The merger of bookmakers Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group could cost 700 employees their jobs according to UK media reports.
According to an internal email, Carl Leaver, Gala Coral’s chief executive, told employees that, in an attempt to remove duplication, there could be “around 600, maybe up to 700, fewer positions” at the merged company. That’s about half of the two companies’ combined workforce.
Leaver confirmed to Yognet.com that Ladbrokes’ headquarters in Rayners Lane, northwest London, where 1,000 staff are based, would close. The merged companies will be based at Gala Coral’s HQ in Stratford.
According to eGaming Review, employees who fail to get a job at the merger company will be offered enhanced redundancy terms of two weeks’ pay per full year of service, with a floor of eight weeks’ pay and a cap of 40 weeks.
