Readers including a Bet365 employee respond to an article on how its founder, Denise Coates, became Britain’s richest woman, and express concerns over the impact of its success
As an employee of Bet365 and native resident of Stoke-on-Trent, I was naturally attracted to your article on Denise Coates and her gambling empire (The ultimate gambler? How Denise Coates became Britain’s richest woman, 2 October). The success of the company presents an ethical quandary: do the taxes, the charity, the healthy salaries and employee benefits balance out the massive harm that gambling causes, both nationally and specifically in deprived areas such as Stoke-on-Trent?
The section on the gambling harms clinic, demonstrating evocatively the damage that online gambling can do, made me pause. Bet365 offers yearly pay rises and performance-dependent bonuses, a daily lunch allowance, working from home arrangements and so on. In a city like Stoke, this is a virtual goldmine. But as employees, are we benefiting from the exploitation and suffering of those vulnerable to addiction? Are gambling addicts paying our wages? This is a question I have wrestled with.
