Exclusive: Blue Square staff face lay-offs following Betfair deal
Between 40-45 employees expected to lose jobs following Betfair buyout of Rank Group brand.
Almost all staff who were employed directly by Blue Square face losing their jobs following a deal which saw Betfair acquire the sportsbook operator’s customer database and brand assets.
According to a source close to the matter, between 40 and 45 Blue Square employees are already taking part in a first wave of consultations addressing their redundancy, while a further 20 staff working across former parent company Rank Interactive’s other brands could also be under threat.
Under the terms of the deal, which sees Betfair acquire around 120,000 sports betting and gaming customers, no technology or personnel will be transferred.
Blue Square had been loss-making for Rank Group in the past six months, with the results for the six months ended 31 December 2012 showing a £4.8m from the sportsbook, prompting Rank to “undertake of a review” of the business in January.
Meanwhile Betfair, which described the deal as consistent with its strategy of growing its fixed-odds sportsbook product, is going through a streamlining process and is therefore unlikely to take on any additional staff numbers.
The operator’s new CEO Breon Corcoran has made a host of changes to the business since his arrival last August including implementing a scheme that aims to cut costs by £20m a year, and withdrawing from a number of grey markets including Germany, Greece and Cyprus.
Rank Group were unavailable for comment, however confirmed yesterday that it intends to focus its resources on “further developing” the Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca brands in venues and online.