Entain in no rush to repay £63m of UK furlough scheme cash
FTSE 100 operator salutes “sensible and highly welcome” policy intervention as management continues to review pandemic situation
Entain is still deciding whether to repay £62.9m in monies received by the UK government as part of the nationwide Covid-19 furlough scheme.
During the pandemic, Entain took the decision to furlough 15,835 employees affected by ongoing shop closures across its Ladbrokes and Coral brands.
Under the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the government agreed to pay 80% of an employee’s salary for the hours they could not work, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Entain then topped the wages up to 100% following internal discussions.
From July, the UK government’s contribution will reduce to 70% and employers will have to pay 10% for the hours not worked, rising to 20% from August and into September. The scheme, which has been extended several times, ends on 30 September.
Employees unaffected by retail closures and Entain staff working from home have been paid as normal throughout the pandemic.
In its annual report for 2020, the FTSE 100 operator revealed the total monies claimed amounted to £62.9m.
In a statement provided to EGR concerning repayment of the funds, Entain said: “The furlough scheme has been a sensible and highly welcome policy intervention that helped us, as one of the country’s largest retailers, to maintain the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail colleagues on full pay.
“With the virus still with us and the outlook although improving, still far from certain, we will continue to keep the situation under review,” Entain added.
Despite closures to its retail portfolio, Entain enjoyed a strong 2020, reporting a 28% year-on-year rise in revenue during 2020 to £2.75bn.
Entain’s main high-street rival, William Hill, became the first gambling operator to send furlough monies back to the government, repaying £24.5m last August relating to more than 7,000 furloughed staff members. The firm has continued to pay its staff 100% of their wages throughout the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Paddy Power’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment, chose not to utilise the furlough scheme.
In its annual report for 2020, Flutter revealed opting out of the scheme had saved the UK treasury an estimated £14.1m in the UK and £11.5m in Ireland.
Flutter has paid its employees in full during the pandemic and paid its staff an additional £1,000 bonus in March for their performance during the period.