Ladbrokes Owner Entain Repays some Furlough After Outcry

Ladbrokes owner Entain pays back some furlough after outcry

Entain, the gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to pay back ₤ 44m of the yohaig code furlough money it claimed during the pandemic, however keep ₤ 57.5 m.
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Carolyn Harris MP called it "absolutely outrageous" that Entain was not repaying everything, regardless of skyrocketing revenues.

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

It said the furlough scheme had assisted to 14,000 tasks, and a "more certain 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 had 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 business proliferated, and helping to press the group's earnings up 8% last year.
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In action to a BBC Newspaper article in January, MPs contacted Entain to pay back the money it had gotten under the furlough plan, with previous Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith saying the business ought to "immediately hand the cash back to the UK taxpayer".

Entain has stated previously that the yohaig code circumstance was "under evaluation". On Thursday, it revealed that it would return the ₤ 44m it claimed in 2021, however keep the ₤ 57.5 m it claimed in 2020.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, stated; "Considered that this promotion code company made numerous countless pounds in revenue in 2015 straight from bettors who lost money, it is absolutely outrageous that they have likewise taken from taxpayers, which they have actually not repaid the complete furlough quantity."
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Entain said in a declaration: "The plan was a practical and highly bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that assisted us, as one of the country's largest retailers, to preserve the incomes of more than 14,000 retail associates on full pay.

"We have actually kept the situation under evaluation since we initially utilized the scheme and are delighted to be in a position to repay these cash."
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Among Entain's competitors, William Hill, also had to close its betting shops, but it returned the ₤ 24.5 m furlough it claimed in 2020, and took no more, pointing out the "strength of the post-lockdown healing".
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Bookmakers Betfred claimed a minimum of ₤ 46.6 m from the furlough throughout the pandemic, in spite of making ₤ 205m profit in their newest accounts.

The BBC has asked Betfred for a comment in action to Entain's relocation.
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In January, a spokesperson for the company said: "Thanks to the government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have actually not had to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to purchase our shops on the High Street."

Ladbrokes ₤ 102m furlough claim regardless of online lift