William Hill Plc, industry leading gambling firm, has confirmed that,
as part of the integration process of its online division, and to save itself
millions of pounds each year, it will be moving part of its business to
Gibraltar.
The move was confirmed on Tuesday together with the group's publication of
its first half results.
One of the main reasons for the move is that the group is said to be fed with
with paying millions in taxes each year.
In 2008 alone, William Hill paid the UK government over GBP 300 million in
taxes and levies.
The decision to move to Gibraltar has been in the pipeline for some time now.
The group has already relocated 75 staff members from the UK to continue working
at the William Hill Online headquarters which are already based on the island.
The group said time and time again that it is at a commercial disadvantage
due to the high taxes it needs to pay - almost 15% of its revenues - while
offshore groups enjoy the same marketing conditions but need to pay a fraction
of normal taxes.
"We are ambitious for William Hill Online to be a successful online betting
and gaming business on the international stage," said the Chief Executive
Officer of William Hill, Ralph Topping.
"Having acquired European focused websites, global marketing and multi
lingual customer services capabilities, this is the logical next step in our
development of this business. William Hill Online has an increasingly
international customer base and this move will ensure we are well positioned to
compete on an international stage."
