Ladbrokes Coral CEO Jim Mullen has warned the UK government that proposed limits on electronic table games in betting shops could force mass closures and cost thousands of jobs.
Bookmakers are awaiting the release of a review of the betting industry by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Due out in April, the review is set to focus on two key areas: wagering on e-tables?or fixed-odds betting terminals, as they’re known?and industry advertising practices.
Government opponents of the FOBTs?a fixture in retail betting shops nationwide and major profit centers for industry giants Ladbrokes and William Hill?want maximum bets slashed from £100 to £2 on the grounds that the machines are a significant cause of problem gambling.
Mullen, the industry’s most outspoken leader on the issue, has called on the government to undertake a more balanced review, urging members of Parliament to “step back from the fray and take a serious look at the facts,” arguing that FOBTs have not led to a serious increase in problem gambling.
He claims, moreover, that a significant reduction in wagering levels would devastate bookmakers and the 9,000 people they employ across the country.
He recently told the Evening Standard, “In London alone, potential shop closures could hit nearly 1,000, with nearly half of all employees, 4,300, losing their jobs, and a potential tax loss to the Exchequer from these London shops alone of £230 million by 2020.”
He added, “The future for high-street betting shops is bleak. The challenges we now face, in my opinion, pose the most serious threat to the existence of bookmakers and the key part we play in communities from Brent Cross to New Cross and throughout the UK.”
