Marston’s chairman Roger Devlin joins betting giant William Hill

Marston’s chairman Roger Devlin is set to join the board of bet-maker William Hill next year.

Devlin will move to William Hill on 1 February, according to the bookies.

Devlin will work alongside current chairman Gareth Davis until he steps down in early April.

Alongside his role at the Wolverhampton-headquartered brewery, Devlin is also chairman of Sports Information Systems (SIS), which William Hill holds a minority stake in, and is also a non-executive director of the Football Association (FA).

The brewing boss will also step down from his role at the FA in June 2018.

Devlin said the move will present “immediate challenges to address, both for the industry and considerable medium and longer term opportunities for the Group.”

“I look forward to working with Philip Bowcock, his executive team and the Board to deliver further progress for the Group and shareholders.”

Devlin has taken on a number of high-profile executive roles in the City of London and beyond, most notably spending a decade working with Hilton Group as a corporate director and executive committee member.

As a board director he oversaw not only the firm’s hotels, but also rival bet-maker Ladbrokes, which the hospitality group owned at the time.

“Roger Devlin has extensive experience as a listed company Chairman, in the City from his early days in corporate finance and across his sector relevant appointments at Hilton Group, Gamesys and SIS”, said William Hill’s senior independent director Sir Roy Gardner.

“We look forward to him joining as Chairman and continuing the strong recent progress the Group has made under Gareth’s chairmanship.”