4th Jul 2019 10:57
(Alliance News) - Bookmaker William Hill PLC said Thursday it is planning to close 700 shops, putting 4,500 jobs at risk.
William Hill said the shop closures will begin before the end of the year.
"This follows the [UK] government's decision to reduce the maximum stake on B2 gaming products to GBP2 on April 1 2019. Since then the company has seen a significant fall in gaming machine revenues, in line with the guidance given when the government's decision was announced in May 2018," explained William Hill.
The gambling company's gaming revenue in the 17-week period to April 30 was down 15% due to the impact on machine gaming revenue.
Last month, Chief Executive Philip Bowcock said: "The impact of the introduction of the GBP2 stake limit has been in line with our expectations. We are confident in our plan to manage this major change, and will update more fully at the half year."
In May 2018, William Hill Chair Roger Devlin wrote to then UK Culture Secretary Matt Hancock about what a "catastrophic" decision it would be to lower the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals.
"The jobs of around 20,000 people are at risk if the decision is made to cut gaming machine stakes to GBP2.
"Consolidation within our sector continues and I would also not want to see the impact of a disproportionate triennial outcome being a factor in the name of William Hill being added to the list of companies now in foreign ownership," Devlin said.
Shares in William Hill were down 0.1% in London on Thursday at 163.52 pence each.
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