As an employee of Bet365 and native resident of Stoke-on-Trent, I was naturally attracted to your article on Denise Coates and her gambling empire (The ultimate gambler? How Denise Coates became Britain’s richest woman, 2 October). The success of the company presents an ethical quandary: do the taxes, the charity, the healthy salaries and employee benefits balance out the massive harm that gambling causes, both nationally and specifically in deprived areas such as Stoke-on-Trent?
The section on the gambling harms clinic, demonstrating evocatively the damage that online gambling can do, made me pause. Bet365 offers yearly pay rises and performance-dependent bonuses, a daily lunch allowance, working from home arrangements and so on. In a city like Stoke, this is a virtual goldmine. But as employees, are we benefiting from the exploitation and suffering of those vulnerable to addiction? Are gambling addicts paying our wages? This is a question I have wrestled with.
