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Betfair backs Gibraltar

Keeping UK HQ though

Online betting exchange Betfair will work under a Gibraltar licence from tomorrow – but the move won't hit UK jobs.

The company will stay incorporated in the UK and continue to pay UK corporation tax, it said, adding that no jobs would be lost. Betfair has offices in Hammersmith, Stevenage and Halifax.

The firm said it had moved key systems to Dublin and Gibraltar in recent months and opened new offices in both places, which together employ about 120 people.

A spokesman for Betfair said: "We're staying incorporated in the UK and will continue to pay UK corporation tax and employ 1,200 people here."

The company will also continue to paying the same amount to support British horse racing.

Bad weather in December meant there were 4 per cent fewer horse races in the UK than normal – this led to a small decline in Betfair's horse-racing revenues.

In an update to markets this morning, Betfair said revenues for the three months ended 31 January 2011 were up 6.2 per cent to £77m. Betfair shares are up 3.4 per cent on the news.

Betfair operates in the United Kingdom, Malta, Gibraltar, Italy, Australia and the United States.

The spokesman said recent changes to US legislation would be good for Betfair's business.

New Jersey passed an online exchange wager regulation at the end of January and will soon open bidding for licences – California has passed a similar law. ®

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