Face of Nation : The firm said the move followed the government’s decision in April to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2.
Since then, the company added, it had seen “a significant fall” in gaming machine revenues.
William Hill, which has 2,300 shops and 12,500 employees, said the closures could begin before the end of the year.
“The group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process,” its statement said.
William Hill will not be revealing which stores will close until later this year.
Staff at the shops were told about the decision earlier this week.
The government cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which had previously been £100, because of widespread concern that players were able to lose large amounts of money in a short space of time.
Some critics described the machines as the crack cocaine of gambling.
At the time, the Association of British Bookmakers warned that the move would lead to job losses in betting shops.
Sources say that before the stake level was cut, a large number of William Hill stores were reliant on FOBT machines for more than 50% of their turnover.
This applied particularly to inner-city and urban areas, where shops attracted younger customers who only came for the FOBTs.
In its annual report, published in March, William Hill forecast that the government’s decision would have “a significant negative impact on revenues” and could lead to the closure of up to 900 stores.
“The net impact of the new £2 limit will, we estimate… be a reduction in retail’s operating profit on an annualised basis of approximately £70-100m,” the company said.
Tom Blenkinsop, operations director at betting shop workers’ union Community, described the bookmaker’s announcement as “devastating news for thousands of betting shop workers”.
He urged William Hill to engage with the union immediately, so that staff could get additional support and advice during the consultation.
“The government also has a role to play and must look at what support they can offer to workers whose jobs are threatened as a consequence of changes to the law around FOBTs,” he added.
“Betting shops provide an important source of local employment and many of our members have served the company loyally for years. Workers don’t deserve to be the victims of the changes happening in the industry as a result of either government policy or the significant shift towards online gambling.”
Campaigners against FOBTs welcomed what they described as the “demise of death’s doorstep betting shops”.
Adam Bradford, founder of the Safer Online Gambling Group, said: “These jobs were inevitably going to go and at least represent a decline in the misery of betting on the High Street.
“Perhaps William Hill can deploy its staff into treating addicts and supporting those who are vulnerable across their other betting outlets.”
UK betting companies, including William Hill, have been making significant investments in the US after the country’s Supreme Court decided to overturn a federal ban on sports betting.
William Hill has an online operation in New Jersey and is working on plans to move into six other states.
Last month, the company announced an agreement with a Native American tribe in New Mexico to provide betting services ready for the start of the American football season.
The deal will see William Hill operate at the Mescalero Apache Tribe’s Inn of the Mountain Gods resort, allowing customers in-play betting for the first time.
