Fred Done warns Betfred may have to close up to 500 betting shops

Betfred founder Fred Done revealed on Thursday the bookmaker may have to close 400 to 500 betting shops as a result of the fast-approaching imposition of a £2 stake on FOBTs.

The government's decision to reduce the maximum stakes on the controversial machines from £100 is set to make thousands of betting shops unprofitable, according to high street firms.

William Hill and GVC Holdings – the parent company of Ladbrokes Coral – have reiterated in recent days that they expect to close 900 and 1,000 betting shops respectively as a result of the government crackdown, which comes into force on April 1.

Done remains upbeat about Betfred's business, however.

"I have seen Ladbrokes' figures and I've seen Hills' figures over the past week and we are trading better than both of them," he told the Racing Post.

"We are still okay in every way – margins over the last few weeks have been a bit thin because football's been bad for us but I'm not complaining at all."

Betfred are the third biggest high street operator behind GVC and William Hill with around 1,630 shops.

"Obviously we are in the same boat as Ladbrokes Coral and Hills where they are predicting 1,000 shops closing and 900 shops closing," Done said. "We've got a figure between 400 and 500 shops closing over the next couple of years.

"There was all the hullabaloo when Honda decided to close their factory down in Swindon with 3,000 people out of work. Well, we are talking about 2,500 betting shops and we are talking about more than 3,000 people, but nobody cares about the betting shops, the high street or the people being thrown out of work. But we're up for the fight and that's what we have got to do."

The impending closure of betting shops has been at the centre of the recent controversy which has led to owners, trainers and jockeys boycotting meetings at courses owned by Arena Racing Company.

With media rights payments from bookmakers to racecourses set to fall as betting shop numbers reduce, Arc reduced its contribution to prize-money, sparking the protest which has led to greatly reduced field sizes at some recent meetings.

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