Ladbrokes, Gala Coral to cut up to 700 jobs

Up to 700 gambling industry jobs could be lost in London as a result of the impending £3.3 billion merger of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group.

In an internal email, Carl Leaver, Gala Coral’s chief executive, told employees that, in an attempt to remove duplication, there could be “around 600, maybe up to 700, fewer positions” at the merged company, equivalent to about half the combined total.

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Mr Leaver, who will stay on for 12 months after the merger as executive deputy chairman to lead delivery of the synergies, confirmed that Ladbrokes’ headquarters in Rayners Lane, northwest London, where 1,000 staff are based, would close

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The enlarged operation will be based at Gala Coral’s HQ in Stratford.

According to eGaming Review, employees who fail to get a job at the merger company will be offered enhanced redundancy terms of two weeks’ pay per full year of service, with a floor of eight weeks’ pay and a cap of 40 weeks.

Speculation that the Rayners Lane building would close surfaced in June when it emerged that a planning application had been submitted to turn the site into 103 flats.

To get the deal past the Competition and Markets Authority, Ladbrokes Coral, as the company will be known, is selling up to 400 shops. Betfred and Boylesports have been tipped as frontrunners to buy the package.