BOOKMAKER Morrisons has underlined plans to expand its betting chain while unveiling a major rebrand of the business, which from this week will operate as ScotBet.
The chain is eyeing the Scottish outlets belonging to the government Tote, which is set to be privatised, and also plans to snap up a number of independent bookmakers in the coming months.
Morrisons has already stated it aims to take the nu
mber of stores it owns to over 100 within a year. Now the company has disclosed that it wants to carve out a unique identity for its brand, which has been a major player in the Scottish bookmaking industry for 47 years. It also reported an 11 per cent rise in turnover to £6.06 million to 31 July and announced a new online betting site.
Kenneth Waugh, owner and managing director of the chain, said the increase had been mainly due to acquisitions, while in-shop betting was decreasing – prompting the firm to add an online offering. Morrisons' 74 outlets, all in Scotland, are to be rebranded as ScotBet following the launch of the new logo on Wednesday.
Waugh told The Scotsman: "I think with the supermarket chain Morrison's and a builder of the same name in Scotland, we found it hard to have a unique brand. So we have decided to rebrand as ScotBet – we are the largest independent betting chain in Scotland and the name stands for what we are."
The Edinburgh-headquartered firm is the sixth biggest in the UK, rivalling major national players such as Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral north of the Border.
Waugh added that the firm expected the online site to boast around 1,000 regular customers by the end of the year.
Horseracing betting in walk-in stores now totals only around 30 per cent of shop income, with the popularity of slot machines and online gambling on the increase. Waugh added: "We had a lot of customers who were betting in our shops during the week and then going home and using the online sites of the big boys, such as Ladbrokes, so we decided we had to offer the same."
Over the past year, Morrisons has grown its shops by around 20, from just 54 at this time last year. Waugh said the strategy of buying up independent bookmakers would continue.
He said: "People who have been in the business for a long time, running one shop, are finding it hard going as it has become a ten-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week business so a lot of them are happy to sell up."
Three months ago, Morrisons bought all of the 13 Scottish outlets owned by Irish firm Sean Graham, which left Scotland to focus on its local business.
The full article contains 466 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
