SBC News Scotbet handed lifeline by last minute receivership deal

Scotbet handed lifeline by last minute receivership deal

Scotbet one of the few remaining independent bookmakers operating in Scotland has detailed that it is fighting for its survival, having been placed into receivership last Friday.

The struggling bookmaker blames the UK government’s £2 FOBTs stake reduction, detailing its enforcement as ‘the straw which broke the camel’s back’.

Restructuring its operations, Scotbet management has been forced to close 11 of its 41 Scottish branches.

Closing last week, the bookmaker was handed a lifeline, as administrators accepted a ‘receivership deal’ put forward by company Chairman John Heaton and General Manager Bill Stratton who formed new entity Scotsbet123 Ltd.

Heaton and Stratron’s Scotsbet123 ‘pre-pack sale deal’ aims to save 127 jobs across the remaining 30 stores, while making only  27 people redundant.

Updating the media, John Heaton, Scotb123 Chairman, said: “I am pleased that we have managed 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.”

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

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

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