SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betting retail operators Stanleybet announced the return of its betting services to the UK public, with the opening of a new premise located in Liverpool. The betting shop will be opened at the end of the week and will see the return of the Stanleybet sports betting brand to the UK.
Stanleybet had sold its 600 UK retail betting outlets to rival betting operator William Hill in June 2005. A public statement by Stanleybet management read that the company wanted to be ‘part of the heart of the streets and reintroduce Stanleybet to new UK customers’.
Stanleybet had concentrated on increasing its presence in Europe with an emphasis on increasing its sports betting presence in Italy, Germany and Spain. Stanleybet’s new corporate strategy will see the betting retail operator choose strategic and selective expansion on British high-streets, as Stanleybet look to open small but competitive sports betting outlet
John Whittaker, Chief Operating Officer of parent company Stanley International Betting, said: “We’ve been a Liverpool-based company for over 35 years, and the new shop is close to the Cavern Club, one of the iconic sites that have made the city world famous. So we’re getting back to the heart of our own streets.”
Discussing what the firm envisions, and its plans for the shops, he added: “We have no aspiration to get anywhere near [our previous size] again. Instead, we’re looking to develop a relatively small chain of quality outlets.
“The previous Stanley company gave customers a service, and it was a very good service, but it was once described to me as ‘a community-based business’, because we had lots of shops on estates and near pub car parks. That is not what we envisage now.
