Scottish bookmaker sold in pre-pack deal

Paul Dounis

The business operated a portfolio of 41 licensed betting shops throughout Scotland.

The deal means 30 licensed betting shops will continue trading, while 11 will close.

Paul Dounis and Gareth Harris of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP were appointed joint receivers of Scotbet Limited on 19 July 2019.

The Company had been hit by increased competition; a shift towards online betting; and changes to the maximum Fixed Odd Betting Terminal stakes.

Paul Dounis, RSM restructuring advisory partner and one of the joint Receivers, said: “The business faced a number of changes to the trading landscape, like other businesses in the sector, and was unable to continue to trade.

“The sale of the business secures 127 jobs and it ensures continuity of the majority of the Scotbet shops. Regrettably this process has led to the closure of 11 stores, resulting in 27 redundancies.

“We are working closely with Redundancy Payments Service to support those employees who have been made redundant to process claims as quickly as possible.”

John Heaton, chairman at Scotb123 said: “I am pleased that we have manged to save 30 of the Scotbet shops. This has been a very difficult time and I am particularly sorry for the staff in the branches which have closed. Independent bookmakers have been hit hard by increased costs and the reduction of the FOBT stake was the straw which broke the camel’s back.”