William Hill is to axe its telephone betting operations at one of its UK call centres, and outsource work at another, in a move designed to save up to £8m a year in costs and taxes.
The bookmaker's Leeds centre, which currently employs 200 people, will be closed. It is also moving the 200 staff at its Sheffield facility over to outsourcing group Vertex, while a new telephone betting operation for online business will be established in Gibraltar.
Taking its telephone betting service offshore will affect 400 British employees of the company.
Chief executive Ralph Topping blamed the government's tax and regulatory policies, and claimed that the business faced increasing competition from foreign rivals as well as betting exchanges such as Betfair.
He said that the steep operating costs and favourable tax conditions for offshore rivals put the future of 50 of its 2,300 betting shops in doubt.
Rival bookmaker Ladbrokes had announced the closure of its Aintree call centre in Liverpool in November, with a potential loss of 263 jobs.
William Hill expects to report half-year revenues up 3 per cent and profits flat at £135m.
