William Hill has transformed the in-shop betting experience for its customers following the opening of a state-of-the-art, digital-only shop in Leeds on Saturday.

Ex-Leeds and England goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, former Yorkshire and England cricketer Craig White and ex-Leeds Rhinos player Stevie Ward attended the relaunch of William Hill’s Vicar Lane venue, which promises an unrivalled immersive and interactive betting experience not seen before in betting shops.

The transformed shop in Leeds will provide William Hill customers with a range of exciting, new digital opportunities, including:

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• Digital only – William Hill will be going paperless across the shop
• Integrated research table – customers can access digital versions of the Racing Post at William Hill’s new research table
• Charging stations – customers will be able to charge their phones wirelessly while in the shop
• Scent solutions – inspired by casinos, computer-driven scents configured to cover the entire shop have been installed

William Hill has also placed delivering innovations in player safety at the heart of the relaunch, with the introduction of a player safety/customer service area named ‘Own Your Game’, where customers and staff can privately interact around safer gambling issues and the various support measures available.

The leading bookmaker will also have access to real-time footfall information via a dashboard to understand customer dwell time and peak periods. Elsewhere, William Hill has introduced gantry cameras, providing access to which betting materials customers are engaging with on the shop floor to help tailor popular broadcast content, while also trialling the use of body cameras to ensure safety of its staff.

William Hill is set to roll out a similar digital-focused shop in Glasgow later this month.

Garry Fenton, William Hill’s UK Retail Director said: “We are presenting a brand new, player-centric betting shop environment that delivers a fun, immersive and digital experience, with innovation at its core.

“As well as offering our customers a wide range of cutting-edge digital features, we’ve also ensured that innovations in player safety have been key to this transformation. The relaunch in Leeds was a huge success and we look forward to bringing the same experience to other William Hill betting shops around the UK soon.”

Ben McCann, Head of Marketing – Retail & Omni added: “We’re delighted to be able to offer our customers in Leeds such an innovative and exciting digital-focused shop.

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“Being able to utilise the new digital features on offer will make for a far more enjoyable betting experience, and one that will appeal greatly to our existing customers while also helping to attract a new audience in the process.”

Local Leeds sporting heroes Martyn, White and Ward all immersed themselves on Saturday in the digital experience that the new shop provides and they were impressed by what they saw.

Nigel Martyn said: “It’s been fantastic to see how William Hill are progressing the in-shop betting experience for its customers and great to see the innovation involved. Leeds fans looking to place a bet in-shop are set for a completely transformed digital experience and one that will certainly improve the way that they back their club.”