Opinion piece in the Guardian
I ran a bookies for 12 years – they deserve no sympathy for these store closures
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-gamblers-jobs
Reforms to fixed-odds betting machines were always going to hit this profit-driven industry, although closures will send more gamblers online
Mon 8 Jul 2019 14.32 BST Last modified on Mon 8 Jul 2019 14.39
Since the introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in 2001, UK bookmakers have contributed towards increasing social degradation in our communities. I’ve seen it happen during my 12 years as a bookmaker branch manager. Gambling has always been a vice for people with either enough disposable income that only the winning counts – or for those drawn in by the promise of quick financial gain. But there is something sinister about FOBTs, in that they have increased access to quick winnings or losses on the high street, creating an environment more like a miniature casino.
More training time was given to the launch of a new FOBT product than to social responsibility awareness
Now bookmakers blame stricter regulation of FOBTs for the anticipated closure of about a quarter of betting shops. In my experience, the machines account for about 50% of the profit in a typical branch of a high-street bookmaker, and in some cases much more. Take a walk down your local high street and you may well find multiple outlets of the same company not far from each other – often the shop has a surface area much larger than is needed for its customer base. The larger shops were typically taken on long-term leases in anticipation of the government relaxing the “four FOBTs per shop” rule. As the legislation was never changed, the only way a bookmaker could effectively increase its FOBT market share in the high street was by opening up more branches relatively close to one another. This allowed some bookmakers to have 12 or more FOBTs along one stretch of road.
I can tell you that in my experience, these companies view social responsibility as a check-box exercise, simply allowing them to keep trading. More training time was given to the launch of a new FOBT product than to social responsibility awareness. If bookmakers followed the mantra of “only bet what you can afford to lose”, there would be no high-street bookmakers. Some of the busiest and most profitable shops I have managed have been in areas of social deprivation – not the ones in the likes of Knightsbridge or Chelsea. Bookies thrive on desperation.
What I have found most concerning is seeing middle management get annoyed when their most profitable customer self-excludes, dismissing concerns about the source of a customer’s funds with either “we can’t prove they don’t have savings” or “don’t ask too many questions”. The online division may completely ignore a retail manager’s concerns about a customer’s mental wellbeing, effectively allowing that customer to go home and gamble irresponsibly online. That then pushes staff to poach high-rolling customers from other companies by harassing them with free bets, or by standing outside another branch with promotions and offers.
Where does social responsibility begin to fit into this business model? It doesn’t. Of course a business needs to make a profit to be successful. But bookmakers have been shortsighted, drawn in by FOBTs’ quick profits and gambling on legislation either remaining in place or being relaxed. Years of austerity, combined with an ever-widening wage gap, have perhaps made them a subject of frustration. Had they hedged their bets and acted more responsibly, bookmakers would not be in the situation they are facing now. “Greed” is the appropriate word, without a care for how their financial gains continue to destroy thousands of families.
Now that FOBTs have had restrictions imposed on them, cutting their maximum stake per spin from £100 to £2, it’s only natural that the bookmakers will have to shed hundreds of unprofitable shops. These sites will either be peripheral ones that were set up purely for those extra four FOBTs or branches where the sports turnover has taken a hit due to a lack of investment in that area. In Ireland you see many high-street bookmakers continue to make a profit from a sports-centric business model, as FOBTs are not legal there.
Many will argue that the closure of these betting shops will benefit society as a whole. I would counter that a lot of the FOBT customers will instead move their losses online, while thousands more will suffer due to redundancy. If I were a betting man, my money would be on those shops in low-earning residential areas being the most likely to remain open in any case, continuing to show a healthy profit. Gambler and employee alike, this will ultimately affect those who can afford to lose the least.
• Owen Rees worked for a UK bookmaker for 12 years and is now a stay-at-home father