The Betfred on Common Lane has officially called time. Its signage has been removed, the shutters are down, and Culcheth has lost another business from the village centre.
Whatever anyone thinks of betting shops - and opinions are rarely short of a flutter themselves - this is still a disappointing sight. A closed unit does not improve Common Lane’s character, and the staff who worked there deserved better than becoming another line in a corporate restructuring statement.
The Culcheth closure is part of Betfred’s wider plan to shut 132 shops and cut more than 600 jobs from September. Other Warrington branches, including those on Padgate Lane and in Stockton Heath, have also closed in recent months. It is becoming a rather grim tour of empty shopfronts.
Betfred, headquartered in Birchwood, says higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, gambling taxes and general economic uncertainty have made some sites impossible to keep open. Chief executive Jo Whittaker said the company had tried to protect shops and colleagues, but could not continue trading across its full estate.
The company has pointed in particular to tax changes announced in the previous autumn budget, including remote gaming duty rising from 21 per cent to 40 per cent, plus a new 25 per cent online sports betting duty from 2027, excluding horse racing. Betfred also ended its sponsorship of Super League, the Challenge Cup and England Rugby League after a decade, blaming the same financial pressures.
There is an awkward contrast here. Betfred was founded in 1967 by Fred and Peter Done, whose estimated wealth is £3.61 billion according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. The brothers were also named the UK’s largest taxpayers in January, with an estimated contribution of £400.1 million. That does not make the local job losses any less real, but it does make the phrase “no choice” land with all the softness of a dropped fruit machine.
Betfred says it will focus on supporting affected colleagues and continuing to serve communities through its remaining shops. For Culcheth, though, the immediate reality is simpler: one more shuttered premises on Common Lane, and one less place bringing daily footfall into the village.