| January 14 - Fifty two year old Christopher Bell, who has headed
Ladbrokes as its Chief Executive Officer for the past nine years, has
announced his departure from the company.
Bell will stay on at the giant UK gambling group until the summer. It has not
yet been decided whether the £2 million-earning Bell will earn himself a
payoff on his departure.
Christopher Bell has been with Ladbrokes for the past 20 years but has come
under criticism of late, following a difficult year.
Ladbrokes was forced into a £275 million cash call for unexpected Premier
League football results.
However, it has been denied by an official spokesman for the group that Bell
was departing due to dissatisfaction by company chairman, Peter Erskine.
Bell said that it was simply "time to move on" after two decades in the same
company and that he we was looking forward to the rest.
"It's the most fabulous job anybody could have," he said, "but it's a huge
job and I'm very pleased to be passing the baton on to somebody else because
it's time for a change and - to be quite frank - time for a little rest too."
Bell said that he would be seeking another job in the gambling and betting
industry, but vowed not to work as hard as he had done in the past 20 years.
The search is already on for a new candidate and Bell noted that there were a
number of "very good people" already working in the company that would make good
successors.
In the meantime, Ladbrokes has confirmed that it will consider internal and
external candidates but said that it is still early days.
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