The ABB is the UK’s leading trade association for betting shop operators. Our members collectively operate some 7,100 of the nation’s 8,500 betting shops.
Funded entirely by membership fees, the ABB works to create and sustain conditions in which socially responsible betting shop operators can compete and prosper. This includes:
1. Campaigning for an affordable level of taxation. The ABB lobbies the UK Treasury for a tax regime that does not compromise the commercial viability of the UK betting industry and the livelihoods of the 40 000 people it employs. This includes commissioning and presenting the findings of an independent economic survey of the industry;
2. Engaging with officials at the Department for Culture Media & Sport, Gambling Commission and Local Authorities to promote more sensible approaches to licensing and regulation. Topics include licensing requirements, customer age verification, self-exclusion and minimum standards of betting shop safety and security;
3. Working to eradicate the “begging bowl” mentality that afflicts UK horseracing and some other sports who promote the fiction that bookmakers should be obliged to subsidise them either directly - e.g. via the Levy - or indirectly via subsidies dressed up as “data rights”, “funds to promote grass roots sport” or “the costs of assuring integrity in sports”;
4. Cooperating with our members and outside bodies (including the European Sports Security Association) to monitor and warn our members about suspicious betting patterns;
5. Providing a valuable portfolio of services to ABB members. This includes free advice on dealing with the Gambling Commission and your Local Authority, Annual General Meeting and members’ lunch, and access to a purchasing programme offering significant discounts on betting shop essentials plus a wide selection of consumer goods and services.
How much does it cost?
ABB membership is corporate rather than individual, and costs just £100 per LBO per year.
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