The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Why something needs to be done about the betting industry

There are increasing concerns that stores are becoming more concentrated in poor and deprived areas.

By Rowenna Davis Published 14 December 2011 17:39

"I'll pay you back as soon as I've won," says the guy blocking my way out. It's almost 10pm, and Ladbrokes is still open. I've come in to see what it's like, and accidentally won my bet back ten fold. Now everyone is watching me pocket my winnings in a neon lit room littered with failed paper bets. I'm surrounded by a group of guys in black padded jackets who ran out of money long ago.

Betting shops have always come with their problems, but the challenges they pose today are fundamentally different to the past. We are dealing with an industry that has become commodified, mechanised and -- in some of the poorest areas of our communities -- totally mainstream. Our democratic structures were not designed to deal with this, and they're failing. Something needs to be done.

Globalisation has transformed this industry. It means that betting is no longer limited by our country's sports seasons or daylight hours. Paddy Power outlets now open at 7am, allowing people to place bets on their way to work in the dark, and close at 10pm long after everything else on high street has shut. Racing in Paraguay, Australia and Japan means live races are happening constantly. In the shop I was in, they were taking bets on 130 live events a day.

And that's not including virtual races. In perhaps the oddest twist of the industry, the cashier showed me a timetable of virtual games that ran every four minutes. If there's nothing else on, customers can bet on a computer-generated horse that races on the big screen. Betting is no longer reserved for special events or particular players that you can research or form an emotional attachment to or even touch. It has become brutal, mechanistic and void.

Then, of course, there's the recent introduction of FOBTs -- slot machines offering games like Routlette and Bingo -- brought in over the last few years to keep you occupied in the one or two minutes you might still have free.

Gambling used to be social. But the increased speed and frequency of bets has short-circuited the need for human relationships. New mechanised cashiers mean you can gamble away a million without talking to a soul. Increased competition between the four big brands that dominate the market -- Bet Fred, Paddy Power, William Hill and Coral -- are aggressively competing by cutting staff. Mainstream betting shops no longer provide exciting, special experiences so much as fast, dirty transactions.

Betting shops are fast on their way to becoming 24 hour rooms manned by bouncers alone.

Although the total number of betting shops has remained relatively stable over the last five years, there are increasing concerns that stores are becoming more concentrated in poor and deprived areas such as Waltham Forest, Newham and Liverpool. Hackney has 64 betting shops -- three times the national average for a local authority -- and in my hometown of Southwark, important research from Harriet Harman has found 77. Meanwhile, David Lammy has pointed out that Tottenham has 39 bookmakers but not a single bookshop.

Betting shops cluster around particular high streets as well as certain boroughs. They are often conveniently located next to payday loan stores. Their staff, in colourfully branded caps and t-shirts, echo nearby fast food outlets. In Southwark, they are spreading on Rye Lane and the Walworth Road, opening up whenever another business goes under in the downturn. There are even rumours one may replace a local jobs centre.

"They (betting shops) are often located near post offices," says Ruth Champion, a therapeutic director from the problem gambling charity Gordon Moody. "We have to ask, are they targeting people coming out with a giro? It's getting harder and harder for the people we treat to be in a safe place."

All this is big money. The Gambling Commission estimates that the UK gambling industry was worth some £5.6 billion in 2010, and the betting sector represents 52 per cent of that market. It can't go on like this.

Ladbrokes on Peckham High Street was one of the shops kicked in during the August riots. I remember it left a cracked spider web of broken glass. There's a growing anger at these businesses from some of poorest people in the community I serve, and in others around the country. As a local councillor for the Lane, I want to revisit this topic, talk to the staff and customers in these shops and figure out what can be done. Although after the close call last night, I might go back at earlier hours.

Rowenna Davis is a journalist and author of Tangled up in Blue: Blue Labour and the Struggle for Labour's Soul, published by Ruskin Publishing at £8.99. She is also a Labour councillor.

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Tags: Betting shops

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23 comments

Mon, 2011-12-19 22:43 — deano32 (not verified)

it all about the F O B T's. you enter any leading bookmaker the volume on them is louder then t v's. they hold regular free play competitions for the highest scoring player to win £50.00 free paly on f o b t's. they used to be closed ,23rd,24th and 25th december now it only 25th dec, no racing taking place on 23rd or 24th but FOBT PROMOTION IS ON BOTH DAYS. in fact it only the 24th they close at latest 6pm all other days are either 9.30 or 10pm, it time something was done.

Mon, 2011-12-19 22:56 — swatantra

'Its time something was done'. I wouldn't bet on it.
Whatever happened to free will and self reponsibility. They even said the Lottery was a tax on the poor, but is it?
Reduce the FOBTs. And give the Staff a break, they deserve it.
Gambling should be confined to betting shops and casinos and newsagents, and not to TV if gambling is to remain a social activity and not an addiction in the lonliness of your front room.

Sat, 2011-12-17 00:27 — Invisibleink (not verified)

I work in the industry and I love my job but its got to the point where even I have become to detest what I used to enjoy. I hate the Fobts!!! They are the cause of the biggest arguments in shop. The fact that we now have to be open practically all the time is stupid, punters deserve a break from some of the shite we provide somedays and the staff need a break as well. It has become depressing for nearly all involved apart from the fat cats at the top who dont get the abuse and have a nice life while wee get it all.

Wed, 2011-12-14 18:05 — Marcus (not verified)

Cant we just let the local population do what they want to do with their own money?

Or does some unknown government bureaucrat with too much time on his or her hands know better?

We have far too many rules in this country. Too few freedoms. Our liberty is now defined by what we cannot do rather than by what we can. Its time we ripped up laws, mandates and the like.............. not create more.

Let the people be.

Wed, 2011-12-14 18:38 — pmotty (not verified)

Thanks for this article Roweena. I've spent my entire adult life in the betting game, worked in betting shops throughout the 1990s, and have seen the industry change markedly for the worse.

There was a time when bookmaking was honorable - they were taking risks, and took a fair percentage for it. Shops themselves were micro-communities, a place for retired men and racing fans to congregate.

Then came fruit machines, with payout percentages fixed so the bookie couldn't lose. Opening hours were relaxed, which was terrible for the staff. Then Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, and virtual racing. Then they expanded, especially in poorer areas. Now the bookie was taking no risk, and the shops became congregations of the desperate, and addicts of crack-cocaine like machines.

Serious punters, racing enthusiasts, have moved online, but anyone successful will soon be banned. I've been banned over 50 times, for nothing other than backing winners. And where does all this guaranteed profit end up? In offshore tax havens, of course.

In effect, the big bookmaking firms hold a mafia-like grip over punters. By monopolosing the busiest sites they've also squeezed out the smaller, independent bookie, just like the supermarkets.

The previous post from 'Marcus' is ridiculous. Name one country in the world where there is lighter regulation of the betting industry than the UK?

Its time people woke up to these myths about 'bureaucrats' and 'red tape'. They are code for removing any protection from exploitation, oligarchs and monopolists.

Wed, 2011-12-14 18:41 — Andrew Lyman- William Hill (not verified)

Hardly a balanced piece of journalism. This is just pejorative nonsense. we have been on the high street since the mid 60's and run a highly regulated business. Try dealing in fact rather than moral or quasi moral rhetoric. We would be happy to facilitate a proper fact finding visit to help you underpin your commentary with empirical evidence. At least you have been clear about your vested political interest in stirring up anti betting shop sentiment. We employ 13,000 people in our retail estate (many 18-24), pay £250 million in taxes and each shop pays around £11K in business rates

Wed, 2012-02-08 15:31 — Shuggy of the North (not verified)

Andrew Lyman - Taxes - William Hill - £250m per year ? Channel 4 News , 7pm 7th February 2012 - £1 billion taxes.

What is the true tax figure Andrew ? Spit it out ........... last night on Channel 4 News it was £1billion per year to Government and £600m profits to William Hill.

Can you people not get your own PR correct ?

What is the figure Will Hill pay in that magical cheque to HMRC ???

You just don't know do you ???

Wed, 2011-12-14 18:54 — Ian5

I must say, the level of advertising and inducements for numerous forms of gambling is a personal cause for concern. There does not seem to any restrictions on it, despite the known social ills. I would add my concern is also the same for alcohol. I'm not totally opposed to either , but the exposure to the advertising should be reduce. aha bingo's harmless you say no its not.

Wed, 2011-12-14 19:03 — mcquade

Don't worry too much about Marcus, motty, he's just one of the resident ignorant morons here.

Wed, 2011-12-14 19:08 — mcquade

"At least you have been clear about your vested political interest"

Had to laugh at this comment from the famously un-self-interested William Hill. In addition to see you boasting about your work as a 'benefactor', I notice you don't brag about all the dog ends and litter your punters leave outside your stores and which you NEVER clean up, besmirching the environment for other community members.

Thu, 2011-12-15 17:12 — Alan (not verified)

Betting shops are not happy places anymore. They are full of unhappy people desperately trying to win with money they can I'll afford to lose. The machines are addictive. One only has to look at the evidence. I don't know of a single 'self exclusion' made from any shop which wasn't 'machine' related. If someone puts £100 on a horse in a 2 mile chase at Ascot there interest and money lasts 3.5 minutes. If they put £100 in a machine and spun a roulette wheel there interest and money can have gone in 10 seconds. Bosses of the big betting chains should perhaps go and work in their shops for a day and view first hand the misery they are causing. The fact that some shops are open from 7am to 10pm is obscene. Betting shops used to open from 10am to 6.30pm in the summer and were not open on Sundays so the poor unfortunates who frequented them at least got some respite from the money grabbing atmosphere therein. Perhaps going for a walk along a river bank on a summers evening to enjoy the beauty of life rather than be drawn to the machines in shops like a moth to a flame.

Wed, 2011-12-14 20:59 — john woods (not verified)

Marcus says;

"Cant we just let the local population do what they want to do with their own money?"

Precisely. this is a classic example of the over privileged bourgy guilt tripped leftie telling the proles whatsgood for them. WHATS IT GOT TO DO WITH HER?

Thu, 2011-12-15 18:07 — Ap (not verified)

Betting is addictive, the poor are easy to exploit.
Groundbreaking journalism.

Thu, 2011-12-15 18:12 — Nigel (not verified)

One problem is betting shops are in the same planning category as normal businesses like pubs and restaurants, so when one of them goes under there's no obstacle to a betting chain taking over, and no chance for the local community or council to judge if another betting shop is something they want to prevent.

David Lammy introduced a perfectly modest and good proposal to change the planning category of betting shops, but the Tories and their Lib-Dem sidekicks voted it down, and our high streets are paying the price.

Wed, 2011-12-14 22:17 — mcquade

Government regulates other social ills such as tobacco, alcohol and drugs - and yes, betting is a recognised addictive behaviour - so why not this blight on our society?

Thu, 2011-12-15 02:15 — Flashbuck (not verified)

Yet more fascist left meddling and interfering: Telling us something needs to be done, eh? The reality is nothing needs to be done because the state has no business or right getting even more involved in something that is our own personal private business. So take your fascist left attitudes and stuff 'em and stay out our lives please. We just don't want you.

Fri, 2011-12-16 20:03 — Martin Warren (not verified)

Andrew Lyman- William Hill

Mr Lyman, as you are Head of PR at William Hills what do you think of the comment Steven White (Regional Operations Manager of William Hill) made to me about FOBT'S please?

"This Firm needs FOBT addicts - I would not have a job without them".

I await your response with great anticipation Sir.

Thu, 2011-12-15 10:39 — LZ (not verified)

I cant comprehend why they are allowed to advertise on T.V

You cant market crack to crackheads on T.V so how do they get away with this???

No real difference between the two. Gambling ruins just as many lives if not more.

Thu, 2011-12-15 12:33 — representingthemambo (not verified)

It isn't fascist to try and put safeguards in place to stop people being exploited.
This is a great, timely article, thank you so much for writing it.
Problem gambling has a social impact, it affects families, communities, crime stats, all sorts of things. The idea we can just blithely say 'let them get on with it' is criminally irresponsible.
No man is an island!
representingthemambo.wordpress.com

Thu, 2011-12-15 12:52 — Ish (not verified)

I think this comes under the banner "more financial education needed for all of us"

The general public should have their freedoms , but understand fully the impact of their choices.

Thu, 2011-12-15 12:54 — Arman Alan Ali (not verified)

This comprehensive independent research on the location and distribution of gambling machines should help the debate along. Easy-to-follow summary here http://www.rgfund.org.uk/Research/machines-research-study-1-faqs.html