Our Board

- Peter Erskine Chairman
- Christopher Bell Chief Executive
- John P O'Reilly Managing Director Remote Betting and Gaming
- Brian Wallace Group Finance Director
- John F Jarvis CVO, CBE Independent Non-Executive Director
- Nicholas M H Jones MSc FCA Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
- Christopher J Rodrigues CBE Independent Non-Executive Director
- Henry E Staunton FCA BA Independent Non-Executive Director
- C Philippa Wicks Independent Non-Executive Director
- Richard J Ames Managing Director, UK and Ireland Retail

Peter Erskine

Chairman

Peter was appointed Ladbrokes plc Chairman on 15th May 2009, having served as a non-executive director and Chairman designate since 1st January 2009. He was Chairman and Chief Executive of O2 until January 2008 and is a non-executive director of Telefonica. Prior to this he held senior positions with BT (from 1993 to 2001), UNITEL and Mars. He is a member of the Telecoms and IT Advisory boards of MacQuarie Bank and Apax Private Equity and is a member of the Advisory Board on Strategy of Henley Management College. Age 57.

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Christopher Bell

Chief Executive

Christopher Bell became Chief Executive following the completion of the sale of the Hilton International hotels division in February 2006. He was previously Chief Executive of Ladbrokes Worldwide and was appointed to the Board on 1 June 2000. He joined Ladbrokes in 1991 and became Managing Director in 1995. Prior to joining Ladbrokes he held a number of senior positions with Allied Domecq. He is also Vice Chairman of the Association of British Bookmakers, Chairman of the Bookmakers Committee, a Board member of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, a Board member of the British Institute of Sport and Leisure and a non-executive and senior independent director of Game Group plc.

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John O'Reilly

Managing Director Remote Betting and Gaming

Managing Director Remote Betting and Gaming John O'Reilly joined the Board following the completion of the sale of the Hilton International hotels division in February 2006. He has led the Ladbrokes eGaming Division since its establishment in 2000. He has responsibility for Vernons in addition to Ladbrokes.com and Ladbrokes Telephone Betting operations. Since joining Ladbrokes, he has held senior responsibility within the Company for marketing, public relations, public affairs, property, business development and the Telephone Betting business. He is a director of the Remote Gambling Association.

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Brian Wallace

Group Finance Director

Brian Wallace was appointed Group Finance Director on 5 March 2007. Prior to the sale of the Hilton International hotels division, Brian was Deputy Group Chief Executive and Group Finance Director of Hilton Group plc. He was formerly Group Finance Director of Geest and has held financial appointments with APV, Schlumberger and PriceWaterhouse. He is also Senior Independent non-executive director of Hays plc and a non-executive director at Scottish and Newcastle plc.

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John F Jarvis CVO, CBE

Independent Non-Executive Director

John Jarvis was appointed a non-executive director on 1 July 2006. Currently Chairman of Jarvis Hotels Ltd, Mr Jarvis is also non-executive Chairman of Sandown Park Racecourse and a member of The Jockey Club. He was previously a non-executive director at United Racecourses and a non-executive Chairman of Sporting Index. From 1979 to 1990, Mr Jarvis was an executive director of Ladbroke Group plc and Chairman of Hilton International from 1987 to 1990.

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Nicholas M H Jones MSc FCA

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Nicholas Jones was appointed a non-executive director on 22 July 2002. He is a qualified chartered accountant and business school graduate. He is a distinguished corporate financier and is Vice Chairman of Lazard in London, a position he has held since 1999. His other interests include horse racing and from 1991-2000 he was Chairman of the National Stud.

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Christopher J Rodrigues CBE

Independent Non-Executive Director

Christopher Rodrigues was appointed a non-executive director on 1 September 2003. In January 2007, Mr Rodrigues was appointed Deputy Chairman of the board of Provident Financial plc and Chairman of their International Division, and also the new Chair of the national tourism body, VisitBritain. He was until November 2006 President and Chief Executive of Visa International. He was previously Group Chief Executive of Bradford & Bingley plc. Prior to that he was Group Chief Executive of Thomas Cook and held several senior management positions with American Express. Christopher is also a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta.

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Henry E Staunton FCA

Independent Non-Executive Director

Henry Staunton was appointed a non-executive director on 1 September 2006. Mr Staunton was previously the Finance Director at ITV plc and Granada Group plc. He is currently a non-executive director at Legal & General plc and Standard Bank plc. Prior to this, Mr Staunton was also a non-executive director at Emap plc, BskyB, Independent Television News Limited and Ashtead Group plc, of which he was also Chairman between 2001 and 2004.

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C Philippa Wicks

Independent Non-Executive Director

Independent Non-Executive Director Pippa Wicks was appointed a non-executive director on 1 June 2004. An Oxford and London Business School graduate, she was appointed a Managing Director of AlixPartners Ltd, London, the specialist performance improvement and turnaround firm in 2003. She previously held senior positions within Pearson plc and was Group Finance Director of Courtaulds Textiles plc between 1993 and 1999. Pippa began her career with Bain & Company and was a non-executive director of Arcadia Group plc between 2001 and 2002.

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Richard J Ames

Managing Director, UK and Ireland Retail

Richard was appointed to the Board on 1 January 2009. A business school graduate, he joined Ladbrokes in 2005 as Retail Commercial Director. He was appointed Managing Director UK Retail in 2006 and assumed responsibility for Ireland in September 2008. He previously held senior management positions with Dixons and Asda. Age 39.