on profits coming from the shops, there was so much more we could do. Wayne has massive experience throughout the industry, especially on the independent side, and we thought we may as well put it to good use. So with my experience on the building side, we came together and set up a separate company.” Their headquarters office is above the Bromborough
“Rather than relying solely
shop in Allport Lane, situated amid a typical range of high street outlets and in direct competition with a Dave Pluck shop across the road. Sportsbook Bookmakers
background of the economic times in which we live, and the fact that we’ve opened four shops in the last three
years, the shops have done exceptionally well,” says Wayne. “We think we’re a good
have been trading for just over three years and are pleased with the way things are going. “When you consider the
advertisement for a strong independent bookmaker. A lot of independents have been folding because of Gambling Commission and other fees, but we feel that we’re showing that you can make it work if you do it right. “We’re also looking at expanding our telephone business. We’ve got an
information website –www.
sportsbook.com and we’re hopefully going live with a betting website either in late November or early December. There will be a casino website on there as well. “With different arms of the company branching out and expanding within the sector, we’ve got a lot going on at the moment and it’s quite exciting.”n
Sportsbook Estates promote shopfit service
G
industry but he knows what he likes. He and joint direc- tor Wayne Stevenson feel that their service offers more than their competitors. “I’ve been into plenty of betting shops and I feel that the ones we do are far superior,” he says. “Without spending a massive amount of money we can do a top- quality job while keeping costs reasonable.” But Sportsbook Estates
offer far more than just a shopfit. They can do it all; a full turnkey solution that starts with finding the site and handling the formal documentation, including conveyancing and obtaining planning permission and premises licensing. “When I was with Betfred
avin Ferguson may not have hitherto worked in the bookmaking
Liverpool and Betcentral’s in Taunton.
we had to apply for many planning permissions,” says Wayne. Sometimes they were refused and we had to go to appeal. Having encountered those issues and problems, I’ve gained a lot of experience with regards to appeal documents, etc, whereby I can go back and read those decisions and look into the planning policy of each council where we apply. “Once we get the planning and licensing permissions, we’ll do the shopfit. We can provide structural engineering reports, absolutely everything that’s needed from start to finish for anyone who is looking to open a betting shop.” The company has made a
promising start, having fitted out five Corbettsports shops, Turf Bookmakers’ shop in
visit
www.bosmag.co.uk
through Sportsbook’s association with Howard Chisholm’s Bookmakers’ Technology Consortium, of which Sportsbook are members. “If you’re an independent bookmaker you should be a member of the BTC,” recommends Gavin. “While it was originally set up as a technology consortium to help independent bookmakers drive down costs with regards to technology, it is now going down the line of not only driving costs down on the technology side but also on things such as posters, slips, everything an independent bookmaker requires to trade. It gives it strength if all independents are together and buy in volume.
over to the new Multiview via the BTC. That’s something we really want to get our teeth into and offer our services – not just the shopfitting and technology; we want to offer everything to them, right from developing the site to being able to hand over the keys so that they can trade the moment the unit is handed over. There aren’t many companies that will offer that service.”
as running a shopfit business ensures an insider’s knowledge as to the practicalities of a shopfit. Observes Wayne: “When it comes down to the design of a shop, with our experience we can give good guidance
Being a bookmaker as well “A lot of people are going The latter link was forged
Graphics inside the Bromborough shop
and advice on, for example, where the counter should be situated, where to get the best profitability of the machines. Because we trade betting shops ourselves we’ve got a good insight into exactly what works and what doesn’t work. We pass on that advice and guidance as part of our service.” Agrees Gavin: “That’s a big
Picture: Supplied
a new shop frontage, otherwise all internal and external work is done by the team of four.” The shopfit world is a highly competitive one. So what makes Sportsbook’s service the one to chose?
advantage for people coming into the business with their first shop because they do need a helping hand. Likewise with people having existing shops, we can advise on how they can change things around if trade has dipped. “There are just four of us in the Sportsbook Estates team; there are no sub-contractors. The only time we ever use sub-contractors is if it requires
“What singles us out is the competitiveness of our prices because we don’t mark up a profit on individually sourced items,” replies Wayne. “We just charge a management fee at the end.
“But in addition to that, it’s the experience and guidance, advice and support we can offer, because we don’t just go in and install the shopfit; we can advise where the machines should be positioned; we can provide graphics to enhance the machine area; we can sort all the posters and slips they require. We take the
BOS Magazine November/December 2011 7
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