BoyleSports buys four Hacketts stores
BoyleSports, the country’s largest independent bookmaker has announced that it has purchased four recently-closed Hacketts outlets.
The betting shops, placed in the control of High Court-appointed liquidators Ken Tyrell and Declan McDonald of PwC in June, will be reopened immediately and rebranded as BoyleSports outlets.
Following the news Hacketts had gone into liquidation, BoyleSports indicated that it was “always” interested in buying Irish betting shops.
While 18 Hacketts outlets had closed, it was unlikely all 18 would be purchased by BoyleSports due to location overlap with their own shops.
Hacketts was originally founded by Cyril and Monica Hackett more than 50 years ago, the family business had expanded from its Midland base up to a peak of 65 shops nationwide, employing over 160 staff.
The business had struggled in recent years and the directors had tried to restructure the business by closing 26 stores and selling a further 15 shops to Paddy Power.
Jenna Boyle, Head of Retail at Boylesports, said that at a retail level, the Irish bookmaking sector is the most competitive in the world.
