William Hill has announced plans to close around 700 licensed betting offices.
The company released a statement which said: “This follows the Government’s decision to reduce the maximum stake on B2 gaming products to £2 on 1 April 2019. Since then the company has seen a significant fall in gaming machine revenues, in line with the guidance given when the Government’s decision was announced in May 2018.”
The closures put 4,500 jobs at risk. The Group has promised to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures as much as possible and to provide support to staff throughout the process.
Shops are expected to begin closing before the end of the year.