William Hill plc has announced the appointment of Neil Cooper as its new group Finance Director effective January 2010, alongside that of Kristof Fahy as Brand & Marketing Director, a newly created role for the company as it looks to capitalise on the strength of the William Hill brand both offline and online.

Mr Cooper will join William Hill and serve on the company’s Board following the decision by current Finance Director Simon Lane to step down after four years in the role.

Mr Cooper is currently Finance Director at Bovis Homes Group plc where his role encompasses external and management reporting, financing and treasury, IT, Internal audit and investor relations. Prior to that, Cooper worked for eight years at Whitbread plc in various finance roles across a range of businesses.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Simon for his important contribution to William Hill, including his significant efforts in helping to make our balance sheet much stronger during 2009,” said Charles Scott, Chairman of William Hill.

“We wish him every success in his future career. We are delighted that Neil has agreed to join the Board of William Hill. He has highly relevant experience, both in the leisure sector and in terms of managing the financial aspects of a complex, multi-site business.”

The company also announced that Kristof Fahy has been appointed to a new senior management position of Brand & Marketing Director, reporting to CEO Ralph Topping. Mr Fahy will be responsible for development and control of the William Hill brand across all channels in which the business operates.

Mr Fahy has had a 17-year career in marketing and brand communicatio, most recently as VP International Marketing for Yahoo! Inc. Prior to that, Fahy served as Brand Marketing Director EMEA for Blackberry and spent five years with Orange, latterly as Head of Brand, Planning and Advertising for Orange UK. He will join William Hill in early January 2010.

“We are also delighted to welcome Kristof as the latest appointment in our continuing development of the senior management team,” said William Hill CEO, Ralph Topping.

“His specialist marketing and branding expertise, together with his online and communications industries experience, will be invaluable as we look to capitalise on the strength of William Hill’s 75-year heritage, both online and offline.”