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In Britain, there is a betting shop on every high street, an average of one for every 2,500 people. In the UK as a whole there are over 8,000 shops providing nearly 80,000 jobs. The sector's annual turnover is more than u00a38 billion and it pays more than u00a31 billion in tax each year to the government.
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In Britain, there is a betting shop on every high street, an average of one for every 2,500 people. In the UK as a whole there are over 8,000 shops providing nearly 80,000 jobs. The sector's annual turnover is more than £8 billion and it pays more than £1 billion in tax each year to the government.
Betting shops offer betting opportunities not only on horse racing and greyhound racing (see more information here about betting shop operators ) but also on sports such as football and rugby as well as other activities such as bingo and casino games like roulette and blackjack (illegal in Great Britain).
However, recent research by family anti-gambling organisation Fairer Gambling has found that as many as 15% of bookmakers' profits come from problem gamblers. In fact, it is estimated that between 80,000 and 160,000 people in Britain have a gambling addiction - this means that they are unable to stop themselves from placing bets even if it harms their health or leads to them going into debt.
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling also showed that one high street betting shop was taking action against only 0.1% of its customers who had self excluded themselves from all betting shops in the country because they were struggling with a gambling addiction.
In addition to these problems, which apply particularly to the larger chains, there has also been concern expressed by smaller, independent betting shops. Many of these point out that the larger chains operate on a virtual monopoly and use aggressive tactics to attract customers away from independents.
There is particular concern that the government's commitment to reducing the UK's spiralling debt will lead to rises in duty which will be passed on to consumers and this may result in more people being driven into high street bookmakers.
These issues have led some MPs to call for betting shops to be better regulated - particularly with regard to how they deal with problem gamblers. While several office holders have called for a limit on the number of betting shops allowed per square mile, others feel that it would be most effective companies were forced to sign up voluntarily to a code of conduct which would include training staff to look for signs of problem gamblers and allow customers to limit their own bets.
While ministers consider these issues, betting shops are continuing to make record profits. The industry is currently still growing at its fastest rate in 15 years, increasing by 3% in 2011 alone. Many predict that the increase in betting shop numbers will soon begin to slow down as the number of premises reaches saturation point but others argue that even if this does happen, bookmakers will continue to do well due to their ability to diversify into gambling via the internet.
