Whilst thousands of betting shop workers around the country have been affected by the “credit crunch” it seems your employers are doing fairly well in this turbulent financial time. Both William Hill and Ladbrokes recently released their full financial statements for the year ending 2008 and showed steady growth in profits.
Indeed William Hill net profit increased by 11%, with Over the Counter gross increasing by 3% (on a 52 week basis). Ladbrokes showed a steady 3% increase in net profit however the incorporation of the costs of Turf TV affected OTC profit. Paddy Power saw increases of 17% in gross in its London shops and promises to increase its estate in London, Scotland, North West and N. Ireland from 68 to 150 by 2011.
Across the Industry machine income has seen a major rise in profits for companies, whilst bringing with it an increased target for robberies and anti-social behaviour. Ladbrokes recorded a 13% in machine income alongside William Hill with a 15.2 % rise and Paddy Power a 28% increase. Even Gala Coral has recently stated that the “credit crunch” is not have an adverse effect on trading, a Gala Coral spokesperson recently stated in the Racing Post; “ We’re trading in line with expectations, and indeed are slightly ahead of last year”. Does your annual pay increase reflect these results or is your employer bemoaning the supposedly ‘difficult’ trading environment?
Community members across the country have been contacting us with stories of cost cutting exercises many companies are implementing adversely affecting the working conditions of betting shop workers. Indeed companies have been glorifying the increase in single staffing and longer opening hours in their financial reports. Community believes that the health and safety workers should be paramount and put before company profit. Only collectively as unionised workforces can we ensure that companies reinvest their profits back into you, the hard working staff.