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Ladbrokes owner Entain pays back some furlough after protest

Entain, the video gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to pay back ₤ 44m of the furlough cash it claimed during the pandemic, but keep ₤ 57.5 m.

Carolyn Harris MP called it "definitely shameful" that Entain was not repaying everything, in spite of skyrocketing profits.

The group made ₤ 393m in pre-tax profit in 2021, up 125% on the year before.

It stated the furlough plan had assisted to protect 14,000 jobs, and a "more specific medium-term outlook" made the partial payment possible.

Entain has around 3,000 betting shops in the UK branded Ladbrokes or Coral - which it needed to close for big parts of 2020 and 2021 because of coronavirus limitations.

However, punters did not stop betting, they just moved online. Entain's online service grew rapidly, and assisting to press the group's incomes up 8% last year.

In response to a BBC Newspaper article in January, MPs got in touch with Entain to repay the money it had gotten under the furlough plan, with former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith stating the company needs to "right away hand the cash back to the UK taxpayer".

Entain has actually stated previously that the circumstance was "under review". On Thursday, it revealed that it would return the ₤ 44m it declared in 2021, however keep the ₤ 57.5 m it in 2020.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, stated; "Given that this promotion code business made numerous millions of pounds in profit in 2015 straight from bettors who lost money, it is definitely disgraceful that they have actually also drawn from taxpayers, and that they have not repaid the full furlough quantity."

Entain said in a statement: "The plan was a practical and highly bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that helped us, as one of the country's largest retailers, to maintain the incomes of more than 14,000 retail coworkers on full pay.

"We have kept the scenario under evaluation considering that we first used the scheme and are pleased to be in a position to pay back these monies."

Among Entain's competitors, William Hill, also needed to close its wagering stores, but it returned the ₤ 24.5 m furlough it claimed in 2020, and took no more, pointing out the "strength of the post-lockdown recovery".

Bookmakers Betfred declared a minimum of ₤ 46.6 m from the furlough throughout the pandemic, in spite of making ₤ 205m earnings in their latest accounts.

The BBC has asked Betfred for a comment in reaction to Entain's relocation.

In January, a representative for the company stated: "Thanks to the federal government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have not had to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to purchase our stores on the High Street."

Ladbrokes ₤ 102m furlough claim in spite of online lift