It’s a fashionable and long-held https://casinopokies777.com/casino-888/ belief that the UK’s high street betting shops prey on the bad. Bookmakers spring up in deprived areas, says received wisdom, so as to exploit those currently experiencing economic hardship.

Leading bookmaking businesses such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power have always strongly denied this, and a report that is new to keep them out, suggesting that the ‘poverty exploitation’ theory is a misconception.

The independent report, that has been conducted by data analyst the Local Data Company at the behest of the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), concludes the united kingdom’s poorest areas actually have a much lower concentration of gambling stores than more affluent areas. The study found that areas identified as having high quantities of deprivation host 17 percent associated with the country’s high road bookmakers, while 35 percent of shops are found those certain areas identified as the wealthiest. Meanwhile, 62 percent of all of the UK betting shops are found in areas with lower-than-average poverty levels.

No Economic Incentive

The report also found that new shops, in place of appearing in poor areas, have actually actually been concentrated into the areas that are least-deprived because, simply put, prosperous places are far more profitable because customers have actually more cash. There is certainly no incentive that is economic consequently, to target the vulnerable.

‘There is nothing in the information to suggest that bookmakers deliberately target poor and vulnerable people,’ stated Local Data Company director Matthew Hopkinson. ‘Our analysis shows shop that is new are mainly in towns with low and normal deprivation scores not in the poorest areas.’

ABB chief executive Dirk Vennix said he hoped the findings would ‘dispel some damaging myths propagated by those wanting to demonize and toxify our industry.’

‘We really are a responsible and industry that is regulated a mainstream leisure product enjoyed by over 8 million people per year,’ stated Vennix. ‘We choose where you can locate our shops in exactly the same way as any other retailer would using commercial facets such as consumer demand, footfall, and presence that is competitive. It makes no sense whatsoever for us to target poor communities or vulnerable people.’

Called ‘Blight’ By Some

Bookmakers have actually been under fire recently for perceived expansion that is aggressive great britain and for the prevalence of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in their shops. At the beginning of last year, federal government retail guru Mary Portas called for measures become taken against the proliferation of betting stores in her review of high-street stores, incorporating that they certainly were ‘blighting our high roads’.

However, the report found that, to the contrary, wagering shops were expanding at a slower price than other businesses. 2013 saw an increase of 1.3 per cent in betting stores, while the wide range of pawnbrokers, coffee shops and convenience stores grew at a rate of 3 percent over that same period.

The publication of the report comes just in front of a government study into FOBTs, due out this week, which seeks to review policy on the machines. Parliament is trying to add to the rule of conduct drawn up by the ABB last thirty days by increasing player protection methods and developing spending and time limits for sessions. FOBTs allow customers to wager relatively large amounts sometimes just as much as £100 (US$168) per spin on virtual casino games. Detractors argue they’ve promoted a resurgence in problem gambling since their introduction to Britain’s bookmaker shops in 2005.