2014 EVERYONE MATTERS. · Betting and gaming are enjoyed the world over by millions of people. Today, the gambling industry takes many different forms from casinos to bingo clubs,

EVERYONE MATTERS.William Hill PLC Corporate Responsibility Report 2014

02

Overview

William Hill PLC. Corporate Responsibility Report 2014

Overview

Overview of the gambling industry 04

William Hill: 80 years of integrity and trust 06

The William Hill Commitment and HOME 09

Customers

Gambling in society 12

Problem gambling 13

The Code for Responsible Gambling 15

Protecting the young and vulnerable 16

Preventing crime 18

Fair and open gambling 20

Project Africa update

Raising education standards 22

Improving health 23

What’s next? 24

Colleagues

Reward and recognition 26

Career development 28

Keeping our colleagues safe 30

Well-being 32

International forum 33

Community

William Hill Foundation 34

Catch 22 35

Colleagues’ community activities from around the world 36

Supporting sport 39

Environment 40

Suppliers 40

Find out more 42

Customers Colleagues Community

03 William Hill PLC. Corporate Responsibility Report 2014

A message from Ralph Topping

“Without doubt, integrity is the most important quality you need. Whatever you promise, live up to your word.”William Hill, 1955

This year we celebrate 80 years of William Hill. Starting up in a tiny office with a prestigious address, William Hill set up a telephone betting business in 1934 which laid the foundation of our business today. From his Jermyn Street headquarters, William and his entire staff of one lad set about winning clients with the promise of personal service, unbeatable odds and prompt settlement. A bookmaking revolution was underway.

Though more than half our history has been without our founder, who died in 1971, his words are as true for us today as they were then. He would still recognise in this much larger, international, multi-channel business the foundations that he established both on the telephone and later in the shops.

These are challenging times for everyone, with expectations of all of us – as companies, as colleagues, as shareholders, as corporate citizens – constantly increasing. The gambling industry brings pleasure to millions but is controversial to some. In this, our second Corporate Responsibility report, we look to share with you the ways we strive to improve how we support and protect our customers, develop and engage our colleagues and contribute positively to the communities in which we operate.

You don’t become an 80-year-old business unless you gain the respect of your stakeholders and we are continually evolving to make William Hill sustainable for the next 80 years.

Ralph ToppingChief Executive

Overview

Overview

Overview of thegambling industry

04William Hill PLC. Corporate Responsibility Report 2014

Betting and gaming are enjoyed the world over by millions of people. Today, the gambling industry takes many different forms from casinos to bingo clubs, betting shops and trackside betting to lotteries and online and mobile betting and gaming.

Land-based activities remain the channel of choice for many gambling customers, while online gambling first started in earnest in 1998 and technology innovations have seen mobile grow rapidly in the last few years.

In many countries, gambling is either state-controlled or restricted to a small number of licencees. Some governments have been revising their regulatory regimes, particularly to cater for the internet. A legal framework typically involves the licensing of companies that are required to comply with a domestic regulatory regime and to pay gambling taxes in return for being allowed to advertise locally. William Hill is licensed to operate in a number of countries, including the UK, Gibraltar, Australia, Italy, Spain and Nevada in the US.

In the UK, around 7-8 million people placed a bet during the last 12 months in betting shops, online and on their mobile devices1. During the period April 2012 to March 2013, the British gambling industry generated a gross gambling yield of £6.3bn2 (excluding the National Lottery). The National Lottery is available from more outlets than any other part of the gambling sector at c38,000. Outside of this, the largest part of the industry is licensed betting offices, which accounted for around half of that gross gambling yield.

Betting shops became legal in Britain on 1 May 1961. More than 50 years later, they are one of the most familiar components of every high street, bringing additional footfall to the heart of communities throughout the UK. Fifty years ago, horse racing, greyhound racing and the occasional football match, tennis tournament or cricket test match were the options available to customers of betting shops. Today, every major sporting event comes with betting odds attached.

Royal weddings, Royal Ascot and reality TV are all available, along with ‘numbers’ betting, gaming machines and virtual racing, and almost any custom-built wager customers care to put forward will receive appropriate odds on request. The number of betting shops peaked in 1968 at 15,800 licences. Today, there are around 9,000 and that number has been relatively constant over the past five years.

The British betting industry is a key contributor to the UK economy. We directly support around 38,800 full-time equivalent jobs and generate £2.3bn towards GDP. With a number of other industries being reliant on ours, our total economic footprint is more than 100,000 FTE jobs and £5bn towards GDP3.

With a high proportion of our betting shop costs being fixed, any material adverse change to our industry risks substantial shop closures and job losses. This would hit not only our industry and employees but also those reliant on ours, such as horse racing and greyhound racing.

We make a positive contribution to local economies, paying c£58m in business rates, offering flexible working arrangements and providing a meeting place for members of local communities to take part in an enjoyable pastime.

For some people, however, this can lead to problems and we work tirelessly to minimise this risk through proactive measures such as quality interactions with customers and providing them with tools to control or stop their gambling.

1. Kantar Market Sizing Tracker, Q3-Q4 20132. Gambling Commission Industry Statistics, March 20133. Measuring the economic contribution of the British betting industry,

Deloitte, March 2013

£5bnThe direct and indirect contribution of the British betting industry to the UK economy.

100,000The number of full-time equivalent jobs provided directly or indirectly by the British betting industry.

9,000The number of licensed betting offices peaked at more than 15,800 in 1968s then declined to its current, stable level of c9,000.

53 yearsBetting shops became legal in Britain 53 years ago on 1 May 1961.


At William Hill, we believe that a competitive and well-regulated environment drives out illegal gambling and delivers better value for customers in a safe and responsible way.

Overview


Overview

80 years of integrity and trust

William Hill is one of the world’s oldest gambling companies and we are celebrating our 80th birthday in 2014.

We are now also among the world’s largest and have one of the most recognised, respected and trusted brands in the industry. Today, we still stand by William Hill’s own commitment to integrity and trust.

We are best known as a bookmaker providing fixed odds sports betting but we also offer gaming to our customers, including electronic versions of casino games such as roulette and blackjack. We aim to make our products safely available to customers whenever and wherever they want to gamble – in the Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) or sportsbooks, online, by telephone, on their PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

In the UK, we are the leading betting and gaming operator. We are the largest high street bookmaker with approximately 2,430 of the c9,000 licensed betting offices regulated by the Gambling Commission. We are also the largest provider of online gambling to UK customers, with an estimated 15% of UK online gambling revenues being generated by William Hill.

We are an increasingly international company, with colleagues based in nine countries following our expansion into the US, Italy, Spain and Australia in the last three years. But we are also a very local company, embedded into and making a positive contribution to the local communities in which we operate.

17,000We now have more than 17,000 employees who are based in nine countries.

“At William Hill, we recognise that, for us to continue to grow and to be successful, we need to behave in a sustainable way towards our key stakeholders: our customers, our colleagues and the local communities in which we operate.

“At the Board level, the Group has had a Corporate Responsibility Committee in place since 2006. This Board committee was established ahead of the implementation in 2007 of the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure that the Group operates in a sustainable way and that it delivers the three licensing objectives of fair and open gambling, preventing crime and protecting the vulnerable across the Group. We also advise the wider Board on environmental, social and ethical matters.”

380Land-based sports book and mobile betting

NEVADA, USA

COLLEAGUES

Ashley Highfield, Non-executive Director of William Hill PLC and Chairman of the Board’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

UNITED KINGDOM

SOFIA, BULGARIA

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

MILAN, ITALY

MADRID, SPAIN

MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES


GIBRALTAR

AUSTRALIA

8Online betting and gaming

COLLEAGUES

15,200Retail betting and corporate headquarters

COLLEAGUES

400Online headquarters

COLLEAGUES

4Online betting and gaming

COLLEAGUES

200Multi-lingual customer service

COLLEAGUES

230Online marketing

COLLEAGUES

480Live-chat and English customer service

COLLEAGUES

280Online and telephone betting

COLLEAGUES


All our customers are treated in an equal, fair and open manner by making clear rules available and applying them consistently.

Overview

Overview

Our commitmentto customers


William Hill – The Home of Betting – stands for outstanding service and our reputation is built on our customers trusting that we will behave openly and fairly towards them. We aim to treat our customers in the way that we would, ourselves, like to be treated.

• We put our customers at the heart of what we do, providing a personal, open and fair service whether taking a bet, addressing a complaint or resolving a dispute.

• All our customers are treated in an equal, fair and open manner by making clear rules available and applying them consistently.

• We work hard to minimise the effects of problem gambling and we continuously invest in research, education and treatment to achieve that. We enable customers who are concerned about their gambling activities to control, reduce or stop their activities with us.

• Everyone in William Hill is committed to preventing the young from gambling. Gambling is strictly forbidden if you are under 18 and we use our “Think 21” policy in the shops and sophisticated identity checks online to achieve that.

• We want our customers to be entirely satisfied with the service we provide across all of our channels and we strive to achieve that by addressing complaints in a quick, fair and open manner.

• The privacy of our customers is important to us. We protect all of our customers’ personal data that we hold and actively protect customers during their time in our shops.

• We work tirelessly to minimise crime and disorder in our business.


Overview

Our commitmentto colleagues

We believe every colleague matters, that they should work in a safe and stimulating environment and have the opportunity to develop and to progress their careers on merit, without barriers. We know that committed and engaged employees give the best service, encourage customer loyalty to William Hill and are the most effective team members.

• We give every colleague the opportunity to perform to the best of their abilities and reward them with a competitive pay and benefits package, personalising it where possible. We enable colleagues to share in the Group’s success.

• Great work and loyalty are always recognised and rewarded. We have fun at work and love celebrating success.

• We encourage colleagues to grow and develop in their career with us and invest in realising their career aspirations. We actively promote from within and don’t operate a glass ceiling. We are focused on sustainable succession planning for our management team.

• We are an open business and encourage honest feedback from

all colleagues, including through our HOME Truths Employee Engagement Survey. We actively ask people for their views on improving the way we do things.

• Fostering the well-being, safety and security of our colleagues is paramount. We proactively support our colleagues in both happy and challenging times.

• Our colleagues come from a diverse range of backgrounds that reflect the communities we operate in.

• Every colleague is given an equal opportunity to perform to the best of their ability and to be rewarded with a competitive pay and benefits package. We are flexible to individual circumstance as we want to fulfil the potential of our colleagues.

Hungry for success• Always looking to do better than before, better than the competition • Beating targets, being results focused, never settling for average or second best • Taking the best from who we are and where we have come from to drive the future of betting and gaming• Always thinking of new ways of doing things and never settling for average or second best

Outstanding service• Putting our customers first at all times whoever they are• Always looking to exceed our customers’ expectations• Owning the relationship with the customer and any problems they experience• Never just doing the job but always going further

Everyone matters• Considering everyone, recognising skills, expertise and others’ contribution• Celebrating what people do to support each other, support the customers and support the business• Never taking anyone for granted• Understanding that all our customers are vital, through every channel and every product

Making it happen• Welcoming change and innovation• Looking at new ways to do things and new ideas, trying things out• Being empowered to make descisions and to implement change• If you can make a difference, do and remember that people need encouragement and recognition

H

O

E

M

William Hill is The Home of Betting and ‘HOME’ represents the principles at the heart of our business.


Overview

Our commitmentto community

We recognise the sustainability of our business depends not only on year-to-year financial performance but also on support from a wide group of stakeholders, including the local communities in which we operate and other businesses and industries affected by ours.

• As a responsible business operating in a regulated industry, we comply with the regulations and legal framework under which we operate and actively engage with our regulators to develop best practices and to achieve consistently high operating standards.

• We make a significant contribution to the UK economy through tax revenues and employment, and engage with government to ensure any changes to tax and regulation are sustainable for our industry.

• We are a large employer, particularly in the UK. We seek to create opportunities for our community by creating more jobs and protecting existing ones. We behave in a considerate and supportive manner to minimise the effect that business changes might have on colleagues or their communities.

• Our shops are a social hub and a vital part of their local communities. Our colleagues are encouraged to embrace their local community and to engage with it.

• We share our financial success by supporting communities and industries close to our own, through colleagues’ engagement with local projects as well as through sponsorships, levies and charitable donations.

• Our suppliers are partners, treated with respect and transparency, and are also expected to act responsibly towards their employees, community and the environment as we strive to build positive, long-term relationships.


Customers

Gambling in society

Gambling is a fun and popular pastime, ingrained in many cultures. According to the 2013 English and Scottish Health Surveys, seven in ten adults participated in some form of gambling in the prior year. The most popular activity was the National Lottery.

Three important principles – keeping crime and disorder out of gambling, protecting children and the vulnerable, and keeping gambling fair – are embodied in the licensing objectives of the Gambling Commission under the UK’s Gambling Act 2005. These underpin the overarching objectives of our Corporate Responsibility Committee. They are at the heart of our UK business and are the principles we adopt across our international operations as well.

The licensing objectives

The three licensing objectives are enshrined in our policies and procedures across the Group.

Objective 1To prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder or being used to support crime.

Objective 2To ensure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way.

Objective 3To protect children or other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Retail

Online

Mobile

59% 10%7%

4%

5%7%

8%

What do UK adults gamble on?

National Lottery

Other lottery tickets

National Lottery scratchcards

Betting on horse races

Playing slot machines

Private betting

Betting on events other than racing

Online gaming

Playing fixed odds betting terminals

73%

25%

24%

16%

13%

11%

9%

5%

4%

“Through the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act and the 1968 Gaming Act, the government largely succeeded in its aim of removing criminality from the gambling industry. Since the 1960s, the UK gambling industry has undergone significant change.

“This has been due partly to developing social attitudes and partly to technological innovations. Groups which previously took a prohibitionist stance now argue for what they see as appropriate regulation and consumer protection measures to combat problem gambling. Successive reviews, including the Royal Commissions on

Gambling (1932-33, 1949-51 and 1978) and the Gambling Review Report of 2001, all clearly state that it is the role of Government to treat the gambling industry in the same way as any other legitimate leisure industry whilst putting in place measures to prevent criminality and excess. Gambling is now widely accepted in the UK as a legitimate entertainment activity.”

“The Gambling Act 2005: A bet worth taking?” A report of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, July 2012

Where do UK adults gamble?


Customers

Problem gambling

Although for the majority of customers gambling is a pleasurable pastime, for a small number of them it becomes a serious problem.

Problem gambling levels – as tracked through the 1999, 2007 and 2010 Prevalence Surveys and now through the English and Scottish Health Surveys – have been relatively stable throughout the past decade and may even be declining. The levels are low by international standards with around 0.5% to 0.7% of adults in Britain having a propensity to have a problem with gambling.

According to academic experts, a problem gambler typically uses six to seven gambling products regularly. There is no evidence that any particular product is more harmful than any other.

William Hill is committed to encouraging responsible gambling. We have put measures in place to encourage customers to gamble responsibly and to provide them with tools to help control their gambling. For instance, our betting shop colleagues carry out more than 2,000 responsible gambling interactions a month and facilitate self-exclusions for around 6,500 at-risk gamblers a year.

In addition, we fund the research, education and treatment of problem gambling through the Responsible Gambling Trust, a leading UK charity that aims to stop people getting into problems with their gambling and to ensure that those who do develop problems receive fast and effective treatment and support.

0.5%Accordingly to the latest English Health Survey, the proportion of the adult population that has a propensity to have a problem with gambling has reduced to 0.5%.

William Hill contributed £863,000 to fund the research, education and treatment of problem gambling in 2013.


Customers

Dr Mark Griffiths - Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University

“The player protection and harm minimisation measures...go further than anything else emanating from the UK gambling sector in the past.”

Customers


The Code for Responsible Gambling

The focus of the Code

• Issuing clearer and more accessible information on how to gamble responsibly and highlighting the sources of help available.

• Providing customers with new tools such as mandatory time- and money-based reminders, the ability to set spend and time limits on gaming machines and to request machine session data.

• Training colleagues to detect the signs of potential problem gambling more quickly and on how to interact more effectively with those identified.

• Undertaking more consistent central analysis of data to identify abnormal activity both in specific shops and, where possible, relating to individual customers.

In the past 12 months, we worked closely with our industry body the Association of British Bookmakers in developing and implementing the Code for Responsible Gambling. The principal aim of the Code is to drive up the number and quality of responsible gambling interactions in shops. We raise awareness of problem gambling by training our colleagues and by prominently displaying responsible gambling materials throughout our shops. In 2013, we further strengthened our existing procedures, requiring more detailed reporting from our shops on responsible gambling interactions with customers. Since then, we have seen a significant increase in the number of interactions.

On 1 March 2014, we implemented technical changes to the gaming machines that intervene in the customer’s play and give the customer the ability both to restrict their play and to be aware of how much they have played, which are seen by the academic experts as key steps in helping gamblers at risk.

If a customer loses £250 or plays for 30 minutes, a pop-up window appears for 30 seconds with responsible gambling messages.

At the beginning of a session, a customer can set personal limits on how much they want to spend or how long they want to play for, after which pop-ups also appear for 30 seconds. Both approaches force a break in concentration and an active decision by the customer whether to stop or to continue playing. At the end of a session, a customer can review for themselves how much they have spent and for how long they played.

The gambling industry’s advertising code

The industry has had its own Code for Socially Responsible Advertising since 2007, which supplements the rules produced and administered by the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice. This requires, for instance, the inclusion of ‘18+’ and ‘gambleaware.co.uk’ on all our adverts, not advertising products such as casino games before the commonly accepted watershed of 9.00 pm and avoiding magazines that have a significant under 18 readership.


Customers

Protecting the youngand vulnerable

2,000+Our Retail colleagues are routinely engaging in more than 2,000 responsible gambling interactions with customers a month in our shops.

81%In independent age verification tests, we successfully challenged testers in 81% of cases, which is higher than many other age verification industries.

Think 21: preventing underage gambling

Betting shops are an ‘over 18’ environment. Our shop teams challenge those who appear under 21 and are uncompromising in demands for a valid form of identification. After some disappointing outcomes some years ago, we changed our culture, training and processes to drive significant improvement in this area.

We use an independent third party to test the effectiveness of our approach. Having changed our testing methodology in 2012, throughout 2013 we have been measuring colleagues’ challenging of customers who appear to be under 21 at different stages of their interaction with the shop, from entering the door to approaching the counter or attempting to use a gaming machine.

We now achieve a very high rate of challenges, with an 81% success rate from third-party testing and an 84% success rate from regular local authority testing. This compares favourably with other ‘age challenge’ industries and it takes a consistently high level of focus for all our Retail colleagues to achieve this. We remain committed to sustaining such good practice.

When a new Online or Telephone customer opens and deposits into an account, we go through a series of age verification procedures, also using external agencies.

Self-exclusion

For many years now, we have provided self-exclusion systems in the betting shops and for Online and Telephone customers. Since 2011, when we reviewed and revised our approach in the shops, we have required customers to self-exclude for a fixed one-year term. The exclusion can be renewed annually by telephone and without a further visit to a shop. The provision of a photograph is mandatory.

Every known breach of a self-exclusion is recorded and monitored. Online customers are also able to self-exclude or can choose to close certain products when they gamble. We recorded 6,767 self-exclusions in Retail in 2013 and 17,915 in Online and Telephone, giving us confidence this critical responsible gambling tool is being used successfully by customers.

Around 80% of self-excluders who enter a shop from which they are excluded are identified and asked to leave before they manage to gamble. We are currently reviewing our processes within Online to identify ways to add usefully to the existing tools, which include enabling customers to set their own deposit limits.

“We get enormous satisfaction in the Compliance team from improving William Hill’s approach to responsible gambling, whether through higher age verification test rates, seeing the quality of colleagues’ responsible gambling interactions improve or talking to customers on our self-exclusion renewal line to help the self-exclusion be as effective as possible.

“There is always the potential for things to go wrong but we know we get much of it right and most certainly draw on any lessons learned to improve our future performance.

“We are constantly seeking ways to get better at how we do what we do.”

Andrea Macqueen, Head of Regulatory


Customers

The story of a self-excludee

This is just one case study from our shops. The names have been changed to protect the customer’s privacy.

“I’m John, a shop manager with William Hill in London. George would visit the shop maybe twice a week and I got to know him well over about three years so when he started spending more than before I noticed.

“What concerned me even more was that he was becoming irritable and aggressive at times, which is not like George at all. I thought I’d have a chat to see if there was a problem so approached him with a hot drink and asked about the sudden change in his spending.

“George admitted he had personal problems at home so I talked to him about our self-exclusion procedure and the professional support that he could get through GamCare. John thought that self-exclusion was a good idea for him until he felt he was back in control of his life so I worked through that with him.

“After 14 months, it was great to see John come back to the shop again. He told me he had visited GamCare which was really helpful. We had a long chat and I told him that he needed to take another 24 hours for a cooling-off period before he could bet in the shop again.

“He’s now been back for more than six months and it’s great to see him enjoying his gambling because he can control it for himself.”


Customers

Preventing crime

Continuing to reduce crime

A key objective when betting shops were first legalised in 1961 was to drive crime out of gambling and it remains a principal tenet for us today.

Our 75-strong Security team leads this effort and we have succeeded in substantially and continuously reducing the number of actual or attempted robberies, burglaries and cash-in-transit incidents across our Retail estate over several years.

Our longstanding and award-winning Counter Plan initiative focuses on training our colleagues in careful cash management in and around our shops.

We have also invested in incident management systems such as safe havens and StaffSafe, as well as high definition CCTV in every shop.

Investing in security

We have continued to invest in CCTV as it plays a critical role in helping us combat crime, helping identify offenders who commit robbery or anti-social behaviour as well as driving down incidents of fraud.

StaffSafe has now been installed in all the shops we have categorised in the highest risk category in our internal risk assessments. This two-way audio communication system connects shop teams to a 24-hour monitoring station. It is highly effective at combating anti-social behaviour as the incident is managed over the audio system by the remote team, taking the focus away from the shop team.

It has proved successful at combating and deterring burglary, and the remote team are also able to provide immediate post-incident support to colleagues. In 2014, we will be doubling the number of shops covered by StaffSafe to around 1,275.

William Hill continues to lead the implementation of the industry’s Safe Bet Alliance, together with the Association of British Bookmakers. Together with Crimestoppers, we have over the last seven years launched successful initiatives in the Metropolitan Police area,

Northumbria, Strathclyde and Manchester. Other effective initiatives have been developed in Bristol and the West Midlands.

We are committed to working closely with local communities in making their neighbourhoods safer and have succeeded in achieving an increase, via Crimestoppers, in actionable calls from the public to the police. In 2013, the Safe Bet Alliance received accreditation from the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Tackling anti-social behaviour

We treat anti-social behaviour in our shops extremely seriously. In 2013, we held workshops that brought together shop colleagues, the Security and Operations teams, and external agencies such as local police.

These allowed colleagues to share experiences and best practice, and to highlight problems to police, with a subsequent increase in police visibility in affected shops. This partnership approach to anti-social behaviour issues has helped to reduce such behaviour and increase colleague morale.

24%There was a 24% decrease in robbery incidents in 2013. In the last five years, robberies have fallen 60%.

43%There was a 43% decrease in burglaries in 2013. In the last five years, burglaries have fallen 72%.

31%There was a 31% decrease in cash-in-transit attacks in 2013. In the last five years, cash-in-transit incidents have fallen 46%.


Customers

Anti-money laundering

The risk of money laundering in betting shops and the use of robust internal control measures to combat it remain a focus. However, the number of suspicious incidents involving proceeds of crime or money laundering in betting shops remains low at less than 1% of the reported cases, the majority of which come from the banking sector. As a cash business, there will always be a low risk around Retail but we take that risk very seriously and have a dedicated Money Laundering Reporting Officer, comprehensive training and systems for escalation and fraud alert software on the gaming machines.

We have dedicated risk management teams in Manila and Leeds that monitor and investigate suspicious activities in Online and in Retail. Over 100 dedicated staff work round the clock to conduct real-time transactional monitoring of deposits and withdrawals, and game play. Our teams are regularly trained on what we need to identify and report and we extended this training to Retail Area and District Operations Managers in 2013 to increase awareness.

In Online, we monitor customer accounts for fraud management and anti-money laundering purposes. We use ‘Know Your Customer’ and

‘Enhanced Due Diligence’ checks against customers depositing more than €2,000 in a 24-hour period and run checks related to the source of their deposit.

We launched our Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Risk Matrix in August 2012 and continued to embed it in 2013. Following a review of our Online operations in Manila, which was integrated into Online from a third party in December 2012, we implemented specific AML training and improved system controls.

In 2013, we submitted 154 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to either the National Crime Agency (NCA) (previously the Serious Organised Crime Agency) or the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit.

As a result of efforts to encourage improved internal reporting, we saw a 20% increase in the number of internal reports made, with the high quality of this reporting demonstrated by almost 80% of these resulting in an external disclosure. Six of the SARs disclosed to the NCA were responses to requests for information received from the NCA.

Mark Hepherd (centre) was awarded Security Manager of the Year at the prestigious Security Excellence Awards in 2013.

AttemptedActual

Robberies

2013

2009

0 100 200 300 400

86 44

226

Cash-in-transit

2013

2009

0 10 20 30 40

16 4

29

Burglaries

2013

2009

0 50 100 150 250

34 17

160

200

108 8 49


Customers

Fair and open gambling

Encouraging sports betting integrity

Integrity in sport is as vital to the betting industry as it is to the sports themselves and we have in place robust systems to help us identify and act upon unusual or suspicious activities very quickly.

In the UK we have a statutory responsibilty to report any suspicious betting activity to the Gambling Commission. This information can be shared with sports governing bodies and regulators in other territories. Similar arrangements exist in online jurisdictions in which we operate.

We are an active member of the tripartite group, involving the sports governing bodies, betting operators and the regulator, which was set up as part of the 2010 Parry Report recommendations, which we helped to formulate.

The Panel meets regularly and shares best practice, encouraging clear rules and robust investigation processes, along with a substantial emphasis on education. In 2013, as part of our education efforts, we met with a number of sports governing bodies to demonstrate our early warning and reporting systems.

Improving customer service

The fair and open treatment of our customers is very important to us. We make available a comprehensive set of rules that detail the terms and conditions under which all transactions placed with William Hill are accepted.

We strive to handle complaints consistently wherever customers gamble with us and have specialist customer service teams dedicated to shop, Telephone and Online customers. Customers can refer complaints to the Independent Betting Adjudication Services (IBAS).In 2013, 453 complaints were referred relating to William Hill, of which 1.1% were upheld by IBAS.

We regularly measure the quality of our Retail service performance through a mystery shopping programme and, in 2011, introduced the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to benchmark against our peers and other industries. In 2013, we rolled out a programme to improve customer service and saw our NPS improve ten percentage points to 47%.

In Online, we focused on training and coaching to improve how we communicate, focusing on empathy, communication and use of discretion across our various Online customer services teams. As a result, complaints have been consistently below 3% of all customer contacts. We offer 24-hour customer support in 24 different languages. We handled 4.5 million customer contacts in 2013, 60% via chat, 20% by telephone and 20% by email.

The European Sports Security Association

William Hill is a Board member of the European Sports Security Association (ESSA), which operates the Advanced Security Platform (ASP) as an early warning system. Work is ongoing to ensure the ASP is able to accommodate new developments in information exchange across sports governing bodies and regulators.

Members can raise alerts for suspicious betting activity that are seen by all members, who respond to the alert within one hour. If the alert is deemed suspicious, the Senior Bookmaker advises the appropriate regulatory authority and sports governing bodies.

ESSA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Olympic Committee that was born through the industry’s efforts around the 2012 Olympic Games in London and extended in 2014 to cover the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and 2016 Olympic Games. This shares data with the IOC’s newly established Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS), which collates alerts and information on manipulation through betting on sport.

Activities by ESSA include a pioneering campaign to educate professional sports people about sports betting integrity.



Our work in Africa began in June 2012 when we set upon an ambitious undertaking to offer practical help to the rural Kenyan community of Ol Maisor, a small pastoral village near the foot of Mount Kenya.

Project Africa aims to improve the educational and medicinal facilities of the community, and ensure a clean water supply is available for all whilst developing and stretching William Hill people.

“The Island School educates over 300 primary age children as well as a number of older children who missed out on their primary education earlier in life.”

Our vision is for everyone at William Hill to be involved in Project Africa in some way, whether by helping with on-site projects or through innovative fundraising activities. It is supported by the William Hill Foundation and its patron Robbie Savage. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response of my colleagues to Project Africa. To date, William Hill colleagues have raised over £200,000 to support the project.

The benefit we get from sending a group of colleagues from every part of our business out to Ol Maisor is immense. It’s hard work. Some, more accustomed to office life than digging foundations and mixing cement by hand, find it very hard. But that’s why we do it. We believe stretching and testing people really helps their development as leaders of others. It works.

Ralph Topping, Chief Executive

Project Africa photographs courtesy of Chris Harris



Raising education standards

With improving education being our principal focus, our first project in October 2012 was to build a library.

During 2013, we finished this work and spent thousands of pounds on stocking the library with a wide range of books. We have also employed and trained two librarians who manage the library six days a week.

It was very encouraging, when our third team went out in July, to see the library being used on a Saturday by children from neighbouring schools and by the parents of Island School pupils. We have also been learning good practices from the nearby Mugee School, which has successfully established very high teaching standards over ten years.

The main building project for 2013 was to establish better quality accommodation for the teachers. Many of the teachers live on site during the week, commuting back to their families some distance away at the weekend. To enable teachers to live on site with their families, to make the school a more attractive location for new teachers and to give them a proper environment in which to prepare their lessons, we have now built eight houses, replacing the ramshackle mud huts they lived in before.

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of our Retail colleagues, we were able to supply every pupil with some essential kit in 2013: a pair of shoes, a school rucksack and a full set of stationery items. We are also now sponsoring four pupils a year to go on to secondary school education.

William Hill PLC. Corporate Responsibility Report 2014


Improving health

Water is life to this community. It’s also a real problem because the community relies on the river for water to drink, to wash in and for its animals, leaving many children sick with water-borne diseases.

Medical facilities are almost non-existent in Ol Maisor and they have to travel long distances to find medical help, for which locals have to pay. A significant amount of families’ disposable income is spent on medical care, money that is in short supply.

Our goal for 2013 was to provide a clean water supply for both the pupils and – for a minimal fee – the community, to reduce sickness, to cut the costs incurred by families for medical treatment and to increase pupils’ attendance rates at school.

Our massive clean water project was substantially completed last year. Over 350 metres of oversize steel guttering has been fixed around every building on the school grounds and seven 10,000 litre water tanks are in place to capture rainfall. Two reservoirs have been dug and fitted with linings, alongside a water tower that draws the water through a filtration system.

With this system in place, the next stage was education. We built ‘tip taps’ – simple hands-free kits for children to wash their hands – and set them up around the school and the latrines, then spent time with each class to teach them the importance of clean water and clean hands. In no time at all, the children themselves were encouraging each other and were delighted to receive a toothbrush and toothpaste kit each.

We have continued to turn our attention to the issue of food, after seeing for ourselves the tragic cases of children who are malnourished or – in some cases – starving. Having watched the school cook heat the daily lunch of maize and chickpeas over an open fire in a fire hazard of an old wooden hut, we got to work on activating a bio gas facility, fed with animal dung. Now, she has a clean, concrete kitchen and functioning bio gas hobs on which to cook lunch.

Our goal for 2013 was to provide a clean water supply for both the pupils and the community.

23



What’s next?

Our work with Ol Maisor is far from complete and we have committed to supporting the community for a number of years.

Raising education standards

In 2014, we plan to install a computer room next to the library. The computers are specific desktops designed for the dusty environment as they have no moving parts. Computing skills will allow the children to compete against others from the cities for precious secondary school places.

Of course, not every child has the academic ability to progress to secondary school. We will build a technical skills facility and employ teachers who will develop pupils’ wood working, metal working, sewing and motorbike mechanic skills, the kind of skills that are vital to rural Kenyan life.

We are also helping to develop the teachers of the future. It’s not uncommon for rural schools to be short of properly trained teachers and the Island School’s remote location is a barrier for many good teachers. So in addition to providing accommodation, we will help some of the locals to become qualified teachers.

Improving health

While one of our project teams was at Ol Maisor in July 2013, a mother brought her little girl to see our doctor. She had a swollen ankle and was diagnosed with a severe infection after a thorn had embedded in her skin. She was at risk of septicaemia and, if we hadn’t been there, may well have died.

Her mother had no access to medical help, nor money to pay for it, and was largely ignorant of the dangers her daughter faced. We managed to get her to hospital where she was successfully treated. We urgently need to help the community with local, affordable medical facilities. This will be our next big project after the water solution is fully complete. We have also noticed malnutrition and starvation among some of the children in the school. Although children receive a nutritious lunch containing chick peas and maize, for many this is their only meal of the day. Indeed, we came across one girl who was secretly putting her lunch in her back pack to take home to feed her two younger sisters because her grandfather was unable to feed the family.

With a focus on sustainability, we are keen to set up a crop farm to supplement the current school meals. When fully up and running, it will help children to learn about crop growing and potentially provide an income source for the school.

Robbie Savage, as Patron of the William Hill Foundation, was a member of the October 2012 and October 2013 project teams, as well as helping to raise funds for Project Africa.

In April 2014, Project Africa was recognised with the prestigious Global Business Excellence Award for Outstanding Community Initiative.



We plan to install a computer room, with specific computers designed for the dusty environment.


Colleagues

Reward and recognition

We’re a people business, whether engaging with customers in the shops, helping remote customers by phone or online, or oiling the wheels in our support functions.

Our colleagues are critical to our success and we want William Hill people to be engaged, excited and energised by our business. Salary levels are often dictated by market conditions so we personalise what we offer colleagues through our benefits, our bonus plans and the ways in which we reward and recognise people’s efforts. Our range of benefits is, we believe, the best in the industry. In many cases, people can choose the benefits that fit their lifestyle, reflecting the fact we have a very diverse colleague population.

Every colleague is eligible to earn a bonus and we encourage them to benefit from our business success by investing in our share save schemes, which are offered each year at a 20% discount to the share price. We also support travel, partnering with Transport for London to provide subsidised travelcards and with Halfords to support ‘cycle to work’ schemes.

Long Service Awards

We celebrate all manner of colleagues’ achievements during the year. And, then, twice a year, we hold major events to celebrate the achievements of some of the most remarkable people in William Hill – those who have dedicated their careers to the Group and those whose attitude, behaviour and service makes them outstanding.

The annual Group-wide Long Service Awards was celebrated at Ayr in September 2013 when William Hill was sponsoring the Ayr Gold Cup. Ninety-nine colleagues joined the celebration, with their partners, to mark their 25 years or 40 years with the business. Ralph Topping, himself celebrating 40 years of continuous service on this occasion, lavished gifts on the long servers, giving away Caribbean cruises, city breaks and trips to sporting events.

John Taylor, Security (40 years)

“I started work in the now-closed Riding House Street shop in London’s West End as a Saturday lad, making tea. Before retiring I worked in Security, which I enjoyed for the variety. One of my most remarkable days came with the Great Storm of 1987. I worked in the only shop in the area that managed to open and we were unbelievably busy.”

Sharon Mullen, District Operations Manager (25 years)

“I have very fond memories of working as a Shop Manager at Boldon. I had the best team in the business, a team that always went the extra mile. And that attitude meant we ended up at the national Retail awards in 2009, just after I’d been seconded as a District Operations Manager, another highlight of my career.”

Regina Salvador, Wrottesely LBO (25 years)

“Remember the days of commentary-only racing coverage? When the Boardmen wrote the prices up on printed sheets? I do! And those are some of my favourite memories. Those and the high-rollers who used to come into my Queensway shop in central London with their wads of cash!”

The HOME Awards

In May, 235 colleagues from across the William Hill world came together at the Grand Hotel in Brighton to applaud the winners and runners-up in the HOME Awards, awarded in 15 different categories for everything from National Shop of the Year to Outstanding Contribution to Most Promising Newcomer.

At the 2013 HOME Awards, Andy Lidbetter became our second HOME Hero, recognised for being an outstanding example of William Hill’s HOME principles.

He has over 11 years’ service in the business and even more in the gambling industry. He became part of the William Hill family when we acquired the Stanley business in 2005, where he was working as Regional Controller. He became an Area Operations Manager with William Hill in south-east England but has never stood still and has been involved in many key projects over the years. Now, he’s made the jump to Online and is working in the Sportsbook team as Sportsbook Operations Manager.

“William Hill is all about people. It’s our people who make the difference alongside our brand, our product and our sense of responsibility. It’s our people who deliver our commitment to our customers, our colleagues and our communities. And it’s our people who live and breathe our HOME principles.”

Andy Lidbetter, HOME Hero.

Memories from long servers


Colleagues

Career development

We strongly encourage the development of our colleagues, wherever they work in William Hill. We are proud of the fact that our own Chief Executive, Ralph Topping, started as a part-time weekend cashier and progressed through the ranks over the next 44 years. Anyone joining William Hill today is similarly encouraged to grow with the business.

We are also strong supporters of developing women at all levels of our business, with Ralph himself being one of the leading advocates for this programme. We have developed bespoke courses for women in administrative and frontline jobs, and created a programme for women managers focused on developing their skills and confidence. Our Springboard programme brings through up to 50 women a year into junior management roles. In March 2014, we launched the Pearls programme tailored specifically for middle to senior level women managers.

Our approach to talent management and succession has become increasingly important as we have become a larger and more international organisation. Talent recognition and development run throughout William Hill. In addition to organised programmes such as the Retail Academy, we have mentoring schemes, talent development for high potential people, executive coaching and study sponsorships to support people’s individual development needs.

We reviewed our talent pool again in 2013, building on the extensive review first conducted in 2011 and updated in 2012. This is a critical part of our internal succession planning process, identifying the development needs and potential of our top 240 managers. For the second time, a small group of high-potential individuals are taking part in a 14-month programme to develop both their commercial and leadership skills.

Piloting apprenticeships

March 2014 saw us launch a pilot apprenticeship programme for up to 200 new apprentices to work in our shops. Working with Pera Training, one of the UK’s leading apprenticeship experts, the pilot covers LBOs in the Midlands, Manchester, Central London and parts of Scotland. The apprenticeship programme has been tailored to fit with the ‘William Hill Way’ component of the Retail Academy.

“What I like about the apprenticeship idea is that it helps get young people out of the vicious circle of no experience, no job.

“We’re encouraging young people to develop their potential and the apprenticeship will lead to an NVQ Level 2 qualification as the starting point for our Retail Academy for Customer Services Assistants. That’s also helping to professionalise our industry further.”

Angela Bryant, Area Training Officer, London.


Colleagues

The Retail Academy

Launched in 2012 as a result of years of continuous development of training programmes for our Retail colleagues, the Academy is a clear progression path from the moment someone joins Retail as a Customer Services Assistant. It cultivates transferrable skills and prepares colleagues for management.

During the year, almost 3,000 colleagues undertook the first stage of the programme, called The William Hill Way. A further 650 undertook the ‘Stepping Up’ programme to prepare Customer Services Assistants who want to go on to become Deputy Managers and 27 shop managers went through ‘Taking the Lead’ to prepare them for becoming a multi-site manager.

During 2013 and 2014, all our 104 District Operations Managers will go through the ‘Maximising Performance’ programme.

Breaking the Mould

In February 2013, we were awarded one of the Financial Mail on Sunday’s Breaking the Mould awards, held in association with the 30% Club. The awards celebrate the companies doing the most to create a pipeline of female leaders of the future. William Hill won the FTSE 250 / mid-sized corporate category.

Breaking the Mould awards


Colleagues

Development opportunities

“When I joined the Group 20 years ago as a part-time Customer Services Assistant, I would never have thought that I would one day be responsible for the development of our international coaching and mentoring strategy. When I joined, it was because I didn’t know what to do and my good friend Garry – who, incidentally, is still a shop manager with William Hill – took me on.

“He guided me tirelessly and I quickly saw a lot of potential to develop within the business. As I progressed to being a District Manager, I was also involved with training and discovered that’s what I love. I took on a number of different roles over time but it was the then Head of Regional training who saw the potential in me that even I had not identified.

“William Hill has sponsored my personal development through a number of professional courses, for instance in coaching and behavioural psychology, and my most proud achievement is my degree in coaching and mentoring.

“After 20 years with the Group, I still feel very inspired to be offered personal development opportunities. I feel fortunate to be paid to do what I love.”

David Mills, Manager of Group and Online Management Development, and a 2013 HOME Award winner for his Different Perspectives work with Demelza Hospice Care for Children in 2012.

We are strong supporters of developing women at all levels of our business.


Colleagues

Keeping our colleagues safe

The health and safety of our colleagues and customers and those who come into contact with our business is of paramount importance to us.

Ralph Topping, our Chief Executive, has overall responsibility for health and safety, and we have systems in place to set our policies, to implement them and to monitor and audit how we perform, drawing on external expertise in key areas.

Health and safety has been a major focus during the year. In 2012, we entered into a Primary Authority relationship with Westminster City Council. This relationship means they are given full transparency on our health and safety management systems, including the health and safety objectives as overseen by the Board’s Corporate Responsibility Committee, and we benefit from their informed advice on related issues.

The key changes we have made during 2013 were identified as priorities in conjunction with Westminster City Council. In our view, we have significantly improved the standard of our health and fire safety in the betting shops during the last few years through, for instance, updating our policies, improving risk assessments and rolling out improved training for fire risk assessments.

Our improvements are having a positive effect on the culture and standards within the LBOs, and we have seen the use of the health and safety manual, procedures and assessments improve measurably.

In the coming year, we will formulate a national inspection plan with Westminster City Council, centring on key risk areas and including violence in the workplace.

In March 2014, we rolled back our policy on mandatory dual-manning of LBOs after lunchtime hours in our low-risk and medium-risk shops. It brings us in line with not only other LBO operators but also other companies in the retail sector and allows us to remain competitive against a challenging economic backdrop.

Before making this decision, we undertook an extensive four-month trial, which included consultation with colleagues as well as testing whether the changed approach affected our ability to fulfil our licensing obligations or affected our high security and health and safety standards.

“Our Health & Safety Steering Group brings together senior representatives from all operational and support areas.

“The Primary Authority partnership with Westminster City Council has had significant benefits in terms of incremental improvement to our health and safety management system, focused on protecting colleagues, customers and contractors.”

Andrew Lyman, Head of Public Affairs and Compliance


Colleagues

Well-being

Our colleagues’ well-being is important to us so we have a range of different offers across the business localised to suit colleagues’ needs. In 2013, ‘My Choices’, our corporate ‘perks’ platform, became increasingly popular, giving access to discounts on shopping, utilities and travel.

Through our Golden Ticket giveaways in 2013, colleagues have had the opportunity to attend football, darts, horse racing and much more, with most prizes including travel and accommodation. This culminated in our Festive Snowball draw in December, with 80 colleagues receiving £250 (or equivalent) in vouchers, five winning a £1,000 treat and a lucky five winning holidays to the value of £5,000 each.

Pensions and saving schemes

During the year, the regulations for the auto-enrolment of UK colleagues into a workplace pension scheme came into effect. We agreed to offer a defined contribution section within the existing pension scheme under which joiners were asked to contribute 4% of salary, matched by the Group with a further 4%. This is significantly higher than the statutory minimum and was offered as there were concerns that a lower rate would likely not create a retirement provision substantial enough for anything other than a very small annuity. Around 65% of colleagues who were automatically enrolled have remained in the scheme, saving for their retirement.

Going further to encourage colleagues’ saving

Our Save As You Earn programme has proven very profitable over the last couple of years. Colleagues can buy William Hill shares after three years at a price – discounted by 20% – set at the beginning of the savings period. In 2013, we also introduced the Leeds Credit Union Scheme and Christmas Shopping Savings Scheme for colleagues wanting to put money aside directly from their salary at competitive interest rates.

“The SAYE scheme is an easy way for me to save. The contributions are deducted straight from my wages so I don’t notice I’m putting money away every month. Once they’ve matured, it’s a fund I can dip into whenever I need it.

“When I took the job as Regional Office Manager, I had to give up my company car. What a difference it made, selling shares to buy a new car instead of taking out a loan and paying all that interest.”

David Coakley, Regional Office Manager, Glasgow


Colleagues

£3.5mIn 2013, 700 colleagues benefited from a £3.5m increase in the value of their Save As You Earn shares.


Colleagues

Two-way communication is valued and encouraged at William Hill. In addition to our annual HOME Truths colleague survey, we have Colleagues Forums across the business that give colleagues the opportunity to raise issues, provide their views to management and be briefed about what’s happening in the business.

In 2013, we held our first ever International Colleagues Forum, bringing together 16 representatives from those groups to join the discussion at an international level, to share practices and to build a stronger connection between our international offices so that our colleagues have one voice, wherever they are based.

“This event highlighted the truly global nature of our business as well as the unique differences in the working cultures across our locations. It was a huge success.”

Andrew Lee, Managing Director, Online

“William Hill colleagues from around the globe are the same – motivated, positive-thinking people willing to develop further and to spread our HOME values within their local teams. It was great to meet face-to-face.”

Maria Assenova, VIP Casino Manager, William Hill, Sofia

International Forum

William Hill Foundation

Employing 17,000 people in nine countries, William Hill is now an international business. But we are also a very local one and we make an active contribution to all the communities in which we operate.

Our community activities are carefully selected for a number of reasons, including giving back to the industry and communities in which we operate, and also to help those in hardship. At the same time, our approach promotes the very best development in our colleagues and encourages them to be generous with their time and efforts for worthwhile causes.

The William Hill Foundation was created in 2011 as a hardship fund to support colleagues during these economically challenging times. In 2012, we achieved charitable status for the Foundation and it became the umbrella organisation for Project Africa as well. Four directors – all William Hill leaders – administer the £100,000 hardship fund and the donations received from colleagues for Project Africa.

We continued to support colleagues across the world, including those in Manila who were affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Our colleagues continued to be active participants in fundraising events and the Foundation matched almost £57,000 in funds raised. We made charitable donations of £962,547 in total, the largest of which was £863,256 to the Responsible Gambling Trust to support its independent work in problem gambling-related research, education and treatment.


Community

£42,406In 2013, the foundation made 31 grants to colleagues from the hardship fund, totalling £42,406.


Community

Catch 22

In 2012, our Different Perspectives programme challenged William Hill teams to work with a chosen charity. In 2013, we took our relationship with one particular charity, Catch 22, a step further.

Catch 22’s programmes support young people and adults to gain experience, skills and qualifications to succeed in education, training or employment. Catch 22 is a ‘social business’ providing services that help people in tough situations to turn their lives around.

They work with troubled and vulnerable young people, families and offenders, helping to steer them clear of crime or substance misuse, to do the best they can in education or employment, and to play a full part in their family and community.

Five William Hill project teams across the UK are supporting Catch 22 with helping 18 to 24 year olds find work. We are assisting them in:

• getting ready for work;

• CV writing;

• job applications;

• interview practice; and

• networking.

Some of our female colleagues are volunteering as mentors for women offenders based in London in a six-month programme working with the London Probation Trust to stop these women re-offending.

We have two further teams doing similar work with smaller charities where Catch 22 doesn’t provide cover. Our operations in Northern Ireland, Tel Aviv, Bulgaria and the US all have similar programmes in their locations.

“We welcome the commitment and enthusiasm of William Hill’s staff to support young people on their challenging journeys into the world of work. Partnerships with employers such as William Hill are essential in helping young people and learners develop the right skills and attitudes to succeed in accessing future job opportunities.”

Asi Panditharatna, Director of Apprenticeships and Employability,

Catch 22 and original Catch 22 team member

“We recently had a guy working with the Corporate Systems team at our Wood Green offices in London and it was great to see that he performed well. We’re now investigating whether we can find him a permanent position. I see this as a great opportunity to show that William Hill is a caring organisation and can work successfully with the local community to improve the lives of others.”

Ian Smith, Area Operations Manager

Charity begins at home...


Community

Our colleagues are amazingly generous with their time and money, raising funds for numerous personal and local charitable causes as well as supporting The Island School in Ol Maisor. We support their tremendous efforts by matching the money they raise. In 2013, they undertook 131 charity fundraising events and we donated £56,884 in matched funding. Here are just some of their stories.

Our colleagues in Manila are frequently challenged by the adverse weather conditions, having suffered floods and hurricanes in recent years. When The Philippines was hit by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, tens of thousands of people lost their lives or were left homeless. We donated £25,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee and gave grants to colleagues affected by the typhoon to help them recover.

In spite of facing such challenges themselves, our Manila colleagues remain incredibly generous in their support for a couple of local schools. At the remote Casili Elementary School (1), about 40% of students cross a river to reach the school otherwise their journey takes up to two hours. In 2013, we supported our colleagues’ ongoing efforts by donating two boats to make the river crossing safer and easier, on top of donations to refurbish the school library, repaint the school, cement the classroom floors and add a power generator.

A team from William Hill US (2) walked and ran to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event, which supports breast cancer awareness and research. Dressed in William Hill hats, the team all reached the finish line in downtown Las Vegas, raising $400.

Meanwhile, in Australia, bushfires were rampaging in the hot summer months. In New South Wales, over 40 fires flared out of control and more than 200 families lost their homes and possessions. The William Hill Australia teams came together to support them in their hour of need and raised A$2,500 for the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal, matched by another A$2,500 from William Hill.

For colleagues in Sofia, their appeal was very close to home, raising money for the girlfriend of a former colleague. Nadya has a rare medical condition that requires treatment outside Bulgaria. Milijan Milanov, VIP Manager, and a colleague organised a concert to raise funds and a collection, altogether raising £500 to support Nadya.

In Northern Ireland, Melissa Reynolds and Sharon McBride (3) completed a nine-mile walk around Belfast to help Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, which provides awareness and support for the prominent cancers in men - bowel, prostate and lung. Their combined fundraising reached just over £1,000.

In May, five colleagues from the UK (4) set off on an epic sponsored walk along the Ridgeway, an 87-mile trail in the south-east of England. Completing the walk in four days, the team raised money for the Greatwood Foundation charity for retired racehorses, which they had selected through the 2012 Different Perspectives event.

3.2. 4.

1.


Community

William Hill colleagues, to date, have raised an astonishing £200,000 for Project Africa. Here are just some of the stories about how they’ve done it.

Our colleagues are an energetic bunch. In Scotland, Liz Poole Adams, Area Operations Manager, cycled 47 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh with John McAllister, Willie Black and Andy Jamieson, three of the local District Operations Managers, to raise £800 (5).

Over the border in the north of England, Phil Evans, Manager of Rotherham LBO, was raising more than £500 and sparking some intense local rivalry through his football tournament.

In October 2013, six colleagues from the UK and Bulgaria participated in the Responsible Gambling Trust’s Kilimanjaro fundraising expedition, taking on Africa’s highest mountain in aid of Project Africa and raising more than £15,000.

Climbing seems to be quite a theme as many colleagues have undertaken challenging climbs during the year, including Jess Pilkington and Codie Morrison from Rockcliff LBO who walked from their shop to local landmark Roseberry Topping and back, covering 20 miles and raising £300. And some of the team who went out to Ol Maisor in July completed the Yorkshire Peaks challenge, hitting their target of raising £1,000.

At the same time as one team was conquering Kili, hikers from the Development and Construction team were finally tackling Mount Snowdon in north Wales to raise funds for Project Africa. The team’s original planned climb in April has been scuppered by bad weather but, not to be deterred, they tackled Pyg Track – the toughest of the routes to the summit – six months later instead and raised over £12,000 in sponsorship (6).

Clearly, that all seemed too strenuous for the team in Gibraltar who decided to put the fun into fundraising and launched a series of comedy shows. Robert Sadler, Mobile Gaming Operations Manager, led the charge and also sold blue noses to raise funds. Proving they can be more energetic, though, the Gibralter team also organised a golf day involving 33 players and raising funds in a raffle (7).

...then becomes international

6.5. 7.

£56,884Our colleagues participated in 131 charity events, raising £56,884 that was matched by the William Hill Foundation.


Community

Supporting sport

Betting and sport have a long joint heritage. Since the 1960s, the UK bookmaking industry has supported the racing industry with a payment levied on our revenues from UK horseracing.

Today, we pay up to 10.75% of UK horse racing revenues from our shops together with significant sponsorship investments and, more importantly, very substantial payments for pictures from the race tracks. Our UK horse racing sponsorships include the Ayr Gold Cup, the Kempton Winter Festival and the Lincoln Handicap.

In addition, we pay a voluntary donation to the British Greyhound Racing Fund to help sustain that industry. Through our two greyhound stadia we assist with greyhound welfare, including funding an establishment that houses up to 25 dogs for up to three months with the intention of permanently re-homing them. We sponsor some of the leading greyhound racing events, including the Greyhound Derby and the All England Festival.

We are now the sponsor of a number of major sporting events and teams in the UK and Australia.

We have a ground-breaking sponsorship deal with The Football Association as an ‘Official Supporter’ of the England football team, and ‘Official Supporter’ and ‘Official Betting Partner’ of the FA Cup. In Scotland, we are the ‘Official Betting Partner’ of the Scottish national football team, sponsor of the William Hill Scottish Cup and ‘Official Betting Partner of the Scottish Premier League’. We sponsor the UK snooker championships and the Grand Slam of Darts.

In Australia, Sportingbet’s sponsorships include the Brisbane Broncos rugby league football club and a number of racetracks, including Moonee Valley and Darwin Turf Club.


Community

Environment andSuppliers

Environment

In 2012, we reported, for the first time, an emissions figure (tonnes of CO2 equivalent) for the Group. This covered ‘Scope 1’ (direct, e.g., vehicles, refrigerant gases) and ‘Scope 2’ emissions (indirect energy, e.g., electricity and gas). It excluded ‘Scope 3’ emissions as these are not required under the current regulations. We reported 51,557 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012.

In 2013, this increased by 11% to 57,466. This figure now includes our new operations in Australia, Nevada and Spain, together with an additional 40 (net) shops, reflecting our ongoing expansion of the UK Retail estate. However, the majority of the difference relates to improved reporting as we were able to identify data that were missing from the 2012 calculations including CFC refrigerant gases and travel figures for fuel for company vehicles.

On that basis, the 2012 reported number would have been 56,377, giving a year-on-year increase of 2% that related to the expansion of the Group. Unsurprisingly given the location of the Retail business and our corporate offices, 95% of our total consumption occurs in the UK. Electricity accounts for 94% of our consumption.

We reduce waste through recycling and re-use of materials. In our Retail estate, we have continued to work with our partner, Biffa, and recyled 48% of waste from the 12,000 tonnes collected. We also recycle paper, cans and plastic in our offices.

Going forward, we are establishing a Carbon Management Committee, bringing together functions from across the business to analyse our data, investigate ways in which future greenhouse gas measures can be introduced and identify potential energy saving initiatives around the Group.

Suppliers

William Hill seeks to work with suppliers who:

• demonstrate that their processes, products or services minimise the effect on their own and our company’s environmental impact;

• are socially responsible third parties and demonstrate good practice in employee welfare and benefiting the local or global community; and

• support our compliance with the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act 2005.

Over the past two years, we have been developing a supplier management strategy to manage risk and performance in our supply chain. Although our supply chain is relatively uncomplicated as our product – the bet – is virtual, not physical, we are still committed to ensuring we behave responsibly in this area.

With our acquisitions in the US and Australia, our regulatory obligations around accrediting suppliers of good reputation have also increased.

12%We have identified an intensity measure to track our performance: tonnes of CO2 equivalent per £1m of net revenue. We saw a year-on-year reduction of 12%.


Community


Community

We are establishing a Carbon Management Committee bringing together functions from across the business.


Find out more

Find out more

Here’s how you can find out more about William Hill.

Read our 2013 Annual Report. You can request a copy from our Investor Relations team at [email protected] or by calling: +44 (0) 20 8918 3600.

You can also download the report from www.williamhillplc.com

Visit our corporate website at:

www.williamhillplc.com

Visit our careers website at:

www.careers.williamhillplc.com

Visit our local betting and gaming websites at:

www.williamhill.comwww.williamhill.it www.williamhill.eswww.sportingbet.com.au www.centrebet.comwww.tomwaterhouse.com.au

Visit our US information website at:

www.williamhill.us

For information on responsible gambling

In the UK

www.responsiblegamblingtrust.org.ukwww.gamcare.org.ukwww.gambleaware.co.uk

In the US

www.nevadacouncil.org

In Australia

www.gamblersanonymous.orgwww.gamblinghelponline.org.auwww.relationships.com.auwww.gamblingtherapy.org

In Italy

www.siipac.itwww.gambling.it

In Spain

www.gamblingtherapy.org


Documents

2014 EVERYONE MATTERS. · Betting and gaming are enjoyed the world over by millions of people. Today, the gambling industry takes many different forms from casinos to bingo clubs,