Was this expected?

[RED-DOG]

William Hill to close 700 shops.

Did these shops exist before FOBT's or were they just opened on the back of them?



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48868335

[Cf]

Lots of stores were opened for FOBTs. There are instances of two of the same store literally next door to each other which was purely for getting an extra 4 FOBTs in.

[tikay]

William Hill to close 700 shops.

Did these shops exist before FOBT's or were they just opened on the back of them?



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48868335

Bit of both really Tom.

The loss of the FOBT's is a huge factor, but it's also part of the move from High St to Online which is affecting so many retailers. The Sports Betting model has been migrating from High St to Online for some 10 or 15 years now but has accelerated of late. So the FOBT's offset some of that loss, & once they were curtailed the closures were inevitable.  More - many more - will close in the next few years. Running a High St Betting shop without the crutch of FOBT's is inefficient in the extreme, when you match up the costs v an online operation.

Worth noting, too, is that Online Sports Betting sites have the equivalent of FOBT's (Slots) but there is, as far as I know, no limits to bet sizes, though that's offset to a degree by compliance & regulation being a much bigger factor.

[RED-DOG]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

[Karabiner]

I don't think it'll be too long before they put the block on advertising to some degree either.

[arbboy]

If it wasn't for FOBT's betting shops as we know them would have disappeared totally years ago.

[arbboy]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

[RED-DOG]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

Hmm. I wonder if there is some legislation requiring them to be there?

Do motorways still have emergency phones every few hundred yards?

[tikay]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

Hmm. I wonder if there is some legislation requiring them to be there?
 

The numbers of phone boxes is actually increasing in some areas, particularly London, but these days they are more than phone boxes in the sense we used to know them;


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/telephone-phone-boxes-surveillance-british-culture-public-space-london-long-reads-westminster-a8569096.html

[tikay]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

Hmm. I wonder if there is some legislation requiring them to be there?

Do motorways still have emergency phones every few hundred yards?

Yes.

Don't think they were ever every few hundred yards - they are, & always were iirc, 1 mile apart.

[RED-DOG]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

Hmm. I wonder if there is some legislation requiring them to be there?

Do motorways still have emergency phones every few hundred yards?

Yes.

Don't think they were ever every few hundred yards - they are, & always were iirc, 1 mile apart.

So you can never be more than half a mile or as some would say, a few hundred yards away from one. 

There are little marker stakes to tell you which way to the closest one.

[tikay]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

Hmm. I wonder if there is some legislation requiring them to be there?

Do motorways still have emergency phones every few hundred yards?

Yes.

Don't think they were ever every few hundred yards - they are, & always were iirc, 1 mile apart.

So you can never be more than half a mile or as some would say, a few hundred yards away from one.  

There are little marker stakes to tell you which way to the closest one.

They are a mile apart, not " every few hundred yards".

Now behave.

[vegaslover]

The end of another era then.

Once the betting shop and it's eclectic clientèle were a feature of every high street but soon it will be gone.

I find it exciting to have lived thorough a time when something was commonplace to where it is confined to memory.

Phone boxes for example. I wonder how many people on here have never used a phone box?

Phone boxes in 2019 are strange how they still exist.   Every time i past through a train station and see pay phones no one is ever using them.  Literally never for obvious reasons.  Why are they still there?  Is it more expensive to take them away then to just keep them there doing nothing?

The ones in my area get used as local free book exchanges.

[SuperJez]

There isn't a violin in the world small enough

[RED-DOG]

There isn't a violin in the world small enough

What for?