William Hill Closes 119 United Kingdom Locations

199 Betting Locations in the United Kingdom under William Hill’s banner are entering permanent closure status. This follows after the bookmaker has sustained lower profits during the COVID-19 Pandemic, forcing them to previously shutdown numerous locations earlier this year. The announcement of additional closures hasn’t deterred from William Hills optimism towards their recovery after COVID-19.

Executives with William Hill have publicly expressed that profits have returned to standard valuations with locations on High Street. They’d hoped similar returns-to-profit with the opening of all other locations in Great Britain & the United Kingdom. That failed hope became evident after the announcement that 119 locations are permanently closed as of August 10th.

William Hill Executives have begun changing their tone towards the fallout of COVID-19. They’re not anticipating longer-term retail growth with their coronavirus strategy. However, fear that digital growth is being stalled isn’t evident for William Hill. Their online sportsbook has regained former valuations with the return of Formula One, the Premier League, ECB Cricket, Major League Soccer, and MotoGP.

Financial reports from William Hill suggest that January to July 2020 saw their retail revenues drop by 49% in comparison to the same period in 2019. It’s the most significant decline in profits that William Hill has seen in decades. Their total net revenues for retail locations in 2019 was $515 Million, with that figure dropping to $193 Million in 2020. Considering that economic fallout from the coronavirus is anticipated for the next five years, William Hill doesn’t expect to return to the $515 Million retail revenues seen in 2019 until 2023-25.

Returning Stimulus Package Funds

William Hill proved themselves an honourable British Company again through this announcement. Instead of keeping an additional $32 Million in UK Government Aid, William Hill confirmed their returning unused funds in the Stimulus Package that were meant to pay furloughed workforces. After the announcement that 119 Locations have been closed, thousands of employees under the William Hill banner will have lost their jobs. Future paycheques aren’t required after these announced location closures.

Going forward, it’s suspected that William Hill is going to focus on their online growth, accelerating new productions for the United Kingdom & the United States. It should be mentioned that while William Hill’s revenue is dropping in the UK, their profits are increasing in America.