Corporate responsibility

In 2010, the Group intends to continue to progress initiatives that are already ongoing and will concentrate on the following:

Customers

Customer service lies at the heart of our business. Gambling is an exciting form of entertainment and we aim to provide customers with an enjoyable experience.

Employees

We are a major employer, with over 16,600 people working in five countries internationally. Excellence in our operations is based on specialist expertise and we are keen to attract, retain and develop the highest calibre individuals. We aim to provide a safe and fair working environment, with opportunities for employees to grow and develop with William Hill.

Shareholders

We have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2002 and recognise it is our responsibility to communicate clearly, regularly and on a timely basis. Over the last year, we have invested in establishing an investor relations function to provide a dedicated resource for shareholder engagement and to improve our corporate reporting.

The wider community

Our business has far-reaching effects. As a large employer and taxpayer, we make a significant contribution to the economy and to the local communities in which we operate. We also have a responsibility to our regulators, an impact through our environmental footprint and a contribution to the sports we support. In all areas, we aim to be fair, trustworthy and open to engagement. We will run our business so as to protect vulnerable persons, to ensure our business is not a source of distress to individuals or a source of crime or disorder and to ensure our services are provided in a fair and open way.

The Board is committed to taking steps to improve continuously its practices in the Corporate Responsibility area and to embedding these practices into its corporate governance and operating framework. We aim to:

• comply with existing laws, regulations and codes of conduct relating to responsible gambling;
• train, develop and motivate employees to retain the widest possible range of talented staff;
• provide a safe and healthy workplace; and
• provide a competition-beating level of service to customers.

The Corporate Responsibility and Regulatory Issues Committee (CRRI Committee) was established in its current form in 2008. The members of the CRRI Committee during 2009 and at the date of this report are:

The CRRI Committee meets five times a year to monitor a range of Corporate Responsibility issues and reports regulatory to the Board.

Until 2008, our Corporate Responsibility activities were reviewed and developed by a Corporate Responsibility Working Group, overseen by the Board. It was chaired by the Company Secretary and comprised the functional heads for key operational areas responsible for employees, management of the Retail estate, security, customer services and regulatory compliance. The Working Group acted as a forum for operational management to discuss specific issues on the Corporate Responsibility agenda and oversaw implementation of an action plan from 2004 to 2008. Since then, a number of those items have become regulatory requirements and been embedded in operational line management. Health and Safety is now managed by a Health and Safety Steering Group, which reports to the CRRI Committee. Other issues are dealt with by executive management and reported to the Board and the CRRI Committee.

Risks relating to key stakeholders are reviewed as part of the biannual risk management process, which is led by the Internal Audit team. Risks are reviewed by executive management, the Audit Committee and the Board to consider
their potential impact on strategy and annual objectives, and mitigation steps are taken as appropriate. As the Board remunerates management on the basis of achieving strategic goals and specific annual objectives, it uses this method
to ensure corporate responsibility risks are reflected in management remuneration.