Is this William Hill innovation the future of high street betting?

Reports of the demise of retail betting due to the Covid-19 pandemic appear to have been greatly exaggerated and high street bookmakers are looking to invest and innovate – the latest example being the launch of William Hill's first digital-only betting shop last weekend.

Located on Vicar Lane in the centre of Leeds, the shop will be paperless for all but betting slips. Customers will be able to use digital versions of the Racing Post on a new tablet combining an ‘e-reader’ version of the tabloid alongside sports tipping content at what William Hill call a ‘research table’. There is also a brand new version of the Racing Post digital betting shop display designed to run on a HD screen.

"That's the most visible part, the level of technology investment we've made here," said William Hill's UK retail operations director Garry Fenton. "These are shops from which we want to learn more about the future of betting in a variety of ways."