William Hill plan to close 700 Shops

[News Hound]

Firstly, I love the new paint job you have given this place. Secondly bad news on the High Street, as William Hill announce plans to close 700 shops: William Hill Plans to Close 700 Shops

 

[steveh35]

William Hill currently have 4 possibly 5 shops in Doncaster town centre alone for a town centre the size and shape of Doncaster this is ridiculous to be honest how they manage to make a profit from the having this number of shops within a few minutes walk of each other with rents and things to pay is ridiculous.

 

[News Hound]

They only had them there to get around the maximum allowed 4 FOBT terminals per shop. That is how much of a cash cow FOBT's were.

 

[steveh35]

They only had them there to get around the maximum allowed 4 FOBT terminals per shop. That is how much of a cash cow FOBT's were.

Interesting though Ladbrokes have 3 but Betfred have only 2 shops and Paddy Power and Coral 1 so interesting Paddy Power never needed multiple shop locations in fact I think Paddy are quite light when it comes to fixed locations most bookies seem to survive fine with one shop,

 

[colinsunderland]

Coral have already closed quite a few and more on the way.
All the people saying the reductions in FOTB states wouldn't affect jobs have egg on their faces now don't they.

 

[shadow123]

Been to a Ladbrokes for the first time in years to do a cash deposit,The only local shop was deserted apart from one old guy
drinking free coffee and a really pissed off guy playing some rubbish FOBT game.Only things missing were the tumbleweed
and the for sale sign outside.You could feel sorry for Ladbrokes in a way but greed took over and changed the nature
of the business, now they are paying the price big time.Think the viability and atmosphere of the high st bookie has gone
forever

 

[dunover]

Crikey, I haven't been in a bookies shop for over 20 years, but I know at one time you could actually place bets on horses and football in them and they weren't mini casinos. There used to be these little yellow or white things where you could write bets and get a copy and collect if you won, with races involving horses and dogs and there was even TVs in the shop to watch them on.

 

[snorky510238]

They made hay while the sun shone (and boy did they). Nothing good lasts forever. If FOBTS had proper governing bodies overlooking them to see they were fit and fair for purpose from the outset then we would never have reached this situation but no it was basically a free for all and they milked it. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. You make your bed and you lie in it. The fact the roses have been replaced with thorns is tough shite.

 

[goatwack]

They made hay while the sun shone (and boy did they). Nothing good lasts forever. If FOBTS had proper governing bodies overlooking them to see they were fit and fair for purpose from the outset then we would never have reached this situation but no it was basically a free for all and they milked it. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. You make your bed and you lie in it. The fact the roses have been replaced with thorns is tough shite.

That is so metaphor and phrase-laden I thought I'dd add a couple more, namely, the grass isn't always greener on the other side and it's a game of two halves

 

[EkJR]

They milked the cash cow for a long time and that's gone. Interesting that they don't talk about their profits suffering in all this...are they closing shops but retaining their massive profit margins?

 

[colinsunderland]

To be fair, most the high street bookies are suffering a fall in revenue.
As much as I think they have themselves to blame by pushing so many customers online, I still don't get the stake reduction reasoning, when you can go online and bet thousands per spin. Surely they should be reduced to £2 maximum stake too, or whats the point? Not that I want that, just don't see the point in one without the other.

 

[snorky510238]

To be fair, most the high street bookies are suffering a fall in revenue.
As much as I think they have themselves to blame by pushing so many customers online, I still don't get the stake reduction reasoning, when you can go online and bet thousands per spin. Surely they should be reduced to £2 maximum stake too, or whats the point? Not that I want that, just don't see the point in one without the other.

Yes I agree the fact you can play £100 a spin online is hideous and can’t be considered responsible gambling even if your a millionaire.

I think online should be capped but maybe £10 max. The reason being they supposedly pay around mid 90s regarding rtp whereas I dread to think what FOBTS were paying. Even if it was mid 80s there was nobody auditing any of it properly in the early days. Partly the reason it was allowed to get to where it did.

The other thing is FOBTS are capped at £500 payout per spin. If online was the same I wouldn’t bother playing as for a low roller my jackpot in essence would be £100.

 

[paul7388]

Not only because of the FOBT'S that the bookies are closing tho.

The older generation of punters has been declining for years. And nowadays more people probably bet on sports than ever but everything is online now.

Nowadays most people prefer to bet online and many have never really even been in a bookies. I used to probably visit a bookies daily many years ago. Then online came and i rarely place a bet in a bookies now. In fact would say i only really go into WH at my work now if i want to buy a cash direct voucher.

So all these shops have had to lose the revenue from the FOBT'S and have majority of people using there sites online.

 

[snorky510238]

That is so metaphor and phrase-laden I thought I'dd add a couple more, namely, the grass isn't always greener on the other side and it's a game of two halves

Say what you mean don’t beat about the bush.

 

[trancemonkey]

Yes I agree the fact you can play £100 a spin online is hideous and can’t be considered responsible gambling even if your a millionaire.

I think online should be capped but maybe £10 max. The reason being they supposedly pay around mid 90s regarding rtp whereas I dread to think what FOBTS were paying. Even if it was mid 80s there was nobody auditing any of it properly in the early days. Partly the reason it was allowed to get to where it did.

The other thing is FOBTS are capped at £500 payout per spin. If online was the same I wouldn’t bother playing as for a low roller my jackpot in essence would be £100.

The two are entirely different... an SOW request online would go some way to proving if you could afford it along with a KYC check. It's not fool proof but it's better than the nothing that happens in bookies.

But if Labour get in, they will almost certainly cut stakes online. Which will close just about all online casinos that do not also operate sports betting... then you will have far less choice. And then you will see RTPs plummet.

Be careful what you wish for. And who you vote for....

 

[goatwack]

No one in their right mind would vote for t'Labour

 

[colinsunderland]

The two are entirely different... an SOW request online would go some way to proving if you could afford it along with a KYC check. It's not fool proof but it's better than the nothing that happens in bookies.

But if Labour get in, they will almost certainly cut stakes online. Which will close just about all online casinos that do not also operate sports betting... then you will have far less choice. And then you will see RTPs plummet.

Be careful what you wish for. And who you vote for....

SOW does happen in bookies though, it doesn't happen that often but before my local coral closed I saw the file full of SOW documents from the previous year, and there were well over 100 customers who had either provided it or refused and been banned from Coral.
The criteria they are using to decide to ask for it is pretty flimsy though, and basically comes down to the member of staff. They 'should' ask for it more often but when staff are under pressure to increase bet slips over the counter and increase FOTB play then you can see why they don't want to.
Maybe they should have tightened up SOW checks instore then the ban on stake size might not have happened, but then most the players would have left, so was probably a lose lose for them anyway!

 

[trancemonkey]

SOW does happen in bookies though, it doesn't happen that often but before my local coral closed I saw the file full of SOW documents from the previous year, and there were well over 100 customers who had either provided it or refused and been banned from Coral.
The criteria they are using to decide to ask for it is pretty flimsy though, and basically comes down to the member of staff. They 'should' ask for it more often but when staff are under pressure to increase bet slips over the counter and increase FOTB play then you can see why they don't want to.
Maybe they should have tightened up SOW checks instore then the ban on stake size might not have happened, but then most the players would have left, so was probably a lose lose for them anyway!

As I said many times to people in the industry, the bookies should have voluntarily lowered the stake to 20 quid ages ago when there was even a sniff of this happening.

Then it would likely have all blown over. They did this to themselves I'm afraid.