Lone Working in betting shops

This is the nub of Millington's argument:

So while those who are currently raging against the machines may feel they are doing society a favour, they would be better advised to take a wider look at problem gambling, because you could unplug each and every one of these contraptions and all you’d do in the majority of cases is send the vulnerable searching for another way of satisfying their craving.

It has been suggested in some parts that if machine activity was curtailed more money would be bet on racing, giving the levy and therefore everyone who relies on prize-money for their livelihood a boost. This is nonsense. Instead, betting shops would face closure in significant numbers, turnover on racing would slump and the levy would sink, quite possibly without trace. There would also be an impact on media rights revenue.

Moreover, any shop closures (and these units would mostly lie empty in case anyone somehow believes they would be replaced by delicatessens or tea rooms) would result in many jobs being lost, largely in areas where employment is scarce.

This might be a price worth paying if it significantly reduced problem gambling. I just don’t think it would.
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His argument is completely contradictory. How can he say on the one hand that unplugging the machines would merely force problem gamblers to find some other way of satisfying their craving and at the same time say there would be no impact on the levy?

Surely the truth is that some FOBT gamblers would bet more on the horses instead if the machines were scrapped.

And as icebreaker points out, betting shops in Ireland still exist in spite if the restrictions on FOBTs.
 
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Grey said:
Why?
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Retail in Ireland is dead. Boyles, Powers, and Ladbrokes are opening a handful of new shops if any this year. They can afford to keep the shops because of scale but without the brand recognition and the overlapping of customers onto online and mobile platforms they would not be viable. 10 years ago bookmaking was built on retail but the goals have moved. It's not a coincidence all the small chains have died a death in Ireland, hey can't compete. Boyles and Powers both stood on the neck of the Indos when times got hard, in fact at one stage PP thought they were putting Boyles to the sword. I wouldn't like to be paying the rent Boyles pays for a its aqusitiontions before the downturn.

Anyway that's an aside, shops are literally opening every week in the UK because of the machines so its quite obvious that not only will this cease to be the case if FOBTs are banned but shops will close because the over the counter business will not make them unsustainable.

Please be aware that I personally couldn't give a **** what happens to the FOBTs because I don't play them and I don't hold shares in PP or any other bookmaker so therefore the outcome will not effect me but some of the arguments I see on Twitter are completely misinformed.
 
SlimChance said:
Anyway that's an aside, shops are literally opening every week in the UK because of the machines so its quite obvious that not only will this cease to be the case if FOBTs are banned but shops will close because the over the counter business will not make them unsustainable.
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The official line is that there are less betting shops in the UK now that there were 15 years ago, which doesn't tally with the quote above.
 
Not keen on the RP guys stance on the matter.

Basically, why should the majority do without the machines for the sake of a few lives being wrecked. If the majority are using them like himself (killing time while waiting to pick the kids up, etc), can the majority not find a better way of 'killing time'.

I think the guy's a c*nt.
 
Oops Rory, cat out of bag! :D

Slim, you need to take account of the almighty recession that hit Ireland in recent years. There are still plenty of shops about the place, most of them are hanging on. Even so, I agree that the future for bookies shops is not going to be very exciting because of the switch to online betting.
 
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Grey said:
Oops Rory, cat out of bag! :D

Slim, you need to take account of the almighty recession that hit Ireland in recent years. There are still plenty of shops about the place, most of them are hanging on. Even so, I agree that the future for bookies shops is not going to be very exciting because of the switch to online betting.
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Recession or no recession it makes no difference. The game has changed. Retail is a burden and the ugly sister of the online arm. Shops are dinosaurs and will be extinct quicker than you'd have ever have thought was imaginable ten years ago, **** it give years ago.


.
 
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In terms of gross-turnover-on-horserace-betting, does anyone know the overall percentage split between the Retail, Telephone, Online and Mobile channels?
 
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Grasshopper said:
In terms of gross-turnover-on-horserace-betting, does anyone know the overall percentage split between the Retail, Telephone, Online and Mobile channels?
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Here is Hills 2003 V 2012

Division Turnover Gross Win EBIT GW/EBIT (%)
Retail 2164 254 80.6 31.7
Telephone 278 28 10.4 37.1
Online 285 39 16.1 41
Other 15 3 0.5 16.6
Total 2742 324 100.6 31


Division Turnover Gross Win EBIT GW/EBIT(%)
Retail UK 7927.7 417.4 109.8 26.3
Telephone 148.2 8.4 0.7 8.0
Online 1218.0 198.4 62.5 31.5
Other 11.6 3.6 0.2 5.0
Total 9350.5 627.8 159.4 21.1


Remember a firm like Hills has 2000+ shops so its essential to their bottom line that the FOBTs survive. Hills online and mobile channels are showing massive growth and behind Bet365 they're the market leader. Bet365 are the biggest animal at the party and they have no retail presence.
 
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