The british high street has a bright future ahead | thearticle

This week, William Hill revealed that it has entered into a consultation process with employees over plans to close about 700 licensed betting offices. The decision, according to the

company, was sparked by recent changes in regulation that limited the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals, a staple of the company’s shops, to two pounds. The result was that

gamblers were losing a lot less on these machines than previously, and William Hill was making less profit on each location. Other bookmakers, too, are forecasting substantial shop closures

as a result of the cut in FOBT stake size. GVC, which owns Ladbrokes Coral and is the UK’s largest high-street bookmaker, said it expected to shut about 1,000 shops, while Betfred said it

would close up to 500. The news from William Hill is obviously terrible for the 4,500 people whose jobs are now at risk. But those wailing that the loss of betting shops is bad news for the

British high street must surely get their priorities straight: miserable gambling addicts handing over less of their hard earned money to betting shops is surely cause for celebration, not

consternation. What’s more, though this week’s story makes the future of the high street sound bleak, there’s actually cause for tentative optimism. Bookies, chain electronic shops and

department stores may be closing at an alarming rate, but experience driven businesses (hair salons, coffee shops, nail bars and restaurants) are all thriving. According to a report from

IHL, more customer facing businesses opened their doors in 2017 than closed them. Now internet shopping has gone mainstream, it seems, the focus of high street trips has shifted: frantic

buying in huge, anonymous outlets is out, socialising is in. On my own local high street, for example, Ladbrokes, Topshop and Foxtons have recently transformed into two cosy independent

cafes — and a local barber (which I am assured is excellent). To Philip Green and the people who profit from gambling addiction, it’s probably an unwelcome development, but for quirky

independent businesses, lonely elderly people looking for a neighbourly chat, and — in fact — anyone who believes the British high street should be the heart of the community, it’s surely

very good news indeed. And it doesn’t end there. Thanks to recent technological developments, it’s never been easier to set up a small business. Cheap, efficient iPads are replacing bulky,

expensive cash registers, apps are speeding up book-keeping, and the introduction of ‘drag and drop’ e-commerce platforms means even non-technical people can set up online stores. Of course,

for this brave new future of the high street to be realised, ludicrously high business rates — which put huge pressure on small businesses — would need to be phased out. But for the first

time in years, that looks like a very real possibility: Jeremy Hunt has already pledged to scrap taxes for nine out of ten high street shops if he becomes Prime Minister, and Boris Johnson,

a natural supporter of free enterprise, is bound to do something similar. The British high street may be in decline for now, but the “retail apocalypse” has been vastly over-hyped. The

industry is ripe for innovative, quirky entrepreneurs willing to take some risks, and with a real Conservative in Downing Street, Government support will, at last, be forthcoming.