By Gabriel Princewill
Casino boss, Henry Birch, is to commence a new post at Sports Direct, this Monday. He takes over from interim CEO and group finance director Derek Harding.The casino chief executive moves into the top job at a time of upheaval for the online only retailer. He has presided several other European gaming and casino businesses.
Sports Direct operates digital department stores Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and VeryExclusive.co.uk.Today, Friday, Birch leaves his rich post of chief executive officer of FTSE 250-listed Rank Group, which owns and operates Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo, alongside several European gaming and casino businesses.
Henry Birch has been chief executive of Rank Group since 2014, and is credited with creating the UK’s largest multi-channel gaming operator.Birch’s appointment to the role was originally announced in March, just five months after previous chief executive Alex Baldock resigned from the position to eventually take the helm of Dixons Carphone. Birch’s tenure as CEO with the Rank Group was preceded by four years as chief executive of William Hill Online. At William Hill, Birch is lauded for launching the company’s mobile business, driving 170 per cent growth in revenue , where profits rose by more than 50%.
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Henry Birch’s newly appointed post will pose challenges which will require great skill to surmount. Shop direct is undergoing a transition coming at a high cost to many of ts employees. In April, Shop Direct announced it would close down its Greater Manchester warehouses and strengthen its operations in a new site at East Midlands Gateway. The closure is set to affect 1992 jobs with 1177 permanent staff and 815 agency roles. The task of keeping the huge tasks and challenges facing sports direct will lie on the shoulders of Henry Birch.
Shop Direct was put up for sale last year for around £3bn, but the sale process was halted, following uncertainty. It is currently run under the private ownership of the Barclay Brothers, who also own The Telegraph.
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Birch masterminded a £46.9m profit for Grovesnor Casino Rank Group, the group’s digital profits soaring by 15% by the end of 2017. Under the auspices of Henry Birch’s admired leadership and high business acumen, the Rank Group changed its digital operating structure, facilitating a multi-brand approach. The 49 year old businessman fostered a strong team, exemplified by the creation of the Sheffield Customer Solutions Hub, gave the Group a competitive edge.
Prior to joining Rank, Birch spent four years as chief executive of William Hill Online, where he launched the company’s mobile business, driving 170 per cent growth in revenue, thereby doubling operational profit. He will be tasked with marshaling out an effective and strategic approach in boosting the growth and profit margins of Sports Direct.
A statement from the Rank Group to The Eye Of Media.Com read:
”The Board would like to thank Henry for his significant contribution to Rank over the past four years and will continue to work closely with him and the executive management team during this leadership transition”.
Aidan Barclay, Chairman of Shop Direct, said:
“Henry is an experienced CEO and an exceptional leader. From both Rank Group and William Hill Online, he brings a track record of reshaping businesses to become more customer-focused, data-driven and technology-enabled while simultaneously driving outstanding financial performance. We’re delighted to attract somebody of Henry’s calibre and very much look forward to working with him as we continue the digital transformation of Shop Direct.
“Separately, I’d like to thank Derek Harding for the superb job he’s done of leading Shop Direct over the last few months. Derek will continue to drive the business forward as interim CEO until Henry arrives, and we look forward to continuing to work with him as group finance director thereafter.”
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