Ladbrokes Owner Entain Repays some Furlough After Outcry

Ladbrokes owner Entain pays back some furlough after outcry
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Entain, the video gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to repay ₤ 44m of the furlough money it claimed during the pandemic, however keep ₤ 57.5 m.
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Carolyn Harris MP called it "absolutely shameful" that Entain was not repaying it all, despite soaring earnings.

The group made ₤ 393m in pre-tax profit in 2021, up 125% on the yohaig code year before.

It said the furlough scheme had assisted to secure 14,000 tasks, and a "more specific medium-term outlook" made the partial payment possible.
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Entain has around 3,000 betting shops in the UK branded Ladbrokes or Coral - which it needed to close for big parts of 2020 and 2021 because of coronavirus constraints.
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However, punters did not stop wagering, they simply moved online. Entain's online company proliferated, and assisting to push the group's earnings up 8% last year.

In reaction to a BBC News story in January, MPs contacted Entain to pay back the money it had actually gotten under the yohaig code furlough scheme, with former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith saying the needs to "immediately hand the cash back to the UK taxpayer".

Entain has actually stated formerly that the circumstance was "under evaluation". On Thursday, it revealed that it would return the ₤ 44m it declared in 2021, but keep the yohaig code ₤ 57.5 m it claimed in 2020.
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Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the yohaig code Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said; "Considered that this promotion code business made numerous millions of pounds in earnings last year straight from gamblers who lost cash, it is absolutely shameful that they have actually also drawn from taxpayers, and that they have actually not paid back the full furlough amount."

Entain said in a declaration: "The plan was a reasonable and highly bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that assisted us, as one of the nation's largest merchants, to preserve the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail associates on complete pay.
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"We have kept the scenario under evaluation because we initially made usage of the scheme and are pleased to be in a position to repay these monies."

One of Entain's rivals, William Hill, likewise needed to close its betting stores, but it returned the ₤ 24.5 m furlough it claimed in 2020, and took no more, citing the "strength of the post-lockdown healing".

Bookmakers Betfred declared at least ₤ 46.6 m from the furlough throughout the pandemic, despite making ₤ 205m earnings in their newest accounts.
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The BBC has asked Betfred for a remark in response to Entain's move.
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In January, a spokesperson for the company said: "Thanks to the federal government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have actually not needed to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to invest in our shops on the High Street."

Ladbrokes ₤ 102m furlough claim in spite of online lift