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23 Nov 15
19:03
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Date Joined:
29 Jun 05
Will go through, the institutional investors' want it !
4024 shops, HOW MANY WILL CLOSE ! ?...
4024 shops, HOW MANY WILL CLOSE ! ?...
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Replies: 39
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doubt many will close, wouldnt be the biggest surprise to see a lot of the surplus go to Paddys
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Andy Stewart very scathing on the deal and the miss management on ATR at the moment
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In Mr Desmond's letter to shareholders he forecasts that Ladbrokes will need to dispose of a significant number of shops, and that's before what Coral need to dispose of. Those would be bought up, at a discount price, by strong competitors, Hills, Fred and Paddy
He sums up by saying - This is not a good deal for Ladbrokes! |
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Stewart spoke highly of Desmond, in fact said he was the best around, not so the guy who brokered the deal
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the letter I got off Dermot said " will require lads to dispose of a significant number of shops estimated at between 400 and 1,000 to an already strong competition such as hills, betfred and paddy power"
in my opinion as a shareholder it is a shocking decision looking at the figures. |
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You'd think that a billionaire would find better
things to do with his life. |
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Sailed through Desmond not happy.
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from what i have read, the fact that it sailed through isnt a surprise, if this doesnt turn into a disaster for Ladbrokes long term, i will be very surprised.
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According to Desmond, Had it not been for a £90m increase in contribution from FOBT's, profits would have nearly been wiped out entirely.
http://www.stopthefobts.org/ |
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Desmond cares more about his Ladbrokes shares than his beloved Celtic
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After the way Ladbrokes' other shareholders bailed out his betting exchange he bloody well ought to care about them.
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The combined debt of the two companies is massive.
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http://news.sky.com/story/1593569/ladbrokes-overcomes-investor-hurdle-to-merger
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the last i heard they were going to run as two seperate companies but i dont see that working and if they do try and merge into one company, i can only see that being a very painful one for everyone involved.
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Ladbrokes have been in terminal decline for quite a few years, website is rubbish as are their shops.
Hard to believe that what was once the quality name in bookmaking will be no longer in say 3 years. There will be threads about bookmakers from the past and they will feature up there like Mecca,Surrey Racing, Stanley Racing to name a few. Cyril Stein must be turning in his grave. |
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Wandered into a sads today. Tingle Creek betting on their monitor had left out Un De Sceaux!!!!!!! So Sprinter was the 5-2 favourite cos no sign of the 8-11 shot!!!
These are the type of fools being employed in this industry today. Nobody in "head office" saw this no????????????????? |
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mrcombustible
Date Joined: 18 Feb 02 Add contact | Send message 24 Nov 15 18:25 Ladbrokes have been in terminal decline for quite a few years, website is rubbish as are their shops. Have you tried Corals site? It seriously has to be the worst ever, redirects and screens show up and disappear then redirects again, if you are in a really lucky position it possibly will let you add a bet to the betslip - chances are it won't though. A shocking site whose designers should have got the push along with whoever gave them the green light. |
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I think both the C*rals & the L*dbrokes websites are both rubbish, perhaps they were designed for use on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
I can only presume they aren't really bothered, as they don't really want internet betting on horses. Rather you use the casinos & slots. |
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Magic agree about Corals website, they deserve one another
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Huge job losses potentially and if what Dessie says is true most Laddies management will be going. The world is a changing.
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Lads site down...... Login unavailable!
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In August, Ladbrokes reported a £51.4m loss for the first half of 2015 after dozens of shop closures in the UK and Ireland. It said earnings were hit by a "need to reset the business and invest".
Chief executive Jim Mullen admitted that "short-term thinking had come to dominate Ladbrokes' actions" Yep not taking a bet is rather short term thinking in a gambling business imo  |
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As much as anyone do not want to see job losses in any industry, the betting industry has brought it all on themselves. The FOBTS came in and it was the golden goose, so the best thing to do was to change their business plan and restrict all betting business and get rid or push out any good staff.
They are left with accountants in a "trading office" who will not have an opinion or not allowed to, and shop staff who wouldn't know how to work out a tenner on 11/10. Cannot really blame them for taking jobs that were available to them though. Account restrictions are getting more pathetic by the week and they then wonder why they are losing money... As the restrictions are now more in the mainstream, who in their right mind would get involved in betting on horse racing, knowing if they show they have any clue they cannot place a bet of any sort in the future? Sad to say but the industry really is getting what it deserves imo, due to the complete incompetency of the people they have put in charge, due to their short term outlook. But the really sad thing is the ones who have ruined it will still have their huge pensions and walk into another job whereas the ones nearer the bottom are screwed. |
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Absolute perfect summary m/d
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Magic__Daps, good afternoon. Excellent post !
Part of the problem for both L & C is a combined debt of over £4 billion. Neither has been a progressive business for the last five years plus ! The business model has been to cut costs to the bone and, rely on a vastly diminishing FOBT income ! |
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Another suicidal business decision was not to see the ''potential'' growth of internet betting by both companies !
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Both business's have had senior management's of incompetent dullards !
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Yep gr8 post Magic bang on the money.
Pillocks @ the head of the business that dont understand the business |
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Re: Ronnie Rails ( Corals)...
Area Manager more interested in how many scratch cards shop has sold, as opposed to growing either Horse Racing or Sports betting ! |
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Ladbrokes shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a £2.3 billion merger with rival Gala Coral, despite opposition from one high-profile investor.
At a general meeting in London to vote on the tie-up, the holders of 96.36% of Ladbrokes stock backed the deal - which was first revealed in the summer. The vote followed a further attack on both the board and management by billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond, who described the company's performance over the past five years as "abysmal", according to a tweet from the Racing Post. The tycoon, who owns the majority of Celtic Football Club, told the paper he would continue his attempts to block the merger despite the result of the shareholder vote. A deal would create the UK's largest gambling firm with 4,000 shops, though it could be forced to sell some to allay any competition concerns. Irish businessman Dermot Desmond studies the 14th green during the first round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament Dermot Desmond fears regulators will demand hundreds of shops are closed They would also continue to trade under their own brands. The result of the vote suggests Mr Desmond, who was said by a spokesman to own a "substantial" holding, owns less than 4% of Ladbrokes stock - given the result of the vote. He had written to shareholders in advance, urging them to reject the merger and seek a new management team to lead a shift to on line. He said then: "Giving away half your company and taking on over £800m of debt is a very expensive way to recruit a quality management team. "The real winners in this transaction are the Coral shareholders." In August, Ladbrokes reported a £51.4 million loss for the first half of 2015 after dozens of shop closures in the UK and Ireland. It said earnings were hit by a "need to reset the business and invest". Chief executive Jim Mullen admitted that "short-term thinking had come to dominate Ladbrokes' actions" but insisted new targets over the next couple of years would help it improve. |
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He said then: "Giving away half your company and taking on over £800m of debt is a very expensive way to recruit a quality management team.
Where are they getting this so called quality management from? |
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Chief executive Jim Mullen admitted that "short-term thinking had come to dominate Ladbrokes' actions"
............ you can say that again Jim |
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A deal would create the UK's largest gambling firm with 4,000 shops, though it could be forced to sell some to allay any competition concerns.
in this internet age the amount of shops any one firm has shouldn't really be seen as any sort of monopoly - they should look at total betting turnover shops and online |
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Amazing that two leading firms come to this because neither could get their web site right.
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expensive way to recruit a quality management team
ANDY HORNBY |
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Sell 10 scratch cards per day or your on a disciplinary , the profits from the cards go to a children's cancer charity , really does anyone believe this guff
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^ I believe it's a bit like the Countryfile calender, i.e. £4 of the £9.50 cost goes to Children In Need !
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But Corals are having a fair ''whack!''
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wickerman
there is a very small amount that goes to charity but obviously we aren't allowed to tell the customer that. our shop target for cards is 50 per week, there are 4 of us in the shop and each persons target is 15 work that one out, I guess Korals employed an ex government statistician. Not long ago our area manager sent out an email saying anyone not meeting their target was eligible for a course in sales, I ask you  what they should be doing is training their staff to work out bets without an epos or a OTT machine. we are desperate for staff and had a meeting recently with the AM and we told take anyone on it doesn't matter if they have experience in sport or betting as long as they have proven sales experience, as I posted not long ago we had 2 high flyers in the sales environment employed as managers, both left within 3 months of starting. I am hoping with the merger things will change but I hope that I win the lottery every day and I'm still waiting  |