BoyleSports CFO: We’ll have UK retail presence by the end of the year

BoyleSports will have a presence on the UK high street by the end of the year, its chief financial offer predicts, with two potential M&A deals “in the pipeline”.

Speaking to Irish radio station Newstalk earlier this week, Mark O’Neill said BoyleSports was “disappointed” not to have secured any of the 300-plus shops sold by Ladbrokes Coral last year but was confident the operator would enter the UK retail market during 2017.

“We were disappointed with Ladbrokes Coral as that would have given us a strong platform in the UK to compete with some of the same firms we face in Ireland – and some we have seen off Ireland with the likes of William Hill and Stan James going back to the UK,” O’Neill said.

“We are actively looking at regional opportunities [in the UK] and we have a couple in the pipeline – we are looking at a couple of cities.

“There is little value for us in trying to build a brand on the retail high street by just taking on two or three stores, so we are looking for something with a bit of scale, so a minimum of 20-25 stores in big areas.

“Whether that be in some of the biggest cities or specific areas like the North East, the North West or down near London,” he added.

The CFO also said having a presence on the UK high street would benefit its online business.

“The reason we want to be there (the UK) is that we have a good UK online business already despite not having a brand profile in the UK.

“We operate in a hugely competitive environment here in Ireland and I feel our retail offering competes very well in that area,” O’Neill added.

Last year BoyleSports described Ladbrokes Coral’s decision to sell its shops to Betfred and Stan James as “bad for the consumer”.