No event in the post-war era has had as much of an impact on the humble UK betting shop than the global health crisis.
As we learned when examining the data from the 2020-21 financial year, the number of betting shops left on the UK high street following the main part of the period and its associated restrictions was 7,681.
However, this was the tip of the iceberg, as worse was to come: tracking the UK Gambling Commission data from April 2021 to March 2022, we note that by March 31 the number of UK betting shops still in operation is 6,219.
And that represents a considerable loss of 19.1% on the 2020-21 financial year.
- UK betting shops (2020/21) – 7,681
- UK betting shops (2021/22) – 6,219
- Percentage Change: -19.1%
2021/22: A Snapshot
Although the worst of the crisis had passed from April 2021 onwards, there have still been ramifications for high street bookmakers in the year that has followed to March 2022.
The vaccinations process has helped to stem the tide of infections somewhat, to the point that most restrictions had been lifted by the summer of 2021. In February 2022, all legally enforced restrictions in England were lifted for the first time in nearly two years.
The sporting landscape reconvened too, with many regular fixtures on the calendar back – either behind closed doors or with some crowds allowed. The Grand National returned in April 2021, albeit without spectators, while the delayed Premier League campaign has welcomed back fans to the stands.
All of which was good news for bookmakers… although the die has seemingly been cast for betting shop empires, as we’ll discover in more depth shortly.
The data for gross gambling yield between April 2021 and March 2022:
- Total gross gambling yield (2020-21) – £14.2 billion
- Total gross gambling yield (2021-22) – £14.1 billion
- Percentage Change – -0.7%
Due to the restrictions of April 2020 to March 2021, there’s not a great deal of value in comparing gross gambling yield for the land-based sector. However, in the 2021-22 financial year, this equated to £3.5 billion.
So, when you consider the overall picture, there is a clear disconnect between a minimal loss of GGY for the year of 0.7%, but a loss of 19.1% of the UK’s high street betting shop portfolio.
What were the key causes for one of the worst years in living memory for high street bookies?
Reasons for Betting Shop Closures (2021/22)
By the summer of 2021, the UK was just beginning to return to some sense of normality.
But restrictions on trade and in-person activities were not lifted in full until February 2022, so for the 2021-22 financial year that came too late to make a significant difference to the UK high street.
And the impact on the betting sector was stark.
Even though punters were able to visit their local betting shop, albeit while conforming to the rules and restrictions at each point of the response, many chose to stay away.
Concerns over safety in retail environments played a part in that, although perhaps the biggest difference-maker was the adoption of online betting during the period – online GGY increased by 18.4% in 2020-21.
While that had slipped by 6.2% in 2021-22, online betting yield was still up by around 12% compared to pre-2020 numbers – confirming the idea that punters had adopted bookmaker sites and apps over a visit to their local betting shop.
And to confirm the point, in 2019 – the last full year prior to the health emergency – in-person gambling, which includes retail betting, bingo and casinos, accounted for 35.1% of all wagering in the UK.
In 2020, this fell to 26%. And in 2021, the in-person betting proportion continued to fall, this time to 24.5%.
Sporting Uncertainty
In theory, the 2021-22 should have been a bumper time for sports betting.
The Grand National returned to its April timeslot, albeit behind closed doors, while key punting fixtures like the Premier League, the EFL, Wimbledon, the Open Championship, World Darts Championship and both the Flat and National Hunt horse racing seasons went ahead with spectators.
There was even the added bonus of EURO 2020 and the Olympic Games, which had both been postponed during the height of the global crisis.
But in cases where no crowds or only reduced numbers of spectators were allowed, the atmosphere often felt sterile – creating a lack of intensity. And that, in turn, led some punters to keep their metaphorical powder dry.
Confirmed Betting Shop Closures 2021-22
It was at the very tail-end of the 2020-21 financial year that Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, confirmed that 300 of their high street betting shops would be closing during the 2021 calendar year.
They had witnessed an uptick in online gambling of 50% during the crisis period, which facilitated the decision to close 300 of their loss-making or break-even shops – around 10% of their entire portfolio.
Rob Wood, the chief financial officer at Entain, said the firm was ‘hopeful’ that their customers would one day return to high street betting shops in their former numbers. And by January 2022 they had, for the most part.
William Hill permanently shuttered 119 of their betting shops amidst the first wave of restrictions. Company insiders were more bullish about the future of in-person betting in the second half of 2021… but then they sold their retail empire to 888 in September.
Betfred have avoided mass closures during the period, although a number of individual shops have been shuttered across the UK – including one long-standing property in Telford.