Jenningsbet CEO Greg Knight has criticised Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s comments that betting shops are “hollowing out” the UK high street, citing the positive impact the brand’s new Hemel Hempstead venue has had on local employment.
The CEO of Jenningsbet has criticised the Prime Minister’s position on betting shops, stating that far from “hollowing out the high street”, the sector is one of the few investing in UK retail and recruitment.
Speaking after the government announced plans to revoke the aim to permit principle, Greg Knight intervened to highlight the significant role the gambling industry plays in boosting town centre footfall, using his own brand’s latest opening in Hemel Hempstead as an example.
“This shop has been vacant for two years,” said Knight. “The shop two doors along is empty. So is the shop three doors from that. A few weeks ago, we took a new lease. We currently have 15 trades on site working on the refurbishment. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, decorators. We’ve invested £200k, and employed five local people.”
And he delivered a brutally realistic assault on the empty vision promoted by the Prime Minister.
“We didn’t outbid a butcher or a baker, nor did we chase the local bookshop out of town. It was empty, another eyesore. Andy Burnham would prefer that it was occupied by ‘something useful.’ What is that exactly?”
Calling on the PM to instead scrap business rates for high street businesses in favour of a 2 percent point of consumption tax which includes online sales, or to cut business rates and introduce a 2 percent online sales levy, Knight observed “people like me aren’t the problem.”
“I could shut all 200+ of my shops and I guarantee you the vast majority would still be empty in a year’s time. We are not depriving ‘useful’ businesses’ of a place on the High Street.”
Burnham’s empty vision
Greg Knight said… “We didn’t outbid a butcher or a baker, nor did we chase the local bookshop out of town. It was empty, another eyesore…
Originally published on Coinslot on August 31, 2026. Republished with permission.