Safer gambling week special: Online gambling has got much of the attention, but preventing harm in retail betting can be a difficult problem where technological solutions can be harder to implement. iGB looks at what safer gambling tools are available at betting shops.
To the average person in the UK, the most notable sign every year that it’s Safer Gambling Week would be from betting shops.
The industry’s initiatives during the week are wide-reaching, across both physical and online spaces.
But betting shops, despite a decline in numbers in recent years, are still on almost every high street in the country. And almost every one is plastered with signs encouraging people to think more about their gambling activity.
But inside those retail betting shops, what can be done to protect customers?
As pressure from the media and government around harmful gambling grows, the industry has attempted to show that it can deal with potential harm without needing strict interventions that could..