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UK betting group William Hill plans 4,500 job cuts
LONDON, July 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – British betting company William Hill on
Thursday said it planned to shut 700 shops with a loss of 4,500 jobs, blaming
the UK government’s crackdown on problem-gambling.
Explaining its decision, William Hill said that since the start of April,
when the government slashed the top wager for fixed-odds betting machines,
“the company has seen a significant fall in… revenues”.
The job losses comprise about one third of the company’s global workforce
of 15,500 people, while the closures will leave it with 1,577 shops,
according to a spokesman.
After pressure from campaigners and lawmakers to act on problem-gambling,
the government dramatically cut the maximum stake for a bet on the machines
to o2 ($2.5, 2.2 euros) from o100.
Targeting also the possibility for gamblers to bet every 20 seconds on
such terminals, charities, church leaders and addiction groups had lobbied
hard for a change.
“No doubt the stricter regulations in the UK hurt William Hill, but it is
possible that there are other issues which prompted the drastic move,” said
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
“Betting shops are expensive to run, and management possibly see the
future in e-commerce,” said Madden, adding that the government “ruling
probably just sped up the decision to retreat from the high street”.
Thursday’s announcement is the latest piece of bad news to hit the British
high street, where a string of well-known retailers have collapsed in recent
times.
Long-established retail names are battling sliding consumer sentiment and
Brexit uncertainty alongside the faltering economy. They also face fierce
competition from the likes of online US titan Amazon.
The last two years have witnessed the collapse of music retailer HMV, Toys
‘R’ Us, electronics specialist Maplin, and value chain Poundworld, as well as
department stores Debenhams and House of Fraser.
In late afternoon deals, William Hill shares rose 0.43 percent to 164.55
pence on London’s second-tier FTSE 250 index, which was 0.1 percent higher at
19,799.17 points.
BSS/AFP/HR/1010