William Hill Online Wins Operator Of The Year 2011
December 2, 2011 3:29 pmWilliam Hill Online (WHO) has just picked-up the prestigious eGaming Review (EGR) operator of the year award, at a packed venue at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London.
Beating other shortlisted nominees to the trophy, including Bet365, Betfair and 888, the UK based company has become the turnaround story of the year, with the panel commenting:
“William Hill Online has transformed its brand into a dynamic fresh faced online gaming brand and their momentum shows no sign of slowing down.”
Acknowledging the award, William Hill Online CEO Henry Birch said:
“The eGR award for operator of the year recognises the huge strides we’ve made over the last 12 months. I want to thank everyone at William Hill Online for all their hard work over the year – it has been fantastic!”
William Hill is one of Europe’s largest online gaming companies, with 16,600 employees worldwide and an annual profit of £156 million ($253 million) in 2010.
The UK based bookmaker’s online operation is known as William Hill Online (WHO) and includes casinos, bingo, poker and sports betting. In H1 2011, WHO gaming net revenue was up 15%, with Casino net revenue up 14%, Bingo up 25% and Poker up 11%.
Further building on its success, William Hill Online has continued to develop and expand its operation and with the addition of Italian, Canadian and Irish sites this year, is now available in 175 different countries across the world.
In addition, recently William Hill has shown designs on the US market and purchased American Wagering and Cal Neva Sportsbook Division for $40 million, and Brandywine Bookmaking for $14.25m. Commenting at the time, CEO Ralph Topping stated:
“We are an extremely reputable business. We have been in business for 76 years. I think once (Nevada) regulators..understand what William Hill does they’ll be satisfied with our company.”