Mar 3, 2022
Ladbrokes owner Entain repays some furlough after outcry
Entain, the gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to repay £44m of the furlough money it claimed during the pandemic, but keep £57.5m.Carolyn Harris MP called it "Absolutely shameful" that Entain was not repaying it all, despite soaring profits. Entain's online business grew rapidly, and helping to push the group's revenues up 8% last year. In response to a BBC News story in January, MPs called on Entain to repay the money it had received under the furlough scheme, with former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith saying the company should "Immediately hand the money back to the UK taxpayer". Entain said in a statement: "The scheme was a sensible and highly welcome policy intervention that helped us, as one of the country's largest retailers, to maintain the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail colleagues on full pay."We have kept the situation under review since we first made use of the scheme and are pleased to be in a position to repay these monies. One of Entain's rivals, William Hill, also had to close its betting shops, but it returned the £24.5m furlough it claimed in 2020, and took no more, citing the "strength of the post-lockdown recovery".
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