Results of a new business survey by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) revealed that British gambling firms are divided on their response to COVID-19 related restrictions.

DCMS Survey reveals new things

The new survey titled ‘The Coronavirus Impact Business Survey’ suggests that a majority of gambling companies in the UK are land-based. The DCMS did not suggest the names of the companies that were interviewed for the survey.

According to the report, at least 20 operators had still not signed up for the furlough scheme by the government. Three companies have already furloughed 50% to 74% of the staff while 32 companies furloughed between 75% and 100%. There were 30 gambling companies in the survey that claimed to have lost 100% of their revenue during the lockdown. Interestingly, only 2 companies saw their revenues increase during this time.

About 14 companies experienced a revenue drop of 50% to 99% while eight companies reported a 1% to 49% decrease in revenue. Only 19 companies had come forward to receive government support while 37 others had not requested for any government support or taken any further measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic.

Betting shops reopen

On Monday, betting shops reopened across the UK after remaining closed for almost three months since March 23. This has helped in giving a new lifeline to betting businesses in the country. However, 20 companies said that their businesses were under threat. Another 20 companies said that they were not worried about future trading.

Nine companies said that they would not be able to operate unless they receive financial backing from the government. They could only continue operations for the next one to three months. Only 20 operators believed that they could continue their business for more than six months while another 20 said that they will only be able to trade for three to six months if they receive additional support.

Live sporting events have been absent in the UK and rent is becoming more expensive for the operators, which is creating a double whammy of business threats.