LONDON and ST ALBANS, April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Spread betting (http://www.spreadex.com/) remains predominantly a pursuit for those living in the capital, according to statistics from one of the industry's leading players.

Spreadex, which provides financial spread betting, ( http://www.spreadex.com/) sports spread betting ( http://www.spreadex.com/sports/) and sports fixed odds betting, (http://www.spreadex.com/betting/sport/Fixed_Odds_Betting.aspx) has profiled the source of traffic to its website over the last six months.

And from just under 1 million visits to http://www.spreadex.com in that period, Central London speaks for 420,000 visits with five other London suburbs also appearing in the top 25 spread betting locations.

Away from the capital, the other areas which house the most spread bettors are Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Bristol, which all appeared in the top 10 locations.

Spread bettors in Milton Keynes seem the most dedicated, spending the longest-time online per session at 17 minutes per visit.

Meanwhile hits from Southampton showed the highest percentage of new visitors (29%), suggesting spread betting is growing at the fastest rate in the UK at the south coast location.

The 'bounce rate' was greatest for visitors from Cardiff (15%) indicating this type of alternative investment perhaps doesn't suit everyone based in the Welsh capital.

All in all, Spreadex recorded 953,807 visits to its site from 1st October 2010 until 31st March 2011 with visitors coming from 874 UK locations, according to Google Analytics.

Spreadex Marketing Communications manager Andy MacKenzie said: "Spread betting originated in the City of London so perhaps it is not surprising to see that this is still the area with the highest percentage of spread bettors in the UK.

"However, we are seeing increasing numbers of new accounts opening from across the country and it's evident that the practice is no longer being limited strictly to those who work in finance or business in the south east.

"More and more people are realising that you can trade from home and don't need to be at a hedge fund or a stockbrokers to try and make money from financial market movements.

"Similarly we are also seeing a steady increase in people migrating from the more traditional sports fixed odds betting to the fast-paced nature of in-play sports spread betting."

    Town/City    Visits Pages/Visit Av Time on Site % New Visits Bounce Rate

    1. London     419948        7.94           11:04       11.85%      11.53%
    2. Manchester  29024        8.84           13:03       12.73%      10.86%
    3. Birmingham  17480        9.49           13:12       14.19%      10.17%
    4. Glasgow     13247        8.38           12:48       13.12%       9.29%
    5. Kensington  12653        8.44           12:29       11.35%      12.00%
    6. Lambeth     12089        6.93           10:54       11.86%      14.11%
    7. Leeds       11141       14.67           13:26        8.81%       8.73%
    8. Edinburgh   11023        7.24           10:49       13.78%       9.90%
    9. Sheffield   10548        8.17           10:41       10.76%       8.83%
    10. Bristol     9657       11.28           14:57       14.96%       8.36%
    11. Poplar      9194        9.46           12:29        8.79%      13.02%
    12. Wembley     7858        9.83           11:23       19.67%      10.51%
    13. Teddington  7456        7.91           09:42       19.31%      11.84%
    14. Liverpool   7209        6.76           11:47       15.08%      12.57%
    15. Nottingham  5443       10.18           16:03       15.54%      11.12%
    16. Southampton 5160        7.42           09:58       28.55%      10.60%
    17. Milton
        Keynes      5151       12.20           17:00       10.60%       9.84%
    18. Reading     4989        8.95           12:13       11.00%      10.92%
    19. St Albans   4942        8.59           11:21       11.92%      11.07%
    20. Salford     4841        8.53           11:44       15.64%      11.90%
    21. Oxford      4756        7.99           12:56        9.74%       9.86%
    22. Northampton 4515        9.68           12:19       13.18%       8.28%
    23. New upon
        Tyne        4314        8.15           10:56       17.48%      12.54%
    24. Cardiff     4269        8.45           11:22       19.04%      14.94%
    25. Coventry    3880        8.20           13:01       11.24%       8.07%

About Spreadex: Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the most experienced spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.

About spread betting: Financial spread betting is a leveraged way of gaining access to trade on the global financial markets and offers advantages over traditional trading including: enjoying profits free from capital gains tax or stamp duty*, avoiding expensive broker's or accountant's fees and being able to rise from prices falling as well as rising. However, there are disadvantages to financial spread betting such as never owning the physical stock, the possibility of having to make significant margin payments at short notice and the fact that you can lose more than your initial stake size.

About sports spread betting: Sports spread betting is a fast-moving, exciting way of betting on sports events allowing you to bet on a two-way spread on a multitude of markets from the number of Goal Minutes in a football match to a Batsman's Runs in a cricket match. While profits can be large if you call the market correctly, sports spread betting differs from fixed odds betting by the fact that you can lose more than your initial stake size should the result go against you.

Editor's note: In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved. In relation to fixed odds, Spreadex Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence number 000-008835-R-104580-002.

*Spread betting is not currently subject to UK stamp duty or capital gains tax. However, tax laws may well change in the future. Tax treatment depends upon the individual circumstances of each client.

Contact: services@spreadex.com, +44(0)1727-895-084

SOURCE Spreadex Ltd,