Test

That at least is the impression after spending a day in the JenningsBet opposite Charlton station in south-east London, a shop overseen by Ron Hearn, Betting Shop Manager of the Year in 2017 and someone with more than 40 years of experience in the industry.

When the government announced it was cutting maximum stakes on the highly lucrative and equally controversial gaming machines from £100 to £2, there were predictions that betting shop numbers would be decimated and thousands of jobs lost.

More than 1,100 shops did close in the six months after the change was implemented, with William Hill closing 700 in one fell swoop.

“When £2 came in I thought this is going to be drastic,” Hearn says. “For the first couple of months I thought ‘what are we going to do here’ but then things started to pick up.

“I think there was an immediate panic and everyone thought ‘good God’ but now that has flattened out and you think ‘hold up, there is life after £100 a spin’. A lot of people have been pleasantly surprised.”

It is the Monday morning after Christmas and at 10am there are a couple of customers playing the machines despite the new stakes.

Encouragingly for those who prefer more traditional ways to punt, as the morning goes on there are customers coming in to collect winnings from the weekend, read the Racing Post and put on Placepots and Lucky 15s.

By 11am it is clear a £2 stake is not putting off customers, with all four machines occupied, but the opportunity to lose a lot of money in a short time has gone.