Ladbrokes Claimed ₤ 102m Furlough Despite Online Boost
Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m furlough regardless of online increase
7 January 2022
ByBen King
Business reporter, BBC News
Bookmaker Ladbrokes declared ₤ 102m from the furlough plan, regardless of fast growth in online wagering making up for all losses from the closure of shops.
Accounts released on Thursday reveal that Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 57.5 m in 2020, and the BBC comprehends it claimed a further ₤ 44m this promotion code year.
Since the pandemic started moms and dad company Entain has actually increased incomes, driven by strong online development.
Entain stated the cash protected 14,000 tasks, and is "under evaluation."
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The greatest claimers from the furlough plan were primarily those for whom Covid lockdowns indicated steep falls in earnings - airline companies, pub business, leisure groups, stores, dining establishments and caterers.
One business sticks out in the list - Ladbrokes, the UK's biggest operator of wagering shops, with 2,845 properties branded Ladbrokes or Coral.
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For though it had to close them for big parts of 2020 and 2021, it had a lifeline - online.
Its parent business, FTSE 100-listed video gaming giant Entain, has a big online betting company, and customers who couldn't wager in shops throughout the dark days of lockdown flocked to sites and apps instead.
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Last April's Grand National broke the record for the biggest online sports wagering occasion in the UK.
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this promotion code indicated that in spite of lockdowns, Entain's 2020 incomes were unchanged from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even managed to record an earnings of ₤ 114m. In the very first 9 months of 2021 revenues grew 8%.
Entain is also well put to gain from the explosive growth of online wagering in the US through its BetMGM joint venture.
₤ 102m furlough claim
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Despite a strong financial performance, Ladbrokes made a large furlough claim.
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Accounts for Ladbrokes Gaming and Betting Ltd, a subsidiary company of Entain, filed with Companies House and published on Thursday show that it declared ₤ 57.5 m of furlough in 2020.
The BBC comprehends the company declared around ₤ 44m in 2021, taking the overall to ₤ 102m.
According to BBC analysis of data published by HMRC, that would be among the 20 claims for 2021.
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A spokesperson for Entain said: "The furlough scheme was a sensible and highly bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that assisted us, as one of the country's biggest sellers, to preserve the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail colleagues on full pay.
"Whilst the virus is still with us and the outlook, although improving, is still far from specific, the Board will continue to keep the situation under review."
Entain is legally entitled to declare the cash, and there is no suggestion that it did anything wrong in making the claim or retaining the cash.
However rival bookmaker William Hill decided to return ₤ 24.5 m of furlough money in August 2020, pointing out the "strength of the post-lockdown healing."
Iain Duncan Smith MP, the vice chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said: "The greed of these business, that derive vast make money from addicted bettors, never ever ceases to astonish.
"Any business with a clear sense of morality would immediately hand this promotion code cash back to the UK taxpayer."
A number of companies in other industries opted to return furlough funds when the effect of the pandemic proved less severe than initially feared - consisting of housebuilders Redrow, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, Games Workshop, and circulation giant Bunzl.
Flutter, owner of the Paddy Power wagering stores, did not tap the furlough plan at all.
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Betfred declared a minimum of ₤ 46.6 m in furlough
Betfred, which runs 1500 wagering stores, likewise made considerable furlough claims regardless of rising earnings.
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It claimed ₤ 28.1 m in furlough the year ending 27 Sep 2020, according to company accounts.
In addition, a Betfred subsidiary company, Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd, claimed somewhere between ₤ 18.5 m and ₤ 37.5 m from Dec 2020 to May 2021, according to HMRC information (which just provides a range, not a specific figure).
The total for the group adds up to in between ₤ 46.6 m and ₤ 65.6 m, though these figures don't consist of any claims it might have made in October and November 2020.
Betfred Group saw turnover fall from ₤ 621m to ₤ 525m in the yohaig code year ending 27 September 2020, the current figures offered, as lockdowns required its shops to close.
However the group still made significant profits, up from ₤ 171m to ₤ 205m, lifted by some one-off gains including ₤ 98m arising from a successful lawsuit versus HMRC for VAT paid on fixed-odds betting terminals from 2005 to 2013.
A Betfred spokesperson said: "Thanks to the Government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have actually not needed to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to invest in our stores on the high street."
Coronavirus lockdown measures
Job Retention Scheme
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