Yahoo Finance 4,500 jobs at risk as William Hill says it is closing 700 shops
Up to 4,500 jobs are at risk at betting firm William Hill (WMH.L) after the company announced that it has plans to close around 700 of its shops.
In a statement, the company pointed to the government’s decision to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2, saying that it had seen “a significant fall in gaming machine revenues”.
“A large number of redundancies is anticipated with 4,500 colleagues at risk. The group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process.”
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Shop closures are likely to begin by the end of the year, William Hill said.
Betting firms have long warned that the cap could force them to close stores.
Revenue at William Hill's shops fell by 7% in the three months to the end of April. The company saw a 15% slide in gaming revenue, driven by the cap on fixed odds betting terminals, which only came into force at the start of April.
The company has repeatedly warned the cap could put jobs at risk, and said in its annual results in March that “up to 900 shops could become at risk of closure” due to the reforms.
In May 2018, the chairman of William Hill, Roger Devlin, wrote to prime minister Theresa May to warn that the UK-owned firm risked being acquired by a foreign rival, and said that the move would hit both jobs and profits.
William Hill has 2,300 shops across the UK that employ 12,500 people. The betting shops account for 56% of its revenue and 55% of shop revenue comes from gaming machines.
Fixed-odds betting machines, which have been called the crack cocaine of gambling by campaigners, were a major money maker for bookmakers before the cap to the stake was introduced earlier this year.
The odds on the machines, which allow players to bet on the outcome of various simulated games like roulette and blackjack, are predetermined, and have seen players lose hundreds of pounds in minutes.
The government reduced the amount people could bet in one go on these machines from £100 to just £2.
Matt Hancock, the minister who oversaw the cap, said at the time that the machines were a “social blight and prey on some of the most vulnerable in society.”
William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock said in May, however, that the betting cap impact had so far “been in line with our expectations” and that the bookmaker was “confident in our plan to manage this major change.”
Then-sports minister Tracey Crouch said in parliament when when £2 limit was proposed last year: “While we recognise that there may well be an impact on jobs, we will work closely with colleagues across Government and with partner organisations to ensure that we support members of staff.”
Oscar Williams-Grut contributed reporting.
