Rank appoints Will Hill's Cole-Johnson as digital chief
Colin Cole-Johnson leaves William Hill to take up new role of director of digital and cross-channel services with Rank Group
The Rank Group’s new chief executive Henry Birch has kicked-off his reorganisation of the company after appointing former William Hill colleague Colin Cole-Johnson to head up Rank’s digital division.
Cole-Johnson, who had previously been William Hill’s director of egaming, will take up the newly created position of director of digital and cross-channel services on 24 September as part of a revamp of Rank’s online strategy.
Reporting directly into Birch, Cole-Johnson will be responsible for the operator’s digital activity and will work alongside Mecca managing director Mark Jones and Grosvenor Casinos managing director Phil Urban. Cole-Johnson will also take up a seat on the Rank Group Executive Committee.
Cole-Johnson spent six years at William Hill after he joined the operator from rival Ladbrokes where he had held the role of director of gaming for more than 13 years.
“Colin has over 15 years international digital gaming experience and, having worked with him previously, I know he will be a great addition to the team,” Birch said.
“Rank is already the leading online bingo operator and Colin will be instrumental in ensuring we continue to drive growth and innovation in all our digital businesses whilst looking for opportunities to consolidate our position as a true multi-channel business,” he added.
The news marks the first major appointment by Birch since taking over former Rank CEO Ian Burke in May.
Birch, who had previously held the role of chief executive at William Hill Online, has been tasked with improving the fortunes of Rank’s online business.
The operator’s H1 FY14 online revenues slipped 40% year-on-year to £6.8m, prompting the operator to begin improvement initiatives that will see the redesign of websites and content management systems.