About Evoke plc
Evoke plc is a British-registered sports betting and gaming group.
The business was founded nearly thirty years ago by Israeli entrepreneurs Avi and Aaron Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak as Virtual Holdings Limited. It traded as 888 Holdings for nearly two decades, building its portfolio through a series of acquisitions. These included Mr Green in 2019 and, most significantly, the 2022 acquisition of William Hill International from Caesars Entertainment for approximately £2,2 billion, a deal that added over 1,300 British retail betting shops and substantially expanded the group’s regulated market footprint. The rebrand to Evoke plc was completed in May 2024 following shareholder approval, with the new corporate identity intended to reflect the group’s multi-brand structure rather than any single consumer property.
The company operates a portfolio of consumer-facing brands across online and retail channels. Among its principle properties are William Hill (one of the biggest British bookmakers), 888casino (one of the oldest online casinos in the British market), 888sport (a leading in the UK online sports betting platform), 888poker (specialising on soft competition, high-value player pools), Mr Green (an online casino and sportsbook operator), and Winner (a leading Romanian online sports betting and casino operator).
The group’s commercial architecture separates corporate holding functions from consumer brand operations. The company operates through Retail, UK&I Online, and International segments, with each consumer brand maintained under its established identity. Business operations are led from headquarters, alongside satellite offices in Bucharest, Ceuta, Leeds, London, Malta, Sofia, and Tel Aviv. The Value Creation Plan introduced by the CEO in 2024 has driven a structural reset, targeting cost efficiencies and a tighter focus on the group’s most profitable regulated markets.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Gibraltar |
| CEO / Key Executive | Per Widerström |
| Listed | LSE: EVOK |
| Key Markets | United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Romania, Denmark |
| Employees | ~10,600 (2024) |
| Annual Revenue | £1,754.5m (FY2024) |
Market Position & Regulatory Footprint
The group’s UK operations are regulated by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain, with William Hill maintaining one of the largest retail licensed estates in Great Britain. International online operations are conducted under licences issued by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority and the Malta Gaming Authority, among others. The group has received regulatory sanctions in recent years, including a £9,4m UKGC penalty in 2022 and a £2,9m settlement agreed with Gibraltar in 2023, both linked to shortcomings in anti-money laundering and customer due diligence. The group exited the US market in 2024 to concentrate its resources on European regulated operations.
For B2B suppliers, affiliates, and investors assessing Evoke plc, the group’s scale makes it a material commercial counterparty across several product categories. Its proprietary technology stack, developed following the 2019 acquisition of BetBright’s sportsbook platform, underpins both the 888-branded online estate and elements of the wider group infrastructure. Plans to close up to 200 William Hill betting shops, with closures beginning in early 2026, signal a continuing shift toward online channels. Suppliers, platform vendors, and payment providers engaging with Evoke should note the group’s ongoing structural transition and its stated priority of reducing operational complexity across its multi-brand estate.
