Our management

Experience: John has more than 25 years’ experience in the betting and gaming sector.  From January 2017 to April 2018 he was a non-executive director of William Hill plc and was also chair of William Hill’s Transformation Oversight Committee.  John was a senior executive with Gala Coral Group between August 2011 and April 2015 where, as managing director of Coral Interactive (Gibraltar) Ltd, he launched and built Coral's highly successful online business. Prior to joining Gala Coral, John was an executive director on the board of Ladbrokes plc. During a 19 year career with Ladbrokes (1991 - August 2010), John launched and built Ladbrokes' digital business and had a broad range of functional responsibilities including marketing, property, business development, public affairs and the core bookmaking function, trading. John was appointed non-executive chairman of Grand Parade Ltd, a digital design and development agency, in June 2015, selling the business to William Hill plc in August 2016.  John was also non-executive director and chair of the remuneration committee at Telecity Group plc, the premium network independent data centre operator, between September 2007 and January 2016.  

Experience:  Chris has over 20 years' experience in the betting and gaming industry.  He joined the Hilton Group in 1991 and became managing director of its Ladbrokes Worldwide business in 1994, he joined the board of Hilton Group Plc in 2000 and, following the disposal of its hotels division, became chief executive when it was re-named Ladbrokes Plc where he remained until May 2010. Prior to joining Hilton Group, Chris held several senior positions at Allied Lyons for 12 years.  Chris was senior independent director of Quintain Estates & Development plc from September 2010 to September 2015, a non-executive director of Spirit Pub Company plc from August 2011 to June 2015 and chairman of The GAME Group plc from January 2003 to March 2012.  He was also a trustee of Northern Racing College from June 2014 to March 2017.    

Other roles:  Chris is non-executive chairman of two AIM-listed companies: XLMedia PLC and TechFinancials, Inc. and he is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed Gaming Realms plc. He is also a director of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises.

Experience:  Steven has extensive commercial experience gained within several of consumer-focused multi-site retail businesses.  He had a 12-year career at Waitrose, the last five years of which were as managing director, and he has held several senior and non-executive positions within the food sector.  He was chairman of The Ice Organisation Limited from September 2011 to August 2015 and a non-executive director of The Carphone Warehouse Group plc from September 2005 to July 2009 and of Ocado Limited from October 2000 to February 2004.

Other roles: Steven is the senior independent director of the FTSE-250-listed food producer, Cranswick plc, and chairs its remuneration committee.  He is non-executive chairman of The Advantage Travel Partnership. 

Experience: Bill joined in November 2018 as Chief Financial Officer, and was appointed to the Board on 1 May 2019. Most recently, Bill was CFO at Experian Plc’s UK and Ireland region where he contributed to strong revenue and EBIT growth while overseeing Experian’s FCA authorisation process. Prior to this Bill spent 12 years in a variety of leadership positions at Logica Plc, where he led a turnaround of the UK business and a transformation of the global finance function.

Experience:  Susan has extensive experience gained within large consumer-facing businesses combined with broad commercial non-executive experience.  She was managing director of British Gas Residential Services from January to October 2014 and chief executive of Acromas Group’s travel division from March 2009 to November 2013.  Prior to 2009 she held senior roles at Royal Caribbean International, Avis Europe, PepsiCo International, McKinsey & Co, and Saatchi & Saatchi.  She has also served as a non-executive director of Whitbread PLC (September 2011 to January 2014); First Choice Holidays Limited (April 2005 to September 2007); RSA Insurance Group plc (August 2001 to March 2004) and Courtaulds Textiles Limited (October 1999 to June 2000).

Other roles:  Susan is a non-executive board member of the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and also serves on its audit and risk assurance committee.  She is a non-executive director of Wizz Air Holdings Plc and of Affinity Water Limited where she also serves as chairman of the remuneration committee.  She is a member of the International Advisory Board of LUISS Business School in Rome.

Experience: Hong Cheong has over 40 years of experience within finance, treasury, risk management, operations and strategic planning. He possesses in-depth knowledge of the investment, manufacturing, financial services, property development, gaming and hospitality industries.  Hong Cheong has been with the Hong Leong Group for more than 40 years, holding various senior management positions.

Other roles: Hong Cheong is a Director and the President and CEO of Guoco Group Limited and the Group Managing Director of GL Limited as well as a Director of GuocoLand Limited, both listed in Singapore Stock Exchange and a non-executive director of Lam Soon (Hong Kong) Limited which is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.  He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Experience: Karen qualified as a chartered accountant at Coopers and Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) and has 17 years experience operating at board level in a variety of roles in commercial, operations and governance in several private and FTSE 100 organisations. Most recently Karen spent 10 years at J Sainsbury plc, latterly as a member of the commercial board and director of Non-Food Grocery and New Business. Some of Karen's earlier career was spent at online entertainment business BGS Holdings Limited. She also held a number of senior roles at Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc between 2000 and 2005. Until 2018, she was a supervisory board member and member of the audit committee at GS1 UK Limited.

Other roles: Karen is a non-executive board director of Tritax Big Box REIT plc, a FTSE 250 property business and Whitworth Corporate Holdings Limited, a small East Anglian based commercial property business.

Experience: For six years Luisa was Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at international betting technology company Sportech PLC. Prior to that she spent ten years at Olswang LLP, where she specialised in advising clients in the gambling, sport and media sectors.

John has more than 25 years’ experience in the betting and gaming sector.  From January 2017 to April 2018 he was a non-executive director of William Hill plc and was also chair of William Hill’s Transformation Oversight Committee.  John was a senior executive with Gala Coral Group between August 2011 and April 2015 where, as managing director of Coral Interactive (Gibraltar) Ltd, he launched and built Coral's highly successful online business. Prior to joining Gala Coral, John was an executive director on the board of Ladbrokes plc. During a 19 year career with Ladbrokes (1991 - August 2010), John launched and built Ladbrokes' digital business and had a broad range of functional responsibilities including marketing, property, business development, public affairs and the core bookmaking function, trading. John was appointed non-executive chairman of Grand Parade Ltd, a digital design and development agency, in June 2015, selling the business to William Hill plc in August 2016.  John was also non-executive director and chair of the remuneration committee at Telecity Group plc, the premium network independent data centre operator, between September 2007 and January 2016.  

Bill joined in November 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Bill was CFO at Experian Plc’s UK and Ireland region where he contributed to strong revenue and EBIT growth while overseeing Experian’s FCA authorisation process. Prior to this Bill spent 12 years in a variety of leadership positions at Logica Plc, where he led a turnaround of the UK business and a transformation of the global finance function.

Jonathan joined us in October 2018 having spent much of his career in the betting and gaming sector. Prior to taking on the position of CIO, Jonathan was the Technology Delivery Director for Rank, successfully managing change across our technology platforms. Jonathan has delivered numerous strategic, transformational and integration technology change programmes, both inside and outside of the gaming industry, working for companies such as Gala Coral, Ladbrokes and GVC.

Jim joined Rank in October 2018 as Chief Transformation Officer. Jim joins us from McKinsey, where his vast experience is drawn from serving as a CEO and as a proven business-turnaround leader in a variety of organisations for more than 25 years. He has operated in multiple industries, becoming a global transformation expert in telecommunications, professional services, IT services, leisure and retail.

Sarah joined Rank in 2009. Sarah previously was at KPMG where she worked in their corporate tax practice. Sarah is a chartered tax adviser.

Paul has been working as an advisor to and latterly an executive within the gaming industry for the last 15 years. Having also worked in investment banking, private equity and law, Paul has broad experience of advising, investing and operating in a broad range of markets and sectors. 

For six years Luisa was Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at international betting technology company Sportech PLC. Prior to that she spent ten years at Olswang LLP, where she specialised in advising clients in the gambling, sport and media sectors.

Experience: Jonathon joins us from Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC, where he was Managing Director of its premium pub and hotel arm. Having joined the company in 2005, he was appointed as Operations Director for Fuller's Inns in 2007 and subsequently to the main Board in 2012. Jonathon has previously held positions at Carlton Communications PLC, Molson Coors and Bass Ltd. He graduated from The University of Leeds with a degree in Geography, and holds a graduate master's degree in marketing. He is an alumnus of both IMD and Columbia Business Schools.

Darren joined us in October 2019 through our acquisition of Stride Gaming plc ('Stride'). He is working alongside Eitan Boyd leading our digital business, Rank Interactive. Darren has had in excess of 17 years in the digital gaming space, having held senior positions at Stride and 888.com. He has a broad range of experience in all spheres of digital operations and strategy and is focused on Rank Interactive's digital strategy.

Eitan joined us in October 2019 following the acquisition of Stride Gaming plc (‘Stride’). Eitan brings a wealth of experience, having worked in the online gaming industry for over 20 years. He was the co-founder of GlobalCom bingo network and responsible for building the Wink Bingo network, and is now working with Darren Sims leading our digital business, Rank Interactive.