The owners of Ruddington’s only betting shop say it has shut for good.
Villagers noticed late last month that Coral Bookmakers at Unit 2 High Street was dark and empty – after previously being open for business throughout the year, seven days a week, other than on Christmas Day. The only exception was during a couple of months in the summer of 2019 when a fire at the premises forced the branch to close for a major refurbishment.
When it reopened – six months before ‘lockdown’ – the future was looking bright for our Ruddington branch with its totally refitted interior. However, unexpectedly challenging times have followed, and RUDDINGTON.info has finally received an official response from Coral Retail Customer Care to our enquiries about this sudden closure.
A spokesperson told us: “I can confirm that the Coral shop in Ruddington has closed down permanently. We will not be commenting any further on the matter.”
The official reason for this decision is therefore unknown, although Coral and Ladbrokes owner Entain has previously blamed a shift to online gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic for shutting hundreds of other branches across the country in recent years because of reduced footfall.
The company was also unwilling to reveal whether the staff working in Ruddington had been offered redundancy or redeployed. However, an insider told us that the staff were offered the option of a job elsewhere or redundancy – with about six weeks notice of the closure on April 21st. It’s believed a planned rent increase for the retail unit was at least partly responsible for this decision.
The Coral spokesperson did advise us: “The nearest Coral shop is located at 352 Southchurch Dr, Clifton, Nottingham NG11 9FE.”
The Ruddington bookies’ unexpected departure means there are now two empty shop premises up for lease on High Street (since the former Christopher’s Barbers opposite is still unoccupied) plus two more on Church Street (due to the relocation of Ruddington Vets to Clifton and The Pooch Parlour moving along into the former Optillion offices).
However, history tells us that vacant shops in our village centre tend not to be unoccupied for too long.
