BGC warns of thousands of job losses over machine duty rise

The Betting and Gaming Council has issued a stark warning to the government that thousands of casino jobs and venues are at risk if Machine Games Duty rises to 40% in the upcoming Autumn Budget.

According to SBC News, the trade body's statement describes the prospect in blunt terms, saying venues across Britain could close for good and casino workers could lose their jobs if Chancellor John Healey goes ahead with the increase.

The warning follows reports that Healey is considering doubling the three existing bands of Machine Games Duty in his first Autumn Budget, due in just over a fortnight. The BGC estimates that up to 3,800 jobs would be put at risk by the change.

Unlike previous BGC interventions on tax policy, which have tended to focus on the risk of pushing customers towards illegal gambling operators, this statement makes no reference to the black market. Instead, chief executive Grainne Hurst and the organisation have centred their case on job losses, shop closures and the loss of planned investment, framing the issue in terms the wider public is more likely to relate to.

Hurst said the industry is talking about thousands of people losing their livelihoods and venues that have served communities for decades shutting permanently. She described the roles at risk as good jobs that give young people a first step on the career ladder, along with flexible work and long-term career prospects, and said the North of England, Scotland and the Midlands would bear the brunt of any closures.

The BGC's statement goes further, calling the situation an "existential threat" to the industry. It argues that closures would damage local economies and eliminate jobs that matter particularly to young people starting out, women, part-time staff and those building careers in hospitality and leisure. The trade body said half of all threatened closures would fall in Northern England and Scotland, with a further fifth in the Midlands.

The BGC is not alone in lobbying against the rise. Rank Group chief executive Richard Harris, whose company owns the Mecca and Grosvenor brands, has said an increase of this scale would force around a third of the firm's estate to close. Betfred founder and chairman Fred Done has gone further, warning that retail betting would effectively die out by 2030 if the duty rises.

The BGC also set out the scale of the sector it is defending, noting that British casinos attract 14 million customers a year, pay £515m in tax and generate £815m for the economy. A rise in Machine Games Duty leading to closures would be likely to reduce all three figures.

Hurst closed the BGC's statement by rejecting the idea that closed casinos would simply be replaced by other businesses, pointing to former casino sites that already stand empty as evidence of what follows when venues shut. She warned that once such doors close, the jobs, investment and opportunities attached to them are often lost permanently, adding that a closed casino generates no tax at all and urging the Chancellor not to gamble with jobs and the industry's future.