Entain's Hayley West - From part-time cashier to area manager

For Hayley West, a part-time job in a betting shop became the start of a thriving career at Entain.

Through her Entain apprenticeship, she built new skills, found new opportunities and discovered a team that felt like family.

Discover Hayley’s story and why betting shops can be so much more than a place to work.

Enjoying career opportunities at Entain

Hayley is an area manager for Entain, which owns Ladbrokes and Coral.

She started as a part-time cashier alongside her studies. Now, she has an Entain career spanning nearly 19 years and oversees shops across Bristol, Gloucester and Cheltenham in the UK.

“Never in a million years would I have imagined that it would end up becoming my full-time job and, later on, my career. The opportunities that Entain has provided me have been incredible and more than I could ever have imagined," says Hayley.

Training and support facilitated career progression

Hayley credits the managers who recognised her potential and helped her develop throughout her time with the company.

“The support I’ve received over the years from my area managers and line managers has helped me get to where I am today. They saw my potential, saw what I could do and understood what they could do to help me grow and develop,” comments Hayley.

Retail work can help people develop important skills

According to Entain, more than 2,500 colleagues across its UK and Ireland retail business are under 25, and it hires around 650 young people each year. The company says 98% of its shop management roles are filled from within, while nearly half of its operational managers joined aged between 18 and 24.

Hayley says retail work can help people develop skills useful throughout their working lives.

“There are skills we can teach, such as mathematical skills, language skills and problem-solving skills. But there’s also the social skills side of it where we teach them how to become a community, how to become a family, and how to interact with our customers," explains Hayley.

Sharing her proudest career achievement

Hayley's own development included completing an apprenticeship, which she describes as one of her proudest achievements.

“It was an opportunity I would never have had if it hadn’t been for Entain. It allowed me to progress in my career, but it also allowed me to build on my education, which wasn’t necessarily something I focused on as much as I could have done at school,” explains Hayley.

Hayley also highlights the range of career paths available beyond the shop floor.

“We have customer care, security, marketing and legal departments, among others. Sometimes, even though people start in a shop, they don’t necessarily finish there. They can end up moving into head office roles,” she says.

Chasing bigger job opportunities

For Hayley, the opportunities offered by a first retail role can extend far beyond someone’s initial expectations.

“I think my career shows that it doesn’t matter how small you start out. There’s always something bigger out there if you’re willing to go out and achieve it,” adds Hayley.