540 UK Betting Shops Have Closed Since the Budget That Spared Them

Operators have closed 540 high street betting shops since November's Autumn Budget, cutting around 4,500 jobs, according to the Betting and Gaming Council. The Budget left retail betting duty unchanged after the sector warned that a rise would trigger exactly those closures.

The BGC's argument is that the tax landed anyway, just in a different place. Remote Gaming Duty was doubled, and operators run their retail and online arms as one business. "Major betting operators manage their retail and online businesses as integrated operations, meaning significant increases in tax and regulatory costs affecting one part of the business inevitably influence investment decisions across the whole company, including the future of high street shops and jobs," the group said.

Around 3,000 UK betting shops have shut since 2019, which leaves open how much of the decline is cost and how much is the migration of players to online products run by the same companies.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst. "The BGC repeatedly warned the previous Chancellor that further tax increases would cost jobs, close businesses and damage growth. Since the Budget, betting operators have announced the closure of 540 high street shops, with around 4,500 jobs lost. Betfred's decision to close 132 shops, putting more than 600 jobs at risk, is the latest evidence of the pressure now facing the sector."

Hurst said the online sports betting duty increase still to come will add further pressure, and warned that squeezing licensed businesses hands an advantage to the black market. The BGC also pushed back on the idea that betting shops are proliferating, noting the remaining estate supports around 37,500 jobs, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced plans to scrap the "aim to permit" rule that limits councils' power to refuse new betting shop and gaming hall applications.

Not every operator reports the same pressure. Entain says the higher tax regime is helping it take market share as competitors pull back. The levy funding gambling harm work, such as Glasgow's £3.44 million grant, is charged on top of duty.