The demise of the high street betting office Last week the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, made some disparaging remarks about betting shops on the high streets when he tweeted: "Vape shops. Betting shops. Dodgy businesses. If you look at your high street these days and think 'who asked for this?', you're not alone. I'm doing something about it. We're giving local people and councils more control over what opens, and tougher powers to crack down on businesses that aren't good for our communities. For too long, Westminster has stood by while our high streets declined. That ends now." Linking betting shops to dodgy businesses is both unfair and inaccurate. All high street betting offices, both in the UK and Ireland, are fully licensed and tax-paying legitimate businesses. Furthermore, the "high street decline" he mentions has coincided with the closure of a huge number of betting offices. There are fewer betting offices on the UK high streets now than at any time in the recent past. A Sharp Decline on Both Sides of the Irish Sea The numbers of betting shops on UK high streets have been in sharp decline for years - down from around 16,000 at their peak to a little over 5,000 today. This situation is all too familiar for us in Ireland as well, where half of all the betting offices have closed in less than 20 years. There were almost 1,400 licensed betting offices in Ireland in 2008. That number had dipped below 700 last year and is continuing to fall. Many different reasons are cited by the Irish Bookmakers Association for the closures, including: Spiralling wages and operating costs The doubling of the betting duty in 2019 New regulations But the primary issue is the transition of betting activity to online. At the turn of the century, retail betting shops accounted for the bulk of the annual betting turnover in Ireland. Now close to 85% of all turnover comes from online betting. Article highlights: UK betting shop numbers have fallen from 16,000 at their peak to just over 5,000 today. Ireland has lost half its betting offices in under 20 years, from almost 1,400 in 2008 to fewer than 700 now. Around 85% of Irish betting turnover now comes from online betting, up sharply from the start of the century. The high street is being reshaped by vape shops, phone shops and fast-food outlets rather than traditional bookies. The High Street's New Tenants Betting shops are not the only businesses feeling the pinch on the high street. Banks and clothing retailers are two other sectors disappearing rapidly from our towns and cities due to changing consumer habits. The vape shops Burnham mentions, along with second-hand clothes stores, phone shops, nail bars and fast food outlets, are now popping up across the country to replace the more traditional shops in Irish towns and cities. There are now over 3,300 retailers selling vapes in Ireland. Over 5,100 shops sell lottery tickets and scratch cards. But fewer than 650 places are left where you can have a physical fiver bet on a horse race. From Smoke-Filled Dives to Sterile Screens Young people in particular have learned a different way to bet, and I'd imagine there are many regular punters these days that have never set foot inside a bookies - particularly women, who rarely frequented them even in their heyday. I suppose even older punters like myself have also deserted the betting shops in favour of the ease of online betting. I couldn't tell you the last time I was in a bookies, but I have fond memories of frequenting them in my younger days. Back then they were dingy, smoke-filled dives, but they were also places full of characters and craic. Many betting shops had their own sense of community, where everyone shared a goal - to win a few quid off the bookie - and even the board-markers and counter staff were normally on your side. In more recent times the betting shops have become both modern and sterile, with as many virtual betting options as real events. The board-markers are long gone, and the remaining staff are often positioned behind protective glass screens. With that, the shops have lost much of their character. What Comes Next? All of this change on the high street is happening before we have even experienced the full impact of AI. Who knows what our main streets will look like in another five or ten years? Perhaps a time will arrive when bricks-and-mortar betting offices are no longer financially viable. Country pubs are fast approaching that point. Even my own local pub is set to shut its doors for the final time at the end of October. It now appears the local bookies may soon join the rural pub on the endangered species list. Many of my own vintage will lament their passing, but Burnham and the rest will simply see it as progress.
