I've still money in my account, that'll be handy.

They were pretty crap first time round so goodness knows what they think they have to offer now. Most likely just a case of get of a few shops and flog them on..again.

Hills deal was mainly to get their feet into Ireland. turned out the shops in the south were loss makers and have long since gone but some pretty good shops in the North. over here they had plenty of dross as well. in hindsight probably a cracking deal at the time for Stanleybet.

£250,000 per shop, as I remember. Or £62,500 per FOBt, if you prefer.

no fobts in ireland though

i doubt the combined shops in the south made much more than £250k between them

Oh yeah, you're right the dealer; expect it was all bundled up together tho.

licence laws in the North mean they have a few gold mines, even without the fobts though.

Used to work for them...

Trained up at their Liverpool HQ..

Steinburg was a case though.Remember when he came into my shop and claimed his 20p parking ticket..

Bought many shares when they floated and what a purchase..

After I left built an extension on the house as it was like plucking Turkeys...

Happy Days...

Yeah, they used to change the price online but leave it in their shops until they got filled in...

worst shop fits in history, who ever thought cream and brown was a good idea

you must have made a few quid HFT, a very good purchase

Not sure that I can agree with you the dealer about the shops though..

I worked in Northern Ireland and all over the North West of England and they had some shops...

Imagine working on the Newtownards Road when 4000 slips per day was quiet (OK they did open at 7 AM) and I can remember some shops in Liverpool that were mental...

Happy Days and I never settled a bet wrongly....

i bet you didnt but remember those days were a bit before the purchase and the shops in the south of ireland didnt contribute much, so for me it was a good deal for Stanleybet when you look what they got. ive probably been in over half their estate and they had some crap but in saying that what chain doesnt. just my opinion though.

and i suppose crap can still make money

Yes you did HFT, they just didn't have the heart to pop your pride.
HFT - £18.37
Punter (thinks: it should only be a tenner)  - Cheers. You legend.

was in one of theirs in a tough bit of Manchester, they had a button at the counter that brought down a steel shutter.

Worst shop fits in history the dealer perhaps...

I remember two things about the shop fitters apart from they were the hardest group of four that ever lived..

The first time that I "met" them was when I was a relief manager in Chorlton in Manchester.In those days as you know you would finish at 6.30 pm.I went back to the flat above the shop (is it still there opposite the Bus Station) and all my stuff was chucked on the floor.They had been working somewhere overnight and had the keys to the staff "flat" and were all asleep.Those boys had to be the hardest group that I have ever met..

A couple of years later and 100 miles away I had changed jobs.I was in a Pub and my Fat Cousin (now dead) was p issed and knocked a pint over a group of workers.It was the the said four and he lived for another 15 years...

Happy Days....

Joined: 27 Jan 02 | Topic/replies: 2,232 | Blogger: unitedbiscuits's blog
Yes you did HFT, they just didn't have the heart to pop your pride.
HFT - £18.37
Punter (thinks: it should only be a tenner)  - Cheers. You legend.

What does that mean and I am sure you are gagging to tell me....

the dealer - I once had at stint in Hulme (or somewhere in Manchester) where the punter was always right...

If you over-settled the customer might not tell you. No offence.

4,000 slips day and never made a mistake?
That is optimism at its highest level or egotism beyond belief,imo.

unitedbiscuits 19 Jan 14 21:24 Joined: 27 Jan 02 | Topic/replies: 2,232 | Blogger: unitedbiscuits's blog
Yes you did HFT, they just didn't have the heart to pop your pride.
HFT - £18.37
Punter (thinks: it should only be a tenner)  - Cheers. You legend.
Rate reply

WHO IS THIS FECKIN HALF WIT....

Hang on racingstar there were three settlers in the shop and I was the worst..

That is entirely more plausible,HFT.

The bloke who ran the Stanley by me just basically opened up and waited for the cashier to show, and then spend a decent part of his day in my local. He died probably about 10 years ago now - a Scottish bloke called John who was sound.

To explain back in the Old Days your firm would send a sample week(?) of slips to an examiner to be checked..In all those years only one set of bets came back and the boss had a right pop at me until I explained they were wrong..

However I must have made many mistakes but all to the "shops" advantage...

Happy Days....

i found they checked more security wise than other companies, i think it was due to the quality of staff they had. maybe explains how you ended up there HFT

i remember speaking to a woman in one of their Liverpool shops, she had been held up 10 times. not sure many could have put up with that

Magic that may have been me but my name is not John and I am still alive..

I have had a pint with an old timer tonight that was a manager with Mecca in Glasgow..

He loves to regale me with the days when Ralph Topping was a Saturday settler in Glasgow and if you took 1000 bets (I could settle them in my sleep) you could have one.Of course Ralph always worked in his shop and he could spend the afternoon in the pub..

Happy Days...

did you know many of the Mecca managers in Scotland?

The dealer - they were red hot with security if you could not balance to within a pound there was a Stewards Inquiry....

Some fat ex-Policeman would appear at times to check your float...

loool

Just the one dealer but this fella has a wealth of knowledge and has twice been in the finals of the fabled..

"Betting Office Ar selicker Of The Year Awards"

(Jim Cremin "who ate all the pies and pasties"..)

He is retiring soon and I could make a comeback as a manager of a dozen shops..

Hypocrite or what......

i met jc once when i worked for an independant, he came to do a piece for the post, it was a new chain that was starting out at the time.

he looked like he enjoyed a good buffet

Looks like he ate Warren Buffet....

Any idea who did Stanley rugby league handicaps?  His handicaps on things like the Northern rail division and challenge cup matches were often miles out of line with everyone else.

Jim used to live in Dagenham East when he started out.
He probably is still there.

HFT. I worked for stanleys many moons ago.mostly south liverpool.When were you there and who did you work with.

This was the mob who would'nt honour the pricewise prices,John McCrirrick took it up and got them taken off the pricewise
column and thereafter all the books agreed to lay P/W for 15 mins from 10am to 10.15am

Best firm bar none to work for !!

Anyone remember Mick Rowbottam Manchester area ? Would have drunk olly reed,
besty and gazza under the table ANY AFTERNOON !!

Used to manage the course shop at haydock on racedays,
8 Cashirs,4 on payout,4-5 settlers+ Area manager.
Take min 30k midweek  60k + satdays if you balanced within a ton it was a miracle..LOL

got shops all over the place in Eastern Europe, a couple of hundred in Romania, think they just concentrate on the football.

do a lot in Eastern Europe, I worked as an odds complier for them for a while. They dont do horse racing, but do a lot of football and euro sports like Handball etc.

When I say odds complier, that meant waiting for other bookies to put the prices up and then go from there basically!!

Exclusion from UK market actually ended in 2008, in 2014 a new shop will open in Liverpool, website might take a bit longer

posters correct in europe no racing but uk shops will have

yeah was in Liverpool city centre today and the signs were up - it looked a week or 2 from opening

North John Street I think but i'm not too good on city centre road names - there are only about another 400 bookies with half a mile so it should fit in well

HFT,
There is a Stanley Shop in Coventry.
I immediately "homed in" when going for a rare touch.
I was getting £250 E/W with all the Betfreds @5/1,£300E/W with P.Powers and 9/2 with most of the others.
Stanleys offered £50 E/W at SP.
Utter ****s who should not hold a Licence,imo.

not like unitedbiscuits to appear on a thread involving hills lol sure he doesnt work for them though he would have us believe!

hey homefortea did u ever work the boucher in belfast,used to pop in there quite alot when in the area for work.that was a good shop.

what was stanleys link to the Liverpool firm called Cheshire racing?
Did Cheshire take over some of Stanley's phone accounts?

Who owns stanley bet?
same owners?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/stanleybet-coming-home-to...

Will give it a visit.
Look forward to seeing how much I can get on the afternoon BAGS.
Laddies is upto £100 (3 figures gets phoned in), baldy is upto £90 (if i bet £85 they take it no problem).
Joes is comical, £50 max no matter if its BAGS or a big meeting.
Dont bother trying at Joes any more.
No others near by.

don't bother going to david pluck round the corner - I wanted £220 @ 10/11 on a draw no bet footy game - they said I could have the bet at 8/15 despite the screens showing 10/11

I went through a really good spell when Stanley's were my local bookie, £50 single was my bet. The Manageress asked me to take my custom elsewhere one day.

She used to hate me winning and had a right face on her paying me out. She used to TUT, counting out the money It was in the days when about 3-4 worked there and I used to join her queue on purpose to piss her off and I even used to box her off.

The final straw was when I won about £700 over the weekend and went to pick it up one Sunday and she said she didn't have enough in the shop to pay me out.

HAPPY DAYS

insideinfo - not sure where you mean but I did have a spell in the Newtownards Road Shop..

Talk about settling I was supposed to be the manager but a couple of 20 year old girls could settle twice as fast as me..

I worked in Chorlton **** something in Manchester - happy days.Plus in many Manchester Shops and can remember getting £3 per day OOPS...

That would be expenses and I see that the fella that took me on John Whittaker is in charge of the bunch..

Whatever happened to Brian Wade - the last time that I saw him was at Beverley races....

Only ever visited David Pluck once.

I had a tip (kingofgothland at 20/1) so I bet small in the few races before hand just £5 wins and the staff suspicion dropped (from memory it was in bootle strand and they looked at everyone as if they where on the rob).

Anyway, the race was coming up and I hand over the slip, £300 on kingofgothland and ask for a price.
Everything was going fine until the bloke saw the price at 20's and told me he would have to ring it in first.
I said fine, it was about 5 minutes before the off.

Over the next 5 minutes they purposely left me hanging on and then asked me the most stupid questions like 'whos told you its going to win', 'why do you want to put the bet on with us', etc.
I had to leg it across the road with about a minute to go and got on with the ladbrookes.

Needless to say, it won and laddies paid up no problems although I had to get a cheque for most of it a few days later.

Will never go near a David Pluck again. I dont know how these rubbish independents stay open? Its not as if there prices are competitive.
Staff certainly not friendly.

boring

I have a good early memory of their internet service. They ran a promotion with double the odds your first bet if it was a winner. They went up 10/1 Sven to be next England manager. Max bet £25. So I opened two accounts with different debit cards and staked the maximum. Duly paid at 20/1 when the Swede was successful. Tasty bag of sand....

Homefortea,that **** whitaker sacked me,at marrion square.

Feb 15, 2014 -- 12:55AM, dukeofpuke wrote:

boring

what do you expect?
the lion, the witch and the wardrobe?
great expectations?

I popped in to the new Stanleybet shop today and I have to say it is impressive , was given a requested reasonable bet at an early price ( didn't want to over do things ) went around the corner to Pluck's in Lord St and asked for the same bet and was told I could have it at SP .... I don't know how he gets away with trading as a bookmaker ... total waste.

yeah that's the Pluck's I went in to the other day - I thought being an independent they may take a footy bet off their screens - she actually looked surprised that I wasn't interested in the bet at 8/15 rather than the 10/11 on the screen ?

do stanleybet have a website for horseracing,cheers

Any arbers in the area of the new Stanley shop at the mo should take the 4/1 Bajan Blu 5.10 Huntingdon .... will be around 11/4 shortly.

I see that the fella that took me on John Whittaker is in charge of the bunch..
wrong

Whatever happened to Brian Wade - the last time that I saw him was at Beverley races....
retired although he does still loiter on the periphery

I popped in to the new Stanleybet shop today and I have to say it is impressive
it is impressive, they've tried to make it a bit different from the other shops in town but you should go in and jusge for yourself

do stanleybet have a website for horseracing,cheers
no

HTH

Francis are you not that alleged manager that was sacked many Liverpool Championship wins ago who was found drinking strong ale on the steps of the self same shop...

As for fkqmz the poster with the magical touch (and vocabulary to match) I see that the said John Whittaker is still a Director of the Company and every press release that I have seen has mentioned his name...

John is still a director of the company but that's a bit different to actually 'being in charge of the bunch' isn't it. he's not as influencial as he was pre-05, i get the impression he'd like to retire truth be told, maybe the man in charge won;t let him who knows

John is still a director of the company but that's a bit different to actually 'being in charge of the bunch' isn't it. he's not as influencial as he was pre-05, i get the impression he'd like to retire truth be told, maybe the man in charge won;t let him who knows

Apparently another couple of shops in the pipeline in the very near future I hear.

Shop opening planned for Liscard around the first week of November and another in Southport over the coming months.