Rank names Phil Urban as managing director of casinos arm

Leisure Report, June, 2008

The Rank Group has appointed Phil Urban, former managing director of Whitbread's pub and restaurants division, as managing director of its casinos business.

Urban will head up Rank's Grosvenor Casinos operations, replacing Peter McCann.

Prior to joining Whitbread, Urban worked for the Spirit Group, Punch's managed division.

He has also served as managing director of Scottish & Newcastle's restaurants and accommodation division.

Ian Burke, chief executive of Rank said: "I am delighted that Phil has chosen to join us as managing director of our casinos business at this time of change and opportunity in the gaming industry.

"Our ambition is to create a truly modern gaming-based leisure business.

"Phil's breadth of experience in leisure, harnessed to Rank's deep knowledge of the British casino market, will help us to achieve this ambition."

The appointment follows Ranks acknowledgment in May that 2008 is likely to be a "challenging year for the gaming sector". Like-for-like revenue fell by 8% for the first 17 weeks, impacted by changes to UK gaming regulations and the smoking ban.