Sir Ian Robinson, who has served as the chairman of the successful gambling
group Ladbrokes, has announced that he is stepping down from his role in
the coming year.
Robinson, who is a well known figure in the United Kingdom gambling industry,
said that his chairmanship would come to an end after Ladbrokes' Annual General
Meeting in May next year.
Under the leadership of Sir Robinson, Ladbrokes enjoyed great financial
success and expansion. Annual gross win almost doubled to 1.3 billion GBP last
year, and Robinson's long term planning saw the company expand further on the
internet, as well as across Europe to Spain and Italy.
Ian Robinson will be replaced by the former chief executive of the mobile
provider, O2, Peter Erskine, who will join the Ladbrokes Board of Executives as
a non-executive director from the beginning of next month already. He will
officially take over the role of chairman when Sir Robinson steps down in
mid-May.
Speaking of Robinson's successor, the Chief Executive of Ladbrokes,
Christopher Bell said: "Peter Erskine's extensive international marketing
background and experience of building brand led businesses will be a big plus
for the company. He was responsible for the transformation of O2 plc - the ex BT
wireless business - into a leading provider of mobile services in Europe and
helped create considerable shareholder value."
O2 was eventually taken over by the Spanish communications company,
Telefonica in 2005 to the tune of 18 billion GBP. Since then, Erskine has served
on the company's board as an executive and non-executive.
