Ladbrokes set to close more shops

ator Ladbrokes is expected to announce the closure of 60 UK shops in a trading update on Thursday.

The plans will take the number of closures Ladbrokes has made in the country in the last year to 170, taking its estate down to 2,150 shops.

It will be the third time since the start of last year that Ladbrokes will have announced a series of closures in the UK, as it revealed in February 2014 that 50 shops were to shut, before confirming in October that 60 more outlets would cease operating.

The reduction in the number of its shops – which followed the addition of 200 stores in the previous two years – follows similar action taken by other UK operators.

William Hill revealed last April that more than 100 of its shops were to close, while Gala Coral reported the closure of 24 shops last year, despite opening 66.

Regulatory changes have been cited as one of the reasons for bookmaker shop closures in the UK, such as an increase in machine gaming duty from 20% to 25%, which will come into effect on 1 March, resulting in operators deciding to pull business from areas with low profitability.