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200 of their shops are to be closed. Hills claim it is due to increased taxes.
No doubt they haven’t helped the situation but aren’t the shops simply dying out anyway? Who really goes to them now, in the era of online betting?
I had started to drift away from the shops pre-2020. Since the lockdown era, I have hardly ever set foot in a betting shop.
The tax issue looks like a good excuse to reduce the bricks and mortar estate and save on rent, heating and lighting and salaries.
I’ve had an online account for years but pre covid I rarely used it I went into the shop every Saturday. Since covid I haven’t been in a betting shop.
The more I know the less I understand.
Taxes, yeah right. Many of the shops only opened in the first place to skirt the four machine per shop law.
I don’t really pay much attention to TV adverts but when was the last time any of them encouraged you to go into a shop? Do the shops have the exact same offers and promos as online?
Unless you’ve been banned online (and even then shops can and do monitor and restrict you) or want to use cash why would you go into a shop? Yes there’s the social aspect for a few, although you can get the same social aspect in a pub punting on your phone with the benefit of being able to have a pint.
Too much supply of betting shops and dwindling demand, simple as that.
I’ve not been in a shop for at least 6 years.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysI haven’t been in one since covid ( in fact I still avoid crowded places). But I feel such nostalgia for the many years when I did frequent betting shops on a regular basis. My cousins husband, who sadly died a year or so ago, used to go to the bookies every day. If I lived close to them I probably would have gone with him.
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.
Their decline is indeed a shame, although by our own admission, everyone in this thread so far has contributed.
Whilst the dreaded machines no doubt keep many of them open, they can contribute to a nasty atmosphere. Not only as you note by having people stare at screens but also the anger that they generate when people inevitably lose. All helps put people off sadly.
One of my ex girlfriends was a betting shop manager. She often told me that fights would start when the “shoulder surfers” – those who didn’t bet but watched others play – got involved.
Imagine losing £x and some tit shouting, “I told you you should have done 23!”
😡
I pretty much abandoned betting shops when the Exchanges took off, 25 or so years ago now; and racegoing suffered a decline too, though that was more gradual.
Although it superficially made the experience more involving, I wasn’t that keen on the loosening of restrictions that permitted TV screens in shops as this led to a decline in camaraderie and craic with customers content to live in their own little world, glued to the screens.
Last time I darkened a shop’s doors – or brightened as it turned out – was prior to the general election in 2024, for a speculative bet at 12/1 Labour to win 500+ seats, coincidentally with Hill’s.
The good old days when you could walk through the smoky air cloud and pay tax on your £100 bet on Rangers at 1/10 on…
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
“Last time I darkened a shop’s doors – or brightened as it turned out – was prior to the general election in 2024, for a speculative bet at 12/1 Labour to win 500+ seats, coincidentally with Hill’s.”
You were done by them Drone, should have been at least 120/1, possibly 1200/1
In the 1960’s I worked as a settler in a William Hill betting shop, earning the grand sum of £3 per day. In those days board markers put the results up. I started half and hour before the first race and left half an hour after the last. There were no televisions but after the first race the place was packed. You never stepped; time was never noticed until the last race. It was an interesting job getting to know people. It was all very friendly and safe.
Nowadays the staff are behind a screen with nothing to do. Nobody is backing horses and the only people there are playing the fruit machines. It is extremely boring for staff whose only job in reality is to empty the fruit machines at the end of the day and put the money in the safe.
With the tax take on ‘one arm bandits’ increasing bookmakers would have to reduce the payout to compensate, so even the mug gamblers are getting the message. No wonder so many shops are closing.
There was two William Hill shops in Taunton years ago. The one near to where I grew up shut years ago
The cow behind the counter smoked like a chimney and would look even more of a sour cow if you asked to place a bet whilst she was watching deal or no deal.
She was never keen on me after I had won 5 weeks on the bounce place a ton on Rangers or Celtic each week at odds of around 1/10 and one week she said I couldn’t place the bet and they ended up not winning… 😅
She also told me I had to wait for collecting my Ante post bets on Kauto Star for the Gold Cup 2007 because of a rule 4
I explained to her that you don’t have rule 4’s on Ante post bets… She just looked glum faced and kept her eyes focused at my 100s of tickets in my clenched fist and repeated “come back tomorrow” … I did and it was her day off, lazy cow …. 🐄Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
My local WHills has always been a friendly place but the staff across the road at Ladbrokes were well grumpy.I’d be lost of W Hill racing radio ever stopped.
I have an example of how desperate bookmakers, escpecially William Hill), are to get punters to bet. I received an email under the heading BOOST: England to win the World Cup 13/2 (was 11/2).
You were done by them Drone, should have been at least 120/1, possibly 1200/1
As ever, it seemed value at the time, a couple of weeks before polling day if memory serves. Hills were actually long at 12/1, the general price being around 8/1; and shortly after placing my ‘monster’ 600/50 they cut their odds to 9/1.
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