Former M&S boss in line to take up reins at Ladbrokes

Carl Leaver, former head of Marks & ­Spencer's international division, is on the shortlist to succeed Chris Bell, who is quitting as chief executive of betting shops group, Ladbrokes. The disclosure will surprise many City investors who had pencilled Leaver in as a possible replacement for Alan Parker, at Whitbread, who is expected to announce that he plans to retire in the summer. Headhunter JCA has drawn up a shortlist of possible candidates to take over from Bell who is leaving Ladbrokes in June. City sources say that Leaver's name is on the list because "Ladbrokes needs a retailing specialist, not just someone steeped in the gambling industry." Leaver spent seven years at Whitbread before jumping ship to become chief executive of De Vere Group, the hotel chain. He has also worked at Nomura, Mars and Forte. He is thought to have left M&S 18 months ago after it became clear that he was not among the internal candidates who were competing to succeed Stuart Rose as chief executive. In the end, the M&S job went to external candidate Marc Bolland of Morrisons. Others on the JCA shortlist include Andy Harrison, easyJet's departing boss, Andy McIver, head of Sportingbet, Nick Rust, managing director of Coral and internal candidate John O'Reilly, who heads ­Ladbrokes' online gaming division. A ­decision is said to be several months away and Bell's successor will need to be vetted by Ladbrokes' new chairman Peter ­Erskine, former head of 02, the mobile phone group. He is said to favour an appointment from outside the company. The new chief executive will arrive at a difficult time for Ladbrokes and other bookmakers, with observers predicting that the next government could raise gambling taxes. Bell, who has been at Ladbrokes for 20 years, has taken the firm through significant changes in the sector, such as the 2007 Gambling Act, which liberalised the industry, and the rise in online gambling. He told Erskine a year ago that he planned to move on in 2010. But his departure has been hastened by disgruntled investors who were caught off guard by Ladbrokes' heavily discounted £275m rights issue in October. Shareholders were irritated because a few months earlier, Bell had intimated that he wouldn't need to tap the City for funds to reduce the group's near £1bn of net debt. The cash call came on the back of a dividend cut and a poor share price performance. Bell has admitted he was aware that some investors were unhappy. In a profit warning issued with the rights issue, Ladbrokes added that a run of unfavourable football results had left it nursing a 58% decline in operating profit and 15% drop in revenue for the three months to September 30. Ladbrokes said the net proceeds of the rights call would be used to reduce its debt level to £687m. The group said it would not pay a final dividend in 2009, but would resume payments after this year's interim results.