Member News
The Association of British Bookmakers urges the government to create the correct conditions to encourage growth for high street bookmakers.
"Implementing a Machine Games Duty: Consultation on policy design" is a government consultation you are unlikely to hear the Chancellor mention today.
But it's an area of policy intimately connected to boosting the growth that the government wants and our country needs.
The government is likely to say very little at all about bookmaking this afternoon.
But while we may not be making the headlines, there are some relatively straightforward steps that the government can take to support our industry and create jobs.
For a start, it could avoid raising taxes associated with retailing.
If the government is genuinely committed to a tax neutral rate on machine games duty, as it says in the above consultation, then we hope it will propose a rate of tax of 15% or less. This rate would permit growth and generate employment.
A 15 per cent rate for the betting industry would also be consistent with the tax on "Over The Counter" (OTC) betting.
We estimate that 2,603 betting shops employing more than 9,000 staff together make an average annual profit of less than £25,000 each, and therefore a considerable number of them might reasonably be regarded as businesses whose commercial viability is marginal. Any punitive tax rate for gaming machines will force shop closures and mean further job losses in a retail sector which is already depressed.
The government's proposed planning reforms are also under the spotlight.
We are wary of any proposed planning measures which will limit commercial discretion and add costs – they will lead to job losses as unprofitable shops cannot be re-sited.
It will also make it more difficult for retailers –including bookmakers- to open new shops and create jobs in town centres.
High street betting shops play an important role in attracting consumers to local areas. We live in a world of online shopping, out-of-town retail parks and large supermarkets.
Vacancy rates currently stand at over 14 per cent. The government needs to help retailers fill the high number of properties which currently stand vacant.
Bookmakers pay £11,000 in annual business rates for every shop and employ about 40,000 people in shops across the country. We support a further 60,000 in a wide-range of other sectors from horseracing to IT.
But over the past twelve months 100 shops have closed and 500 jobs have been lost. This trend needs to be reversed.
Unlike some sectors, high street bookmakers are not asking for a government hand-out. We simply ask that the government creates conditions so that we can grow.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd