Facts about William Hill plc
Established in 1934 in Wood Green, a North London suburb, William Hill plc is now one of the UK’s largest bookmaking companies. It is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange and is also a member of the FTSE 250 Index. Although it was originally founded by William Hill, the company changed hands a number of times prior to 1971 when it was acquired by Sears Holdings. In 1997 Nomura, a Japanese investment bank, proposed a £700 million leveraged buyout.
Today, William Hill bookmakers operate in both Ireland and the UK offering wagering by telephone and over the internet as well as at their bookmaking shops. Company revenues listed at the end of 2009 were listed as just under £1 billion and like Ladbrokes of London, they now employ some 15,000 people. Additionally, their net profits topped the £81 million mark and their operating income was over £250 million.
In recent years, their internet division has witnessed the greatest growth despite the fact that their gambling shops process nearly 890,000 betting slips on a daily basis. In addition to the internet sportsbook operations, William Hill also offers their clientele other casino games and skill games, as well as online bingo and poker.
This past year (2009) saw William Hill move their fixed-odds and online divisions outside of the UK to Gibraltar for the purposes of avoiding taxes on those two operations. In any event, the company is one of the largest bookmaking companies in Europe and the largest in the United Kingdom.