I don’t believe the tax angle can be totally dismissed. After all, it is high taxes which are playing a huge part in driving so many pubs out of business. But I agree “too much supply of betting shops and dwindling demand” is the main factor.
I do lament the decline of the shops. They used to have an important social function beyond their core business. They were a place where people could gather, many of them older people who might otherwise have been on their own. They were places where they could have a chat and get out of the cold, save on their heating bills etc.
Unfortunately, a combination of the old brigade dying out and the move to online betting killed off the shops, which was accelerated by the lockdown era. There was also the terrible decision to allow the slot machines and roulette games into the shops. No doubt the firms saw them as easy money but they killed the shops. They went from being friendly, social places to sites where people started at screens all day.
I mentioned the shop closures on a different forum this morning. Inevitably two New Puritans appeared to say “Good news. Get these thieving businesses off the streets” etc. But so what if a few people lost a few pounds in them, while moving on to the pub? The beer would have cost more money. And I think the interaction in the bookies and the pub was far better for these punters mental health than sitting around at home on their own, watching rubbish television. The cost of a 20p yankee was a good deal.