Two years on from Covid-19, confidence is returning to the betting shop sector

A string of household names have been lost to the high street since Covid-19 first struck in March 2020 and many also thought the pandemic would hasten the demise of betting shops.

Operators had to deal with the pain of the government's triennial review and the reduction of gaming machine stakes to £2 the previous year, while there was already a shift to online betting from retail.

However, two years on from the first lockdown, there are signs business is close to pre-pandemic levels and confidence is returning to the sector.