THE chief executive of Ladbrokes Coral Group has said the company “will not be going down without a fight” over plans to curb the use of fixed odds betting terminals, known as FOBTs, in shops.
The electronic machines, which replicate casino games, have been cited as a cause of problem gambling, but speaking yesterday at a Glasgow Talks event hosted by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Jim Mullen vigorously defended their place in the betting industry.
He also said that FOBTs, which account for more than half the group’s retail revenue, helped support jobs.
A triennial review on whether modifications should be made to the stakes and prizes on the machines is currently underway but the snap General Election has pushed back any announcement until at least the autumn.
Currently, gamblers can bet £100 every 20 seconds on the machines. Campaigners want this cut this to £2.
The total gross gambling yield from gaming machines in all betting shops for the year to March 2016 was £1.7bn.
Mr Mullen said: “All I will say to any policy maker, we will not be going down without a fight. There are 20,000 jobs in the sector at risk and as chief executive I’m not having it.
“So whoever wants to have that debate better have the facts, because I have the facts and there is no evidence to suggest stakes and prizes in FOBTs impact problem behaviour, therefore they shouldn’t be taking them out the shops, and therefore the shops shouldn’t be closing, so whoever has that conservation with me better be prepared.”
While Mr Mullen acknowledged that 0.4 per cent of the UK population, equating to 180,200 adults aged 16 years and over, had a gambling problem, he said that the number hadn’t changed in 17 years – long before FOBTs were introduced. He added that FOBT were ranked “in the middle” of areas of betting that contributed to problem gambling, and questioned reports that suggested otherwise. “It is being used by certain groups for self-serving needs,” he said.
The role of the betting industry in advertising is also being reviewed and Mr Mullen said: “I’m sympathetic to the view of whether or not there is too much advertising on TV.”
There have also been calls for betting firms to be restricted in sponsorship, but Mr Mullen said the company was passionate about sport and wanted to continue to be involved in it, “and we will do that while those sporting institutions want us to be there, and if they don’t, then that’s fine, we’ll spend our money elsewhere,” he said.
Since completing the £2.3 billion merger with Gala Coral, Mr Mullen’s focus has been on integration, which he said was on track, with synergies upgraded to £100m.
“The main concern, the shareholders said was will the integration take away from the momentum of the business,” said Mr Mullen. “[I was] delighted to show in the full year the momentum was continuing.”
But following a seven per cent drop in bets made in shops between January 1 and April 23, Mr Mullen said: “Its went down seven but given where we started the year before, we’re dealing with some very positive metrics,” he said, highlighting the lift provided the previous year by the roll-out of self-service betting terminals.
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