Mark Summerfield replaces Lord Jon Mendelsohn as Evoke Plc chair
The former 888 Holdings has announced the departure of Lord Mendelsohn with immediate effect.
UK.- Evoke Plc, the former 888 Holdings, has announced that Lord Jon Mendelsohn has stepped down as chair of the board and as non-executive director with immediate effect. Mark Summerfield has been named as permanent non-executive chair.
Mendelsohn, a Labour life peer in the House of Lords, has spent more than five years with Evoke. That period included the group’s acquisition of William Hill’s UK business from Caesar’s Entertainment and the group’s subsequent rebranding as Evoke following controversy around AML failures.
At one point, the operator’s British licence looked to be on the line after the Gambling Commission issued a £19.2m fine against William Hill in 2023 and announced a regulatory review. That led to the departure of Itai Pazner as CEO, leading to a failed attempt by FS Gaming to install former GVC ( Entain) CEO Kenny Alexander.
Summerfield joined the board of the then 888 Holdings in September 2019 and has served as chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and the Gaming Compliance Committee.
Meanwhile, Anne de Kerckhove has been named permanent deputy chair. She will continue her role as a senior independent director and will also maintain her positions chairing the Nominations Committee and ESG Committee, as well as serving on the Remuneration Committee.
Mendelsohn joined the board in September 2020 and also served as interim executive chair from January to October 2023 before Per Widerström took up the role of CEO.
It has been a privilege to serve as the chair of Evoke,” Lord Mendelsohn said in a statement. “Having overseen the transformation of the business into one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies, now is the right time to hand over to Mark to steward Evoke through its next important phase of growth and stability.
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past five years. I’d like to thank my fellow board members, the executive team and the wider organisation for their utmost and unwavering commitment.”
Widerström said: “I would like to thank Jon for his exceptional leadership of the board and for his support during my transition into the business. He has helped to guide the company through a period of significant growth and transformation. His insight and collaboration will be missed.”
On his appointment, Summerfield said: “It has been one of the highlights of my professional career to have partnered with Jon over the past few years and I will miss his dedication and insight. I look forward to working closely with my fellow board members and the executive team to ensure the successful delivery of our strategy and create significant shareholder value.”
Widerström added: “I am looking forward to working with Mark and Anne in their new roles. Mark has such strong and deep institutional knowledge of the company, the industry and our strategic priorities. He is ideally positioned to lead the board and company through the next period of growth and development.”
Evoke, which also owns Mr Green, will publish its Q3 trading update on October 23. Revenue was up 3 per cent year-on-year to £887.8m in H1, but the company has said that it is evaluating the closure of William Hill betting shops possibly representing up to 15 per cent of its retail portfolio.
In other changes, Evoke recently appointed Siddharth Dixit as chief strategy and transformation officer and as a member of the Group’s Executive Committee. He joined the group last month from Virgin Media O2.
