Philip Graf has been appointed as the new chairman of the UK Gambling Commission.
Graf, who is currently deputy chairman of communications industry watchdog Ofcom, will also serve as chairman designate of the future body created by merging the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission. The appointment is for five years beginning on April 1.
“Philip Graf has a wealth of knowledge as a board member and his vast experience will serve him well as he takes up his post at the Gambling Commission,” said Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose. “This will be even more important as the merger takes place to provide strong leadership and support to all those involved and I have no doubt he will rise to the challenge.”
A Cambridge law graduate, Graf joined the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo in 1983, which became Trinity International Holdings in 1985- he was appointed its chief executive in 1993. He became chief executive of Trinity Mirror Group when the company merged with the Mirror Group in 1999 - a position he held until February 2003.
In 2003 he was asked by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to carry out a review of the BBC’s online activities. He was appointed to Ofcom as its deputy chairman through open competition in 2006.
