Board of Directors

Peter Erskine was appointed Chairman of Ladbrokes on 15 May 2009, having served as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman designate since 1 January 2009. Peter was Chairman and Chief Executive of O₂ until January 2008 and is a Non-Executive Director of Telefónica. Prior to this he held senior positions with BT (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.

Richard Glynn was appointed a director and Chief Executive with effect from 22 April 2010. He was Chairman of Sporting Index from November 2008 to April 2010, having been Chief Executive from 2001. In January 2009 Richard founded Alinsky Partners, where he worked with management, financial institutions and investors to effect transformation.

Richard began his career as a solicitor with City law firm SJ Berwin and specialised in management buyouts and sport as a partner at solicitors K&L Gates (formerly Nicholson, Graham and Jones). Prior to joining Sporting Index, Richard was Group Managing Director of business to business communications company WCT (a subsidiary of Caribiner International) and CEO of Lord Saatchi's media holding company Megalomedia PLC.

From 2000 until March 2010, Richard served as a government appointed Special Trustee of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and from January 2008 to March 2010 was a Trustee of the Child Health Research Appeal Trust of the UCL Institute of Child Health.

Ian Bull joined the plc board in July 2011 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Ladbrokes plc Ian was Group Finance Director at Greene King plc where he contributed to the successful expansion of the business through organic growth and acquisition. Prior to that, he gained digital experience as CEO Enterprises and CFO BT Retail, in the BT Group. Previous roles have included senior finance positions in The Walt Disney Company and Whitbread plc.

Richard Ames 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. In July 2011 Richard became Product Director under the new organisation structure. He previously held senior management positions with Dixons and Asda.

John Kelly OBE joined the board as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 September 2010. John Kelly was founder and Chief Executive of the Gala Coral Group having led a Management Buy-In from Bass Plc, and subsequently became Chairman, a position he stepped down from in January 2009. Prior to founding Gala Coral he was a board member at Mecca Leisure Ltd. and was a board member of The Prince of Wales ‘Business in the Community’ Charity from 2003-2010. Currently John is Chairman of The Trainline.Com and of Kings Park Capital Advisory Board as well as being one of the co-founders of Dunelmia Partners LLP. John is also a member of the Audit Committee.

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

Christopher Rodrigues was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 September 2003. In January 2007, he was appointed Joint Deputy Chairman of Provident Financial plc and Chairman of its International Division, while also becoming Chairman of VisitBritain, the national tourism organisation. Until November 2006 he was President and Chief Executive of Visa International. He is a former Group Chief Executive of Bradford & Bingley plc and Thomas Cook and has held several senior management positions with American Express. Christopher, who was awarded a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours list for services to British business interests and charitable works in the UK and USA, is also a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta.

Sly Bailey was appointed a Non-Executive Director in November 2009. She was formerly Chief Executive of IPC Media Limited and led the sale of the business to AOL Time Warner in 2001. Sly is Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror Group – a position she has held since 2003.

Darren was appointed a non-executive director in 2009. He is Chairman of Sainsbury's Bank plc, having been Group Development Director from July 2010 to July 2011 and Chief Financial Officer from 2005 to 2010 of J Sainsbury plc. He is also a non-executive director of Carpetright plc, having been Group Finance Director from 2002 to 2005. He was Finance Director of Superdrug Stores plc from 2000 to 2002. Prior to this he held a number of senior financial and operational management positions with Arcadia Group plc between 1988 and 2000. Carpetright announced that Darren Shapland, currently a non-executive director, will be taking over from Lord Harris of Peckham as CEO with effect from 14 May 2012. Lord Harris will remain as Chairman of the Company.

Christine Hodgson, Chairman of Capgemini UK and Richard Moross, Founder and Chief Executive of Moo.com will join the Board on May 1st 2012.

Christine joins Ladbrokes following a 15 year career at Capgemini, the global consultancy firm specialising in technology, where she began as Chief Financial Officer and is currently Chairman of the Capgemini UK board.

Richard Moross is founder and chief executive of Moo.com - a digital success story. The business has become a world leader in online printing, winning a number of awards, and is ranked among the top 10 UK start-up companies by The Guardian. He is widely regarded as a leading expert on ecommerce and is regularly invited to take part in discussions with Government on emerging technology issues.