William Hill to cease operations in Israel

UK-based sportsbook operator William Hill is to close its online operations in Israel, at a cost of more than 200 jobs.

The company have revealed to leaprate.com that 200 of its 250 Israel based employees would be made redundant and that the company’s offices at the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv will be vacated.

A small number of the group’s key employees in Israel will be offered the chance to relocate to the company’s head office in the UK or elsewhere in Europe.

Sources at the company have confirmed that it has begun to meet with its Tel Aviv-based employees to explain the company’s decision further.

William Hill began its Israeli operations in 2008 in a joint online venture with Playtech PLC, who jointly operated a number of assets and technology platforms in Israel before the bookmaker bought them out in 2013 at a cost of £424m.

Since then Israel has become an increasingly expensive place in which to operate with a strong Shekel, low unemployment levels and rising real estate prices making it a less attractive for technology companies with many choosing to outsource their business to lower cost locations elsewhere.