‘It’s like a social club’ - meet the punters who fear betting shops could go the way of the local pub

Normally, there's a friendly enough reception when I introduce myself as a Racing Post journalist, but suddenly, in this branch of Betfred in Cheltenham's Brewery Quarter, I'm getting it in the neck. "You put people off, saying it needs further!" 

The speaker is Rob Morris, a racing punter of almost 40 years' standing. I had been told that such people were no longer to be found in betting shops on quiet midweek afternoons but it turns out I was misinformed.

Rob is by no means angry, but he is animated, he certainly cares and he wants some assurance that I also care. The lads behind the counter have dipped their heads, but I can see shoulders shaking – it's fun for them that someone else is bearing the brunt for a change.

"You said it needs further, then it goes and wins! How can you say that about a horse when it absolutely romps up at 6-1?"

It's not quite clear which horse we're talking about, or which of my colleagues underestimated its raw pace, but I sympathise with Rob's ire. We've all been there. Horses make fools of us. This game would tame lions.

We don't dwell for long on that specific disaster because Rob has a range of points to make, now that he has the ear of a journalist. "Some of these trainers and jockeys should be hauled in. Why is this horse favourite and it's finished stone last?"

The stewards don't seem to have asked. It's a relief to find ourselves on the same page. In my republic, I assure Rob, stewards would always be curious about flopping favourites.

Cheltenham punter Rob Morris: "When I finish work, I come in, pass a bit of time, have a bet. If I fancy a horse, I'll back it"Credit: Edward Whitaker

John is Rob's friend, or perhaps "sparring partner" would be a better description. John urges me not to listen to Rob, whose betting has been going through a dry spell and whose nickname in the shop is supposedly Jonah.

I never learn John's nickname because he's out through the door before I can ask. You have to be suspicious of people who leave when someone else gets their notebook out.

It was his eight years in the army that turned Rob into a betting shop regular. Entertainment was in short supply when he was garrisoned at Catterick in the late 80s, but there was a little shop, where live pictures of racing offered a very new experience when he first wandered in.

"Now, when I finish work, I come in, pass a bit of time, have a bet," he says. "Just see what's running. If I fancy a horse, I'll back it."

There are five other shops within easy walking distance, but Rob prefers this one. "Because I have more fun with the lads behind the counter here. I get abused a lot more." The cashiers protest: surely, he comes in for the friendly service?

"It's clean, it's warm. The staff are wonderful" - punters enjoy a relaxed atmosphere at Coral bookmakers in CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

'They're brighter, bolder places – but people are busier'

Shop staff are grateful for characters like Rob because there would be some quiet afternoons without them. During my day wandering around the bookies of Cheltenham, it was common to find just one other customer watching the racing, while maybe a couple of others tackled the gaming machines.

It seems perverse, considering how much more welcoming shops are these days than when I first pushed through the dangling strips of plastic at a branch of Morrisons in Clermiston more than 30 years ago. It was dark, dingy and unfriendly. Often, the only thing to look at was the flickering prices on the small number of screens. Yet it was always busy.

Now, the walls of every shop are plastered with screens, some of which offer an electronic version of the Racing Post. As well as the horses, dogs and virtual action, they also show whatever alternative sports are happening at the time. Over the top of Rob's head, I could see Elena Rybakina thumping forehands past Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Free tea and coffee are often available, which was specifically illegal back when I started. Betting shops have never been more pleasant places to pass the time but, like so many other shops, they're nevertheless much quieter than in the past.

Howard Chisholm, who manages the Chisholm chain of shops in the north-east, is good at explaining the phenomenon.

"At the turn of the century, the only place you could see live horseracing during the day would have been in a betting shop,” he says. “Now you've got your mobile phone and your satellite channels, you can watch the racing anywhere. So there's less emphasis on people turning up into betting shops in the afternoons. If you go in the shops, they'll be busy in the morning with morning trade, busy at lunchtime with people on their breaks, and then there'll be a quiet period from 2pm to 4pm.

"It's not good in the afternoons. But lunchtimes and teatimes, when people are on their way home from work, they're still busy."

What about the major meetings? "They're definitely busier. You will get customers taking a week off for Cheltenham simply to watch it in the betting shop or the pub next door and they'll have a good week betting. The Grand National is quieter, if I'm honest. Online is so much busier now and people are so used to using their phones for every financial transaction."

Chisholm started working in betting shops in 1976, when they still carried the thrill of novelty, just 15 years after legalisation.

"In those days the culture was recreational, time-consuming, you had customers who would be in all afternoon. There wasn't the volume of races, so they would be chatting between races.

"Now it's far more automated, there's technology in the shops, they're brighter, bolder places. But people are so much busier, they don't have the time to spend in shops. Even retired people, a lot of them are running around after grandkids all day. It's a different world."

A punter studies the form at Coral bookmakers in CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

'I come in every day, if I can'

Numbers may be down but people, as well as Rob and John, are still spending time in betting shops. Further east on Cheltenham's High Street, a well-dressed and tastefully named gentleman, Chris, is poring over a paper copy of the Post in a branch of Paddy Power.

He is worried to read about so many betting shops being at risk of closure. "I'm not an online man so it would be disastrous for me. I'm 83, so I like the presence of a shop, where you can amble around and freewheel – whereas a machine is impersonal and I don't like it and I can't work it out very easily." 

A retired broadcaster, he likes to shuttle between Power's and a William Hill over the road. "You can be discerning about which has the best offer for a race."

But he misses the small independents, citing the Stephen Hearle shop in a smart, residential area on the town's northern edge. "They were very chummy little places, especially for the lonely punter. He could roll in there on a Saturday morning with his Lucky 15 bet, have a chat, have a coffee and feel that he was in the local pub. I think all that's over now.

"The betting shop is very similar to the local pub, and look at the number of pubs that have closed in the last few years."

Most of Cheltenham's betting shops are on the high street, while the two I can recall that closed in recent years were further out from the centre. But a branch of Coral seems to be thriving among the butchers and artisan bakers up on the Bath Road, the closest thing Cheltenham can offer to a Boho quarter.

The manager says he has six or seven racing punters who come in most days, any two of whom can sit down together and chat. On this particular day it is Roy Prout and Nick Long who occupy the seats of honour in front of the big screen.

"I come in every day, if I can," Roy says. "It's clean, it's warm. The staff are wonderful."

Retired now, he always used to drop in on his way home during his working days.

"You still get busy times, especially at weekends. If there's good racing on, it gets very busy in the morning, then people go home and watch it on television."

That wouldn't be for Roy; he likes the company. "I'd go mad if I couldn't come in here."

"It's like a social club," Nick says. "I lived out in the Cotswolds all my life, and you went to the pub. I now live in Cheltenham, so I come here, with him and one or two others. It's a meeting place."

Those who support a rise in taxes that would threaten the future of betting shops like this should meet people like Roy and Nick and consider the societal value of a place for them to gather and chat through the day, keeping each other smiling. The government surely wouldn't care to foot the bill if it became necessary to replicate all the good work done by betting shops for retired people.

Regular Coral punter Nick Long: "It's a meeting place," he says of his local betting shopCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

'If the government listens, I'd be reasonably confident'

Roy and Nick, Rob and John are not deep-pocketed guys, but they make their contribution. Along with the punters who flit in and out when they can, they add up to quite a healthy source of business, even if so many others have migrated online.

There are fewer shops these days, numbering 5,931 according to the Gambling Commission's latest count. That's down 23 per cent on the period immediately before the first Covid lockdown. Back in March 2014, there were more than 9,000.

Still, those that remain represent quite a viable business and do not deserve to be spoken of dismissively by those who never spend time in them. There have been reports this summer of Bar One Racing seeking to buy a three-figure number of shops from rivals in Ireland. BoyleSports reportedly have an aggressive three-year plan that also includes the acquisition of a large number of shops, including in the UK.

As recently as last year, Jenningsbet were also in expansionist mood, buying up 40 shops across the Midlands and South Yorkshire from the Leicester-based firm Mark Jarvis, taking their estate to a total of 186 shops. "There was a feeling of confidence that we could grow," says Greg Knight, owner and chief executive of Jenningsbet. But, because of the risk of an increase in taxes on bookmakers, he now feels "far less confident".

"There was a lot of pressure over the last 12 months anyway but, obviously, depending on what comes out of the budget, that will determine where we go from here on in.

"If the government listens to what the land-based betting sector is saying, then I would be reasonably confident of the future. Any tax increases, at any level, would result in shop closures. The more severe the tax rises, if they come, the more shops will close."

• Leading independent bookmaker warns 'there will be nothing left to tax' if gambling duties are hiked in autumn budget 

It has become a familiar point. All the major firms have warned of the likelihood of shop closures if taxes on bookmakers are raised, with Fred Done going so far as to say that all 1,272 Betfred shops are at risk.

It means that racing's income remains under serious threat, despite reports that the government intends to spare the sport from gambling duty increases. If, as is anticipated, duty on gaming machines is increased, that will affect the viability of betting shops, since machines are now reckoned to account for half of gross gambling yield in shops.

"An increase [in machine duty] would certainly accelerate the closure of betting shops," says Chisholm. "You couldn't see all the major chains continuing to trade all their tail shops. They'll take a decision on which shops to close and we would do the same."

So-called 'tail' shops are the less successful ones. Done has said he continues to operate 300 shops which are losing money. He estimates that a five per cent increase in machine games duty would leave him with 430 loss-making shops.

• Fred Done warns all Betfred shops may close with 7,500 jobs at risk if gambling taxes hiked 

If those shops and others in a similar position with other firms were to be closed, racing would suffer a direct loss of income. Media rights payments are made for each shop, in respect of the racing pictures shown there every day, and each shop also generates levy payments insofar as it contributes to the firm's profit from racing bets.

Bookmakers make a broad-axe calculation of how much the average shop generates for racing each year. It starts with the widely quoted figure of £350 million which betting pays racing. A recent blog from analysts Regulus Partners asserts that betting shops are responsible for roughly 40 per cent of racing’s betting-related revenue. Forty per cent of £350 million is £140 million. Dividing that by 5,931 shops gives a figure of more than £23,000 produced annually for racing by the average shop.

On that basis, closing Done's 300 losing shops could cost racing £6.9 million per year. It ought to be less in reality, since those shops by definition are making less money than the average. But the point is made. Betting shop closures are expensive for racing, while also removing its literal shop windows in towns and cities.

'Any hit on the high street is going to close betting shops'

"There is nowhere, other than a betting shop, that connects racing to the ordinary working man on the street," Knight says. "And that connection is still strong.

"We still maintain that horseracing is the primary interest of our customers and you'll find that that's far more the case than it is online.

"It's a symbiotic relationship, one needs the other. So that's why it's particularly disappointing to hear major people in racing almost writing off betting shops as something in the past, because they're certainly not. They still make a huge contribution to racing.

"We act as a community hub. On any given afternoon you'll find people in there discussing racing, trainers, jockeys. But we couldn't survive on horseracing alone. If the other products are made unprofitable, it'll be horseracing that suffers.

"You can't raise gambling taxes and horseracing walks away unscathed. Not a chance."

Those comments find an echo at Betfred, where Mark Pearson, head of corporate affairs, says: "There'll be plenty of people this afternoon sat in our shops, from Penzance to Aberdeen, watching the racing with their mates.  

"In shops, racing is still king. You'll have wall-to-wall coverage, race previews, and we absolutely hammered our sponsorship of the Classics this year. We're all over the big festivals – this year we've had live shows from York, Doncaster, Cheltenham, Ascot. But betting shops on the high street are in a very, very fragile situation, because of costs including media rights and the levy. 

"Any hit on the high street is going to close betting shops. And once they're closed, they're not coming back."

Read these next:

Why Britain risks repeating a Dutch disaster by raising gambling taxes 

British racing unites as 363 sign open letter urging chancellor to abandon betting tax hike 

Racing faces ‘stealth tax’ if chancellor hits betting shops in budget, bookmakers warn 

Why William Hill could close up to 200 betting shops - and how fear of gambling tax rises is a driving factor

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