{"id":488568,"date":"2025-10-10T14:43:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/488568\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T14:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:43:17","slug":"high-street-slot-machine-shops-pay-staff-bonuses-linked-to-how-much-gamblers-lose-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/488568\/","title":{"rendered":"High street slot machine shops pay staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose | Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

High street slot machine shops<\/a> are paying their staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose, the Guardian has learned, prompting condemnation of the \u201cappalling\u201d reward scheme from MPs and campaigners.<\/p>\n

A network of 1,451 \u201cadult gaming centres\u201d (AGCs), most of which are open 24 hours a day, has spread through the UK<\/a> in recent years, concentrated in the most economically deprived areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amid booming revenues, the German-owned Merkur posted a \u00a315m profit for 2024, while Admiral Slots paid its Austrian owner a \u00a310m dividend last year, according to accounts posted at Companies House this week.<\/p>\n

It can now be revealed that the growth of at least one of the sector\u2019s leading players has been partly fuelled by incentive schemes that unlock bonuses in return for hitting key targets. At Merkur, these targets include revenues from punters\u2019 losses on highly addictive slot machines.<\/p>\n

For venue managers at Merkur, most of the bonus \u2013 worth up to 80% of annual salary \u2013 is linked to \u201ccontrollable profit\u201d, according to one internal document setting out the scheme\u2019s structure.<\/p>\n

This measure is partly determined by outgoings on wages and smaller items designed to keep customers playing, such as complimentary food, drinks and \u201ccash giveaways\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the first item on the list of factors contributing to controllable profit is \u201cnet revenues\u201d.<\/p>\n

In effect, this means takings from the shops\u2019 slot machines, which offer stakes of \u00a32 every 1.5 seconds, for a maximum jackpot of \u00a3500.<\/p>\n

The machines have been linked in successive studies to higher rates of addiction than most other gambling formats.<\/p>\n

Jackie Olden, whose late mother lost thousands of pounds at a branch of Merkur in Stockport. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Jackie Olden had campaigned for tougher regulations on AGCs, after her late mother, who was terminally ill, lost thousands of pounds<\/a> at a branch of Merkur in Stockport. The company was fined nearly \u00a3100,000 earlier this year<\/a> for social responsibility failings, after reporting by the Guardian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a punch in the face that my mum might have been helped, but the staff may have been financially motivated not to stop her,\u201d Jackie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like the fine they received has taught them nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merkur said it \u201cstrongly rejects\u201d any suggestion that its incentive scheme undermines safer gambling objectives.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the company pointed out that a portion of the controllable profit bonus, equivalent to 20% of salary, can be lost if shops fail to hit performance targets, which include completing safer gambling training.<\/p>\n

The bonus also includes a separate element \u2013 worth up to 20% of salary \u2013 based on reaching \u201ccompliance and audit\u201d targets. These are understood to include a \u201csafer gambling\u201d element involving bosses asking junior staff about their interactions with customers.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the company said extra safer gambling elements had been added to the bonus scheme in January 2025 and had resulted in more interactions with customers.<\/p>\n

But MPs from across the political spectrum raised concerns about the potential moral hazard created by any incentive scheme linked to revenues from slot machines.<\/p>\n

They said this could give AGC staff, some of whom earn minimum wage, a reason to look the other way when vulnerable people are racking up huge losses.<\/p>\n

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader who now campaigns for gambling reform, said that even though an element of the bonus was linked to safer gambling targets, the overall scheme looked like \u201can incentive not to intervene\u201d when punters are losing sums they cannot afford.<\/p>\n

He said it appeared that firms were \u201cpaying cynical lip service to their \u2018obligation\u2019 to stop harmful gambling. Appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labour MP Dawn Butler, who is bidding to become London\u2019s next mayor, said: \u201cThe payment of these bonuses seems to completely contradict statements from these companies about their commitments to social responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bonus structure should immediately be changed. It also begs a question as to why the Gambling<\/a> Commission allows these practices by AGCs in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her fellow Labour MP, Alex Ballinger, said the scheme \u201cshows a complete lack of responsibility and the urgent need for greater regulation\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the Gambling Commission told operators to stop paying bonuses to staff working on controversial \u201cVIP schemes\u201d for high-value customers, meaning those who lose a lot of money. But it said these rules do not apply to how staff are paid in AGCs, despite the fact that punters can easily lose hundreds of pounds an hour.<\/p>\n

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Merkur said it \u2018strongly rejects\u2019 any suggestion that its incentive scheme undermines safer gambling objectives. Photograph: William Barton\/Alamy<\/p>\n

One former Merkur staff member told the Guardian that the opportunity to make extra income meant staff were less likely to perform \u201csafer gambling interactions\u201d.<\/p>\n

These interventions, a condition of having a licence to operate in Great Britain, include recommending customers take a break when they have suffered heavy losses or appear distressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff are not inclined to break the game with a customer that is losing a lot of money because they think that will add to the income,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen it on many occasions when staff members decide to leave the customer alone when he is losing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the company is trying to make profit and for that the customer needs to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

One former staff member at Merkur said the maximum bonus of 100% of salary was impossible to achieve in practice.<\/p>\n

They added that junior staff get smaller sums, up to \u00a3315 every month.<\/p>\n

The bonus scheme used to be more generous but was changed in January this year, they said.<\/p>\n

The Guardian understands that other big companies in the sector operate similar bonus schemes.<\/p>\n

Annual accounts for Admiral\u2019s two leading UK trading companies show combined revenues up 12% to more than \u00a3300m last year, while combined pre-tax profit climbed 16% to \u00a346.3m.<\/p>\n

The accounts also state that \u201cremuneration packages include performance incentives and other benefits\u201d.<\/p>\n

The company did not respond to a request for more information about its bonus scheme.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Merkur said: \u201cWe strongly reject any suggestion that our incentive schemes conflict with our obligations to protect customers or that they in any way discourage staff from carrying out safer gambling interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll our bonus structures are designed to recognise a range of operational and compliance metrics, including strict safer gambling, audit and training requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerkur is committed to ensuring a safe, responsible and enjoyable environment for all customers and to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and compliance across all our venues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bacta, the trade body for AGCs, said: \u201cBacta does not issue specific guidance on staff bonus schemes, but all members operate in a highly regulated environment and are required under our social responsibility charter to ensure that all commercial practices support compliance with safer gambling and social responsibility obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"High street slot machine shops are paying their staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose, the Guardian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-488568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115350406466681654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}