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Leisure, gaming and gambling

William Hill poaches chief financial officer from DS Smith

Adrian Marsh is leaving DS Smith after seven years in the role to replace Ruth Prior at the sports betting firm

William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) has appointed Adrian Marsh as its chief financial officer to replace Ruth Prior, who announced her departure from the sports betting and gaming group last month.

READ: William Hill teams up with CBS to insert betting info into sports content

Marsh spent seven years in the CFO role at DS Smith plc (LON:SMDS) and is also a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee at FTSE 250-listed energy services firm John Wood Group PLC (LON:WG).

He previously held executive roles at Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO), AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) and glass manufacturer Pilkington.

DS Smith said Marsh will work with the board to ensure an “orderly transition” as it searches for a replacement.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said Marsh was a "pivotal part" in growing the packaging firm, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 in 2017.

The news did not come as a "complete surprise" as there had been media speculation over a potential entry of David Mellors, former chief financial officer at manufacturer at Cobham PLC (LON:COB).

"We do not expect the announcement to represent a change in strategy and we retain our positive stance on the stock," analysts commented.

Shares in DS Smith dipped 2% to 360p while William Hill's stock remained flat at 181.4p on Monday morning.

--Adds analyst's comment, shares--