THE Dundalk-headquartered bookmaking firm BoyleSports is expanding its presence in Northern Ireland by acquiring six of the seven HughesBet shops from Gregory Hughes, divided between Coalisland, Dungannon and Newry.

This latest deal, which was confirmed on Monday, follows BoyleSports’ move earlier in the year of taking over all of William Hill’s offices in Northern Ireland and brings the total number of their branded outlets in the region to 45.

“Since BoyleSports founder and chairman, John Boyle, opened his first shop at Markethill, Armagh in 1982, it has been our ambition to develop a meaningful retail presence in Northern Ireland,” said company chief executive, Conor Gray.

“The purchase of the HughesBet chain of shops demonstrates our long-term commitment to the Northern Ireland market. All of the stores being acquired will be rebranded as BoyleSports outlets. In line with the BoyleSports business model, all of the new shops will be upgraded to bring them up to the industry-leading standard which BoyleSports customers have come to expect and enjoy.”