Sport is made for betting

Another bad bit of PR for the UK betting industry with shop chain Pagebet going into administration. The 53-shop company ran like a headless chicken last year according to directors who resigned early in the year. Stan James has stepped up to buy half the shop estate and pay out all outstanding bets. Job losses as Pagebet goes into adminstration PAGEBET, one of the leading independent bookmakers in north-east England, went into administration on Friday with the loss of more than 120 jobs.

This is not a good sign for what could have become one of the top flight tracks in the UK. Less than a year after opening, Great Leighs had to stop racing because they'd run out of cash. Two months have passed and little has happened in saving the course. In fact now, they are asking the bank for help - a bank which has been heavily bailed out by the UK govt! Great Leighs Administrator turns to RBS for help Missing Great Leighs over the summer won't make much difference but once the flat season winds down, its proximity to Newmarket was its greatest asset. But, like any business, if you don't have the finances sorted, you are in trouble if the economy changes.

A reality check in amongst all the hysteria in recent years from Australian racing administrators who were simply trying to protect their cosy lifestyle rather than having any concerns for the welfare of the paying punter... Embrace the enemy Competition makes the world go around, any business which can't deal with it deserves to shrivel up and die. Private businesses do not need government protection.

Listed UK company, BetBrokers, the firm you were supposed to use if you struggled to get bets on yourself, went into administration last Friday. The peculiar business model always had its doubters (big bookies close down winners, so most end up on Betfair anyway. Do you think bookies really want to take bigbets from unnamed accounts?) and in the end, those doubts won through. But perhaps it was just shabbily run. It wouldn't be the first occasion that a good idea was ruined by people not knowing how to run a business properly.