A new YouGov poll says most British betting-shop customers also visit other local businesses or carry out another activity during the same trip. The research, publicized by operator Entain, found that 90% of those customers combine a bookmaker visit with other spending or local activity at least sometimes.
The release says 54% do so on most or nearly every visit, while 68% regard betting shops as an established part of the high street and 60% say they sustain local employment. YouGov collected views from 1,475 UK adults, although the reviewed publication does not state the size of the betting-shop-user subsample or provide transaction data showing how much additional spending took place.
That distinction limits what the findings can prove. The results describe respondents' reported behavior and perceptions; they do not independently measure whether opening or closing a bookmaker causes neighboring retailers' revenue to change. iGaming Business places the survey in the debate over possible gambling-tax increases ahead of the autumn budget.
Entain, which owns the Coral and Ladbrokes retail brands, is using the poll in its campaign about betting-shop employment and high-street links. The figures are therefore relevant evidence of how shop customers describe multi-purpose trips, but readers should interpret the broader economic conclusions as the operator's policy argument rather than as a stand-alone causal study.
