Better signs for Hills but uncertainty continues

It has been a testing year for William Hill, so the bookmakers' management must have been pleased to at last have some encouraging news to impart.

While profits were down ten per cent in 2016, the actions Hills took in the second half of the year seem to be bearing fruit, with growth across all divisions so far in 2017.

Even things Hills cannot influence, like sports results, have started to go their way, with interim chief executive Philip Bowcock mentioning Liverpool's poor run of form in January as helping to contribute to "bookie-friendly results".