I have criticized the other bookmakers in the area for the way they have put the hooks into the local economy and are sucking as hard as they can to hoover out the locals' cash. We get very little back, even from the government which is also sucking away through the Tote. I will not make an exception with Ladbrokes, who have decided they need to plant 10 of their businesses in Walthamstow and the surrounding area.
Ladbrokes, of course, are also targeting the local punters with online betting on sports, politics, poker, casino betting, bingo and even, when the stock markets are open, on what they call 'Financials'. No doubt, as well as the locals, they have a number of the chancers in the City, including punters who formerly worked for Lehman Brothers among that customer base.
Ladbrokes plc describes itself as a 'world-leader in the global betting and gaming market', taking up to 10 million bets each week and over £14 billion in stakes each year. Their interim results for the year ended 30 June 2008 showed an estimated after tax profit of £101.9m, compared with £130.2m for the corresponding 6 month period the year before. Before we feel sorry for him, we should know that Christopher Bell, the Chief Executive, felt he was having a good year, despite England flunking out of Euro 2008:
“I am pleased with the Group’s performance which has continued to show resilience against a challenging economic backdrop. In UK Retail, following a strong first four months of the year, June suffered a string of poor results affecting all channels, most notably Royal Ascot and the early stages of Euro 2008. Notwithstanding a poor fourth week during July, Group gross win for the period from 1st July to 5th of August was up 11% overall and up 6% in UK Retail."
At the end of today's trading, their shares were quoted on the London stock market at 218.75p each, down 11.25p, or 4.89% on the day. This still gives them a market capitalisation of £1313.68M.
At 50/52 St James Street their store contributes as much as it can to this money snuffling machine, aimed at keeping the shareholders and the highly paid senior executives happy. In this and at their other branch in the High Street, Ladbrokes are gorging themselves on our local economy. In the St James's Street area, they do this along with Coral. The proximity of a number of empty shops and a number of businesses which seem to me to be at the margins of profitability, as well as the menacing presence of Cash Converters and other pawn brokers on the High Street, where punters can turn physical assets into cash to bet with, is not, in my view, a pure coincidence. The Chief Executive of Ladbrokes, famously once took the moral high ground to complain that 'a race a day is corrupted' in the UK. He is not, along with the other bookies, without blame when it comes to the degradation of our local economy and the corruption of the quality of life in Walthamstow.
Ladbrokes in St James's Street is next door to Pal Audio Visual Centre.