Ladbrokes Owner Entain Repays Some Furlough After Outcry
Ladbrokes owner Entain repays some furlough after protest
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Entain, the video gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to pay back ₤ 44m of the furlough cash it claimed throughout the pandemic, however keep ₤ 57.5 m.
Carolyn Harris MP called it "absolutely disgraceful" that Entain was not repaying everything, in spite of soaring profits.
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The group made ₤ 393m in in 2021, up 125% on the year before.
It stated the furlough scheme had actually helped to secure 14,000 jobs, and a "more particular medium-term outlook" made the partial repayment possible.
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Entain has around 3,000 betting shops in the yohaig code UK branded Ladbrokes or Coral - which it needed to close for big parts of 2020 and 2021 because of coronavirus restrictions.
However, punters did not stop wagering, they just moved online. Entain's online business grew rapidly, and helping to press the group's incomes up 8% in 2015.
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In response to a BBC News story in January, MPs contacted Entain to pay back the cash it had gotten under the furlough scheme, with previous Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith stating the company must "right away hand the cash back to the UK taxpayer".
Entain has actually said formerly that the circumstance was "under review". On Thursday, it announced that it would return the ₤ 44m it claimed in 2021, but keep the ₤ 57.5 m it declared in 2020.
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Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, stated; "Considered that this promotion code business made numerous millions of pounds in profit in 2015 straight from bettors who lost money, it is absolutely disgraceful that they have actually likewise drawn from taxpayers, and that they have not repaid the full furlough amount."
Entain stated in a declaration: "The plan was a practical and extremely bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that assisted us, as one of the country's largest retailers, to preserve the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail coworkers on complete pay.
"We have actually kept the circumstance under review given that we initially made usage of the plan and are happy to be in a position to repay these cash."
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Among Entain's competitors, William Hill, also had to close its betting shops, but it returned the ₤ 24.5 m furlough it declared in 2020, and took no more, mentioning the "strength of the post-lockdown healing".
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Bookmakers Betfred declared at least ₤ 46.6 m from the furlough during the pandemic, regardless of making ₤ 205m profit in their most current accounts.
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The BBC has actually asked Betfred for a remark in response to Entain's relocation.
In January, a spokesperson for the company stated: "Thanks to the federal government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have not had to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to invest in our shops on the High Street."
Ladbrokes ₤ 102m furlough claim regardless of online lift