William Hill plans 700 store closures

Mr Bump

Mr Bump

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William Hill plans 700 store closures
Blames reduction in fixed odds betting forced by government.

Not sure how i feel about this, never gambled in my life but it is a big problem for a lot of people.
Ladbrokes say it will force them to close stores, but are they just in a bad business selling misery?
 
It's not a good business model for me so maybe it is time for them to move on and do something else.
I also read they are expanding in the US working with Indian tribes to open up more gambling.
 
My Dad gambled (on anything) years ago, but I never knew. He worked as a London Taxi driver and I saw very little of him because of his gambling addiction, mainly dogs/horses but he would have bet on anything. He had an account with one of the big firms and when he died they tried to collect from my Mum, to their credit they did back off once they knew of his demise. I have never gambled and I cant say I'm sad by this news, apart from people losing their livelihood but Society changes and jobs get shed.
I work in the Oil & Gas industry, today's pariah and their seems little or no future in that because of shifting views so maybe it's time we got rid of gambling too.
 
MatBin said:
My Dad gambled (on anything) years ago, but I never knew. He worked as a London Taxi driver and I saw very little of him because of his gambling addiction, mainly dogs/horses but he would have bet on anything. He had an account with one of the big firms and when he died they tried to collect from my Mum, to their credit they did back off once they knew of his demise. I have never gambled and I cant say I'm sad by this news, apart from people losing their livelihood but Society changes and jobs get shed.
I work in the Oil & Gas industry, today's pariah and their seems little or no future in that because of shifting views so maybe it's time we got rid of gambling too.
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Sentiments are good and can understand your view completely
As with most addictive habits, banning only leads to it being driven underground.
Consequences of that would be even worse than they are now, end up the same as the drugs and sex industry,
 
Ladbrokes are already closing stores. The company I work for are decommissioning quite a few in our area.
I don't and never have gambled but the company I work for support Ladbrokes/Coral and a couple of the others I think. I don't generally have much to do with them but when not busy I have helped out with some of the faults. Of the ones I have been in (for work) there are some sad sights with people who would appear to have little money to look at their clothing etc putting £100+ bets on.
 
It seems to be all bout these silly fixed odds betting machines which even the experts agree are basically "crack cocaine" for gamblers.
 
700 closures out of a bit over 2300 shops? 2:1 odds of your local shop staying open...
 
tijuana taxi said:
As with most addictive habits, banning only leads to it being driven underground.
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This is true. Also we need to remember that (like alcohol) gambling isn't addictive for most people. My dad liked a flutter and we often had a day out at the races. Not being a gambler myself I've no idea if he was unusual but he always decided how much he was prepared to bet during the day and put that money in one pocket. If he happened to win (and he seemed quite lucky to me) he put the winnings in a different pocket. The money in his "betting pocket" was the cost of his entertainment and he never spent more than that.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
This is true. Also we need to remember that (like alcohol) gambling isn't addictive for most people. My dad liked a flutter and we often had a day out at the races. Not being a gambler myself I've no idea if he was unusual but he always decided how much he was prepared to bet during the day and put that money in one pocket. If he happened to win (and he seemed quite lucky to me) he put the winnings in a different pocket. The money in his "betting pocket" was the cost of his entertainment and he never spent more than that.
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The new legistlation doesn't change any other gambling rules, all it has done is limit the amounts that one can bet at the fixed odds betting terminals.
Up until the rules it was £100 per hit which meant you could essentially lose £300/minute.

The new law has limited it to £2/hit so £6/minute.
 
Never understood gambling on horses, my father did it but he used to say something along the lines of, if you are not prepared to put five shillings on a horse to get two and six back plus your stake then don't bet. Yes it was that long ago ;)
 
Are the closures purely down to less taking from the machines or is it an excuse since are more punters are gambling online?, online betting negates the need for shops, it is a hit the walk in trade but of course the bookies now can’t fleece folk as quick that are in the shops as they could, so, something has to go, the market/need for so many shops has been affected.?
 
mj4456 said:
Are the closures purely down to less taking from the machines or is it an excuse since are more punters are gambling online?, online betting negates the need for shops, it is a hit the walk in trade but of course the bookies now can’t fleece folk as quick that are in the shops as they could, so, something has to go, the market/need for so many shops has been affected.?
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I heard a piece on Talk Radio about this which also said that the change in legislation was largely irrelevant to helping matters as they just go online instead.

The commenter said that apparently William Hill now contribute 1% of their profits (up from 0.1%) to supporting people with gambling problems. But he suggested that maybe some of that money (or additional) could be used to retrain these employees in other lines of work. Seems like a pretty good idea to me to try and balance the morality of it all.
 
simon ess said:
And the winner is...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/24/meet-denise-coates-best-paid-bet-365
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Bear in mind that most punters are hoping for a win to improve their lot, rather than to pay their kids school fees. Gambling offers a carrot to the many, but actually gives it to the few. As an aside, 17 of the 24 football teams in the English Championship are sponsored by gambling companies, and they're more than happy that this is an investment with good returns. Just say no.
 
I know a few people that work in a local corals and they say that about 80-85%of the shops turnover comes from the betting machines and they have just been waiting for the news of closures as it’s just not viable to keep the shops open without them. It will probably send a lot more people to the online side but with the shops it was just the machines that were keeping them going.
 
Clever business would have diversified into other areas in good time. I am not sure I have good words for the management. I am sure the bosses will still get bonuses and all that. I feel sad for the employees - at least they are not all in one area so more chance to find other work. For most people it will make zero difference and gambling addicts will still find ways to throw away their (and sometimes not only!) money.
 
Mr Bump said:
It seems to be all bout these silly fixed odds betting machines which even the experts agree are basically "crack cocaine" for gamblers.
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I never knew that they were called "stores" (no criticism intended). I can recall them being called turf accountants or "bookies".
I once had a neighbour who had a gambling problem. He would spend a lot of time (and money) in bookies. He would bet money on horses then feed a "one armed bandit" whilst waiting for news to come through that his horse had lost then bet on another in the next race. It is a horrible grubby business.
 
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