It’s really a fashionable and belief that is long-held the UK’s high street betting shops prey on the poor. Bookmakers spring up in deprived areas, states received wisdom, so as to exploit those currently enduring economic hardship.

Leading bookmaking organizations such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power have always strongly denied this, and a report that is new to keep them away, suggesting that the ‘poverty exploitation’ theory is a myth.

The report that is independent which was conducted by data analyst the Local Data Company at the behest of this Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), concludes great britain’s poorest areas have a much lower concentration of gambling stores than more affluent areas. The study found that areas identified as having high levels of deprivation host 17 percent of the country’s high street bookmakers, while 35 percent of shops are located those certain areas defined as the wealthiest. Meanwhile, 62 percent of most UK betting shops are found in areas with lower-than-average poverty levels.

No Economic Incentive

The report also unearthed that new shops, in the place of appearing in bad areas, have actually actually been focused in the areas that are least-deprived because, simply put, prosperous areas tend to be more lucrative because customers have more money. There is no incentive that is economic therefore, to target the vulnerable.

‘There is nothing within the information to suggest that bookmakers deliberately target poor and people that are vulnerable’ stated Local Data business director Matthew Hopkinson. ‘Our analysis shows shop that is new are mainly in towns with low and normal deprivation scores not in the poorest areas.’

ABB chief executive Dirk Vennix said he hoped the findings would ‘dispel some damaging myths propagated by those wanting to demonize and toxify our industry.’

‘We are a responsible and regulated industry selling a mainstream leisure product enjoyed by over 8 million people per 12 months,’ said Vennix. ‘We choose where you can locate our stores in the same way as any other retailer would using commercial factors such as consumer demand, footfall, and presence that is competitive. It makes no feeling whatsoever for us to target poor communities or vulnerable people.’

Called ‘Blight’ By Some

Bookmakers have actually been under fire recently for perceived expansion that is aggressive the UK and for the prevalence of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in their shops. At the start of last year, federal government retail guru Mary Portas called for measures become taken against the proliferation of gambling shops inside her review of high street stores, incorporating that they were ‘blighting our high streets’.

However, the report unearthed that, on the contrary, wagering stores were expanding at a slower rate than a great many other businesses. 2013 saw an increase of 1.3 percent in betting stores, as the quantity of pawnbrokers, coffee shops and convenience stores expanded at a rate of 3 per cent over that same period.

The publication of the report comes just in front of a government study into FOBTs, due out this week, which seeks to examine policy in the machines. Parliament is seeking to include to the rule of conduct drawn up by the ABB final month by increasing player security methods and establishing spending and time limits for sessions. FOBTs allow clients to wager fairly huge amounts sometimes just as much as £100 (US$168) per spin on digital casino games. Detractors argue they’ve promoted a resurgence in problem gambling since their introduction to Britain’s bookmaker shops in 2005.