When American gambling giant Caesars Entertainment helped themselves to William Hill in 2021, there were concerns about the repercussions for high street betting in the UK.
Caesars made it quite clear in their £2.2 billion buyout of the British betting institution that they had absolutely no interest in taking on their retail shops – putting thousands of jobs at risk.
But 888 Holdings stepped up to the plate, acquiring William Hill’s European business divisions and taking over the running of some 1,400 betting shops across the UK.
Good, punters might be thinking. But there could yet be a catch.
The firm have now revealed a need to slash costs, and while they haven’t explicitly said that it’s their new glut of betting shops that’s at risk, it’s quite possible that some will be shaved in order to make the necessary savings.
And that would be a further hammer-blow for the retail sector, which has been hit hard by the rise of online betting, increased costs on the high street and pandemic-led closures.
A trend for betting shop closures has emerged in recent years, and it would be a real shame if a bastion of the British high street – love them or hate them – was canned in another hit to traditionalists with a fondness for the good old days.
Reasons to Be Positive
The headline-making numbers are alarming, and so I might as well get them out of the way: in December 2019, there were 8,320 betting shops on UK soil.
As of December 2022, that number has fallen to 6,219.
Maths buffs will know that’s a drop-off in the region of 25% in just three years, and with the economy in decline but business rates on the UK high street continuing to rise, the big wigs at some of Britain’s biggest bookmakers are now faced with a decision on how they structure – or perhaps restructure – their businesses going forward.
So that’s the bad news.
The good news is that 2022 has been a year of stabilisation for the humble betting shop, or perhaps I should say it’s been ‘less bad’ than those that have recently passed by.
PWC, who audit the performance of the UK high street, posted a fairly positive view of the situation in September, citing a ‘period of cautious recovery’.
They also found that betting shop closures had slowed to their lowest levels in 2017, which is sort of damning the industry with faint praise but at least it’s some positivity at a time when there’s very little to shout about.
“In the first six months of this year, a total of 6,147 shops belonging to multiples and chains (those with five or more outlets) exited UK high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – the fewest since 2017,” the report from PWC confirmed.
“Equivalent to 34 closures per day, it’s a significant easing of the rush of closures and administrations we witnessed during the pandemic of 61 per day in H1 2020.”
On the flipside, new store openings have stalled to a standstill – unsurprising, really, given the issues affecting the UK high street as a whole.
A New Era of Betting
The problems facing high street betting are echoed by many aspects of retail.
More and more shops and brands, including huge, recognisable games, are facing an existential crisis at the hands of internet firms like Amazon. This is an issue that will surely get worse, rather than better, as new generations of tech-savvy customers come along.
Betting bosses have to find a way to tap into the psyche of punters of all ages, and they have already moved towards appealing to a younger audience by creating a synergy between retail and online betting products, as well as introducing touchscreen terminals and more comfortable seating (goodbye, numb backsides!)
Boyle Sports and Jennings Bet have opened new stores in Bristol, Basingstoke and Wakefield since October alone, which suggests that they have seen something in the data to press on with retail betting.
What the future holds for high street betting shops in the UK only time will tell, but operators and punters alike will be hoping that this bastion of local retail can somehow find a way to secure its long-term future.
