain the role in the proposed merged entity of Ladbrokes Coral Plc.
Mr Pain is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is Chairman and a non-executive of London Square Developments Limited, Senior Independent Director of Johnston Press Plc and is a Non Executive Director at Yorkshire Building Society and Aviva Insurance Ltd. He also serves as a Trustee of Somerset House. He has held a number of senior executive and board positions (including Group Finance Director) at Abbey National plc (1989 – 2005) and was Group Finance Director of Barratt Developments PLC (2006 – 2009). He was a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of LSL Property Services plc (2009 – 2013), Punch Taverns plc (2007 – 2012) and Spirit Pub Group plc (2012 – 2015).
Meanwhile, Ladbrokes continues a search for additional non-executive directors to join its Board before the completion of the merger with the Coral Group.
The official announcement on the Board changes at Ladbrokes can be viewed by clicking here.