British bookmakers William Hill is to employ 100 people in a telephone betting operation in Athlone, Co Westmeath, which will target its home market without incurring punitive betting taxes.
Mr Graham Sharp, a spokesman for the second-largest British bookmaker, said that 100 people would initially be employed at the 22,000 sq ft call centre, at Kilmacaugh on the Dublin Road, but that could rise to more than 150 if the venture was successful.
William Hill hopes to bypass the Irish betting tax of 5 per cent by routing the calls from Britain through Gibraltar - where its competitor, Victor Chandler is based - and on to the Republic. It is seeking legal clearance.
Even if the procedure is disallowed, William Hill, in paying the Irish tax rate, would be making considerable savings on the British tax and levy charges which add up to 9 per cent of the bet made.
The service is being offered to British and non-Ireland based customers who, after registering with the bookmaker, can make bets from their living room with a credit card. Telephone betting is the fastest-growing sector of the industry, accounting for 9 per cent of all British off-course bets last year.
William Hill already has a call centre betting operation on the Isle of Man but this is not open to British residents to use. Industry speculation is that other British betting operators like Coral and Ladbrokes could establish similar operations in the Republic, using an English-speaking workforce to target the lucrative home market.
Mr Sharp said the advent of online and offshore betting systems meant that every betting company had to look for ways to remain competitive. "This is one of the steps we are taking to be able to compete," he said.
He added that the recruitment process for the 100 people would begin in the coming weeks. "If it is successful, it will go beyond the 150," he said.
Mr Stuart Kenny, the managing director of the Republic's largest bookmaker, Paddy Power, said the move by William Hill showed that the Republic was becoming "the betting capital of Europe". He said the "progressive" reduction in betting tax from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, introduced in the last Budget, had been vindicated.
