Jobs at risk as William Hill announces plans to close 700 shops

Bookmaker William Hill has said it will close 700 betting shops by the end of this year.

The move follows a Government decision to reduce the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) to £2.

The company has begun a consultation process with staff at 700 of its 2300 licensed betting shops.

The bookmaker has a number of shops across North Wales – including Lord Street in the town centre. However it is not known as yet if any of these have been earmarked for closure.

In a statement from William Hill said: “William Hill has entered into a consultation process with retail colleagues over plans to close around 700 licensed betting offices.

“This follows the Government’s decision to reduce the maximum stake on B2 gaming products to £2 on 1 April 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.

“A large number of redundancies is anticipated with 4,500 colleagues at risk.

“The Group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process.

“Subject to the outcome of the consultation process, shop closures are likely to begin before the end of the year.”

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