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On its last full day of trading, the Ladbrokes betting shop in Morden, south-west London, stayed open until 10 at night. It was Friday 24 May 2013, the beginning of one of those spring-summer weekends for which the schedules of global sport combine to throw up a glut of events that can be gambled on. A European football final, a super-middleweight title fight, a Grand Prix, high-season horse races, a golf tournament. The manager of the Morden Ladbrokes, a 55-year-old Londoner named Andrew Iacovou, sat behind his shop’s counter with a computer, a scroll printer, a coin tray and, beside his knees, a safe – waiting to take bets.......
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/31/big-gamble-dangerous-british-betting-shops
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/31/big-gamble-dangerous-british-betting-shops
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Replies: 27
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No money in the safe -
My dad won £600 on a treble once in WHILLS and the woman in the bookies had to empty the puggies to pay him out. All in coins. Desperate stuff. |
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That was a pretty long read and disgusted reading a lot of it.
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Used to use the Shop in Morden ,was a very quite shop
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A very good article. Well done to the author for producing a thorough, well written piece about an issue that many people don't know or care about.
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Unbelievable ,Shop staff little more than security Guards, I managed for Lads years back all I can say is thank foook I got out of the game
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Funnily enough a friend e.mailed that today to me.Brilliant piece.
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more chance of a bus crashing through the window imo
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Excellent article - actually made me quite angry reading it.
Would love to see the Area Managers / HO "executives" single man a city centre shop until 10pm. Disgraceful - and sadly governments from both parties have done nothing to stop it. Used a shop in Sheffield for a number of years and there was a lovely girl who managed it - she was scared to death of locking up at night and that wasn't in a rough area. Not to worry though, if she hasn't moved her mouse for 45 minutes we can send the ambulance to collect her body... |
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I am amazed anybody still bets in a shop. 20 years from now there will be 0 high street bookmakers
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How else can you access their odds if they've restricted or closed your account?
Really good article with plenty of facts and statistics and a proper feel for the business. And possibly the first such article to avoid being sniffy or downright condemnatory of gambling. Looking forward to a follow-up in the Racing Post.  |
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Excellent and highly truthful article. Nothing will change though.
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Rancid places.
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A very thorough and well researched piece by Tom Lamont. Hopefully there will be attention drawn to it within the industry.
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God save the indies
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A very accurate and long written article.
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You end single manning with legislation. There are far too many betting shops that lie virtually empty as things stand, because the single manning makes it economic. Better to be made redundant in shop closures than to work in such horrible conditions. Close half the shops and the business can easily be switched to another shop with 2 staff, plus you'll save on all the other overheads.
Head Office in each firm knows it's wrong. To be fair to Billies they were last to implement it, and they are being forced into it by their rivals. But they could've made a stand and pressed for legislation. |
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Remember bookies when they took a percentage of your winnings. 15 percent? 10 percent? hard to remember with my old brain.
Only open now because of the gaming machines. Fifty percent of their money. Old guys make up the rest. Guys who drink guiness and whiskey and smoke woodbines(they get them from a russian dealer). Two machines per bookie - times - thirty shops in the high street? |
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they wouldn't have it in France. They'd be blockading the entrances to Rayners Lane tube, chaining theirselves to the FOBTS in Folkestone and shouting vive la double employes de magasin to anyone that would listen.
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tax was at 10% duty on turnnover 4.5% ?
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It was Cyril Stein, of all people, who maintained that if a shop couldn't run profitably with dual staffing then it shouldn't be open. That's Cyril Stein, the founder of modern Ladbrokes and a man whose name was synonymous with the hard-nosed cost-cutting.
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a horrific read.
understaffed empty shells housing FOBTs. the simple question is whether any of the board members would feel comfortable with their teenage or early twenty something daughter manning a shop in an urban centre during a weekday evening for three months. |
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A simple question with a simple answer
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You could argue the other way from Clydebank, and end single manning by repealing legislation.
There's plenty of high streets with 3 shops 100 yards apart each with 1 person in them, usually good distances from other busy night-time places like pubs. They are all offering identical products - if there is a difference, I haven't noticed one, apart from how many pages of the Racing Post are missing. If economies of scale and more liberal planning were possible then this wouldn't happen. |
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Although the murder took place first thing in the morning.
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the government of the day should open a chain of betting shops all over the country and use the states money to stand all bets.
if statistics are correct everyone(98%)will lose in the long run and the government will create thousands of jobs and have loads to spend on essential services.now before you tell me I have a loose bolt in my brain and they should not promote gambling remember it was the government that ran lotto,s for years to build hospitals so its a good way to raise taxes.  |
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moneytree wd break the country
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ttt I suppose. I remember the days when an afternoon in the Bookies was a social affair with some camaraderie and banter
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/22/betting-shops-serious-crime-robbery-metropolitan-police-flying-squad . |