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You and Yours: M&S stores, Gambling addiction, Haunted house sales

M&S stores, Gambling addiction, Haunted house sales

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, M&S stores, Gambling addiction, Haunted house sales

An M&S boss explains why they are closing some of their traditional shops in town centres.

An M&S boss explains why they are closing some stores in town centres, plus why selling a haunted house can scare off buyers.

The numbers of people opting to exclude themselves from online betting sites has risen by nearly 10 percent year on year. That's according to the organisation GAMSTOP, which runs the national self-exclusion register. People who sign up ban themselves from using websites and apps run by gambling companies regulated in the UK. We hear from a former gambling addict about how self-exclusion helped her recovery. We also speak to Fiona Palmer, GAMSTOP's CEO, and Matt Zarb-Cousin, the co-founder of Gamban, computer blocking software that restricts access to gambling sites.

We examine the future of Marks and Spencer, once a giant of the High Street in towns and cities across the UK.  Three years ago, the company announced plans to shut 110 stores and earlier this month it said it was speeding up the closure of almost 70 of them.  However, M&S is opening more than 100 new Simply Food stores - many of them outside traditional high street locations.  Our reporter Bob Walker talks to people in Newark, Nottinghamshire, who lost their M&S in 2019. We also hear from the company's property director, Sacha Berendji.

In a special report for Halloween, we ask if selling a haunted house really does scare off potential buyers or reduce the value of your property. Research by the House Buyer Bureau, a cash buying property firm, says haunted houses sell for 17 percent less than other properties nearby. So if you think you have a resident ghost should you declare it when you come to sell? We speak to Beth Rudolf the Conveyancing Association and  Yvette Fielding, a TV presenter and author specialising in the paranormal.



Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes

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