Travelex hires former William Hill CEO as new boss
Foreign exchange company Travelex has hired a former chief executive of betting giant William Hill as its new boss.
Philip Bowcock has been named to the role, effective immediately, and has succeeded Richard Wazacz who has served as CEO for the last three years.
Bowcock led William Hill for over three years until September 2019, having first joined the business as its chief financial officer in November 2015.
He is currently chair of Victorian Plumbing and has previously been the chief executive of Countrywide.
Bowcock has also worked for the likes of Cineworld, Luminar, Barratt Developments and Tesco.
Travelex’s new CEO has also served as executive chair of NM Money Group, which operated a number of financial services businesses including Eurochange.
According to the company’s latest financial accounts, Peterborough-headquartered Travelex made a pre-tax loss of £117m in 2024, after having also lost £80.4m in the prior 12 months. Travelex turned a pre-tax profit of £1.4m in 2022.
The accounts, filed with Companies House, also show its revenue declined in the year from £518.3m to £511.1m.
Travelex is owned by Barings LLC – which has a stake of more than 50 per cent – as well as Vector Capital, Corre Partners, and Mariner Investment Group.
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New Travelex boss looks to the future
Bowcock said: “I am delighted to join Travelex at this pivotal time in its journey. The business has shown remarkable resilience, having navigated the challenges of the pandemic and made significant progress in recovering and stabilising its operations over recent years.
“I look forward to building on its strong foundations to further strengthen the core business, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure sustainable growth.
“Travelex is well positioned to adapt to the changing forex landscape and meet the evolving needs of our customers.
“I look forward to working closely with the board, executive leadership team, and our talented colleagues across the globe to build on this momentum, enhance our capabilities, and continue delivering exceptional value to our customers.”
Travelex chairman Alexander Filshie added: “This announcement marks the next phase of our journey at Travelex, focused on adapting to our changing customer requirements and industry environment, further strengthening our foundations, and building for long-term success.
“I am confident Philip will drive our strategic priorities and build for long-term success across our retail and wholesale businesses. Philip brings a wealth of experience from consumer-focused and travel money organisations.
“He is well placed to lead the Travelex team in the developing and changing global travel money market.”
He added: “On behalf of the Travelex board and executive leadership team, I would like to sincerely thank Richard for his contributions throughout the last three years and extend a warm welcome to Philip in his new role, we look forward to working with him.”