“After reading this story in the paper it made my blood boil. As an employee with one of the big three organisations for almost fifteen years but had to leave about five years ago as the opening hours were being extended to unacceptable levels and back then if you were the manager which I was for about eight years you were in there for the whole day from approximately 9:00 am until close which could be as late as 9:45 pm with additional unpaid duties at each end of the day extending the day by up to 1 and a half hours, six days a week although you were only required to work four days a week with additional Sunday opening hours you could end up working a 50 hour week. On occasions in the smaller branches you would be the only member of staff on the premises which is endemic throughout the big three organisations.

When I first entered the industry it was a great place to work there was a real sense of community amongst the regular patrons and everybody had a good time. But over the years the industry changed to provide more opportunities and choice for the clientele which was great for the clients¿ and the industry but not for the staff. As the hours extended which you had to agree to or leave the clientele base began to change and more unsavoury characters began to frequent the offices which led to an increase in the number of assaults on staff and robberies and the sense of community began to disappear.

The industry does not recognise any trade union so there was very little that we could do about conditions other than get on with things or leave. Within the organisation that I was an employee of there was a staff council but their voice was not loud enough to make much impact representatives had to be careful lest they suffer reprisals. Staff have always been the lowest priority when it comes to profits most offices have the most basic staff amenities usually the minimum H&S requirements, if you work in a particularly busy office as a manager the most that you would get as a lunch break would be about half an hour during which time you would also carry out company duties and once lunch was over then there were no further scheduled breaks which in a 14 hour day is scandalous there was an agreement that there would be a half hour break at the end of the afternoon programme but with the introduction of computerised racing the afternoon programme did not end.

The mandate of the industry bosses is keep the offices open for as long as possible at any cost to maximise profit. At the time I left the industry some offices did not even have security cameras installed and some that did were dummy ones so to say that the security of staff is at the top of the agenda is absolutely laughable. With 24 hour on-line betting now available and numerous racing channels on the television the client can have all the choice at their fingertips in the comfort of their own homes and they could even have their friends join them, relax with a beer and not be breaking any laws and generally enjoy a pleasant social evening which would then allow the offices to close at a more reasonable time in the evening in line with other high street businesses.

These two lines from the article, "betting shop robberies are an ever present risk, and "the police are great, they tell us to lock the doors after 8pm but we're not allowed to¿ say it clearly and if the industry are serious about the safety and security of the staff they should take heed of the advice and stop the madness that has overtaken the lives of many hardworking and loyal staff.”