Betting company William Hill to close 700 stores resulting in 4,500 lost jobs.

The decision comes as a result of UK Government’s verdict to cap maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) at £2.

The company issued a statement saying, “The group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process." 

FOBTs are electronic gaming machines giving players a platform to bet on a number of simulated games and events including blackjack, roulette and horse racing among others. A considerable number of William Hill stores have been dependent on FOBT machines for over 50 percent of their revenue.

William Hill currently owns close to 2,300 stores with global employee strength of 15,500. With a significant fall in gaming machine revenues since the verdict, the company plans to begin the store closures soon laying-off nearly one-third of their workforce.

"The government also has a role to play and must look at what support they can offer to workers whose jobs are threatened," said Tom Blenkinsop, Operations Director at Betting Shop Workers Union Community. Sharing how the decision is "devastating news for thousands of betting shop workers", he suggested for William Hill to reach out to the union at the earliest to provide the required support to the staff.

While this news serves as a shock to many, there is a part of the population that finds relief with this change. FOBTs are one of the most addictive forms of gambling and that’s why campaigners consider limiting the maximum bet to from £100 down to £2 a major victory. Urging for such a change to protect youngsters from problem-gambling or turning into gambling addicts and discouraging other gamblers from incurring heavy monetary losses, the campaigners against FOBTs welcome this victory. 

With Ladbrokers and Betfred among other organizations that will need to follow suit, the overall job cut will impact nearly 12 percent employees in the UK gambling industry. While the Government has taken a decision to curb the addiction to gambling, the resulting unemployment will need to be attended to next.