Fylde coast entrepreneur bets on bookies growth

The state-of-the-art betting shop, which features the latest technology opens this week on Lancaster Way, Buckshaw Village, near Chorley.

It is the only betting shop in the new development site and marks the seventh property for the rapidly-expanding BetSid chain, which is headquartered at Whitehills Business Park and already has shops in Blackpool, Preston and Chorley.

It will employ four full-time staff as well as additional part-time staff.

Paul Kirkby, operations manager for BetSid, said: “We are delighted to be adding this seventh shop to our growing estate and believe that we have found a great location in Buckshaw Village.

“Ideally situated for customers from Leyland and Chorley as well as Buckshaw, this new shop follows the BetSid ethos of providing welcoming stores with clean, fresh styling that offer the latest in gaming machines and self-service terminals as well as traditional horse, dogs and sports betting.

“We’re proud of our approach and the service we offer to our customers. Being a smaller, local firm, we are able to be more flexible in terms of offering punters what they want, and a variety of bonuses that ensure we provide better value than any of the major high street chains.”

Founded by Wrea Green entrepreneur and Villa owner Simon Rigby in 2013, BetSid’s expansion has seen it grow to a current staff of more than 30.

It has two shops in Blackpool, in Abingdon Street and Dickson Road.

Further expansion plans are in the pipeline, with a telephone betting service due to launch soon and online betting set to follow.

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