Dirk Vennix, ABB CEO, responded to the Levy Board’s announcement with regard to the 51^st Levy

“It’s good to see that the 51^st Levy has been resolved. We hope that this year’s settlement offers the impetus to find a long term and sustainable solution for the future funding of racing. The settlement provides a benchmark for future negotiations, provides protection for small and medium sized bookmakers who face difficult trading conditions and provides a roadmap for an effective fixture list.

Both betting and racing need a strong set of fixtures to be successful. We are therefore pleased that a minimum number of fixtures for next year has been guaranteed, and hope we can now work with racing to slow the decline of horseracing as a betting product by, for example, ensuring a minimum number of runners per race.

The high street betting industry is under pressure and the taxation burden that all our members face needs to be considered in the round. The Levy is only one tax that bookmakers face – paying more in tax now than they retain in profit. For the economy to recover, high street businesses need to grow. Nothing could stimulate growth more for our industry, and in turn the country, than a tax regime for betting shop operators which encourages sustainable growth and tax yield.

Over a quarter of all betting shops are marginally profitable and increasing the overall tax burden on bookmakers would result in damage to an industry which currently sustains 40,000 retail jobs and pays nearly £1 billion in tax overall as well as indirectly maintaining employment for the racing industry.”