Ladbrokes declared ₤ 102m furlough regardless of online increase
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7 January 2022
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ByBen King Business reporter, BBC News

Bookmaker Ladbrokes declared ₤ 102m from the furlough plan, regardless of fast development in online betting making up for all losses from the closure of shops.

Accounts released on Thursday reveal that Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 57.5 m in 2020, and the BBC comprehends it claimed an additional ₤ 44m this year.

Since the pandemic began moms and dad business Entain has in fact increased incomes, driven by strong online growth.

Entain stated the cash protected 14,000 tasks, and is "under review."
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The greatest claimers from the furlough plan were mainly those for whom Covid lockdowns meant steep falls in earnings - airline companies, pub companies, leisure groups, stores, restaurants and caterers.

One business stands out in the list - Ladbrokes, the UK's largest operator of betting shops, with 2,845 facilities branded Ladbrokes or Coral.

For though it had to close them for large parts of 2020 and 2021, it had a lifeline - online.
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Its moms and dad business, FTSE 100-listed gaming giant Entain, has a huge online betting company, and who couldn't wager in shops during the dark days of lockdown gathered to websites and apps rather.

Last April's Grand National climaxed for the most significant online sports betting occasion in the yohaig code UK.

This suggested that regardless of lockdowns, Entain's 2020 profits were the same from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even managed to tape-record a revenue of ₤ 114m. In the first nine months of 2021 profits grew 8%.

Entain is also well positioned to take advantage of the explosive growth of online betting in the US through its BetMGM joint endeavor.

₤ 102m furlough claim

Despite a strong monetary performance, Ladbrokes made a big furlough claim.

Accounts for Ladbrokes Gaming and Betting Ltd, a subsidiary company of Entain, filed with Companies House and released on Thursday reveal that it declared ₤ 57.5 m of furlough in 2020.

The BBC comprehends the company declared around ₤ 44m in 2021, taking the total to ₤ 102m.

According to BBC analysis of information published by HMRC, that would be one of the 20 greatest furlough claims for 2021.

A representative for Entain stated: "The furlough scheme was a practical and extremely bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that helped us, as one of the nation's largest retailers, to maintain the incomes of more than 14,000 retail coworkers on full pay.
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"Whilst the virus is still with us and the outlook, although improving, is still far from particular, the Board will continue to keep the circumstance under evaluation."

Entain is legally entitled to declare the cash, and there is no recommendation that it did anything wrong in making the claim or keeping the money.

However rival bookie William Hill opted to return ₤ 24.5 m of furlough cash in August 2020, mentioning the "strength of the post-lockdown healing."

Iain Duncan Smith MP, the vice chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said: "The greed of these business, that derive vast benefit from addicted gamblers, continues to amaze.

"Any business with a clear sense of morality would instantly hand this money back to the UK taxpayer."
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A variety of business in other industries opted to return furlough funds when the impact of the pandemic showed less extreme than initially feared - consisting of housebuilders Redrow, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, Games Workshop, and distribution giant Bunzl.

Flutter, owner of the Paddy Power betting stores, did not tap the yohaig code furlough scheme at all.

Betfred claimed a minimum of ₤ 46.6 m in furlough

Betfred, which runs 1500 wagering shops, also made significant furlough claims in spite of rising revenues.

It declared ₤ 28.1 m in furlough the year ending 27 Sep 2020, according to business accounts.

In addition, a Betfred subsidiary company, Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd, declared somewhere between ₤ 18.5 m and ₤ 37.5 m from Dec 2020 to May 2021, according to HMRC data (which only offers a variety, not a particular figure).
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The overall for the group amounts to in between ₤ 46.6 m and ₤ 65.6 m, though these figures don't include any claims it might have made in October and November 2020.

Betfred Group saw turnover fall from ₤ 621m to ₤ 525m in the year ending 27 September 2020, the most recent figures readily available, as lockdowns required its stores to close.

However the group still made substantial earnings, up from ₤ 171m to ₤ 205m, raised by some one-off gains including ₤ 98m arising from a successful court case against HMRC for VAT paid on fixed-odds betting terminals from 2005 to 2013.

A Betfred spokesperson stated: "Thanks to the Government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have not needed to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to invest in our shops on the high street."

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