UK gambling sector shifts a year after remote gaming duty rise

A near-doubling of remote gaming duty (RGD) announced by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last November's Autumn Budget has reshaped the UK gambling market in the months since the higher rate took effect, according to analysis published by iGaming Business.

Reeves raised RGD from 21% to 40% with effect from 1 April this year, and introduced a new general betting duty rate of 25% for remote betting, up from 15%, due to apply from April 2027. Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst called the changes "excessive" at the time, warning they risked a "devastating hammer blow" to the sector.

Gambling Commission figures cited by iGaming Business show 2,154 licensed operators in the market as of 31 March 2026, a 1.1% fall on the previous year. The number of licensed operators had declined every year between 2017 and 2025, meaning the latest drop was comparatively modest. Total gross gambling yield rose 4.4% to £17.5 billion, with remote casino, betting and bingo activity up 6.9%.

H2 Gambling Capital managing director Ed Birkin told iGaming Business the full effect of the tax rise has not yet shown up in the figures, saying operators are still competing hard for market share despite the higher burden. "I don't think it's having a material impact yet," he said of the effect on gross gaming revenue.

Cost-cutting has nonetheless accelerated. Flutter last week announced a restructuring of its UK and Ireland business that could result in up to 1,400 job losses. Evoke has closed around 200 William Hill shops this year, Betfred has outlined plans to shut up to 132 stores and cut more than 600 jobs, and Bet365 said last month it would remove around 340 roles.

Steve Donoghue, chief executive and founder of Gambling Consultant, told iGaming Business that further cuts at Flutter would not be the last and predicted the sector would be "decimated", with thousands more jobs at risk. He also warned that higher taxation could push customers towards unlicensed operators, exposing them to weaker consumer protections.

Donoghue argued the push for higher gambling taxes is politically driven, telling iGaming Business: "Populist left wing puritanism is resurgent as we see in many forms. The fact that this industry with all its funds has been unable to push back the tide speaks volumes about their political strategy."

Retail has absorbed much of the pressure. Gambling Commission data shows the number of gambling premises in Great Britain fell 2% to 8,081 between April 2025 and March 2026, while retail gross gambling yield dropped 3.3% to £2.4 billion. Given the store closures announced since, that decline is likely to be steeper in the Commission's next annual report.

The outlook for betting shops could worsen further when Chancellor John Healey delivers his first Autumn Budget on Wednesday. A group of Labour MPs has written to Healey urging a rise in machine games duty, currently set at 20%. The Social Market Foundation has called for it to double to 40%, though some forecasts suggest an increase as small as 5%.

Jenningsbet chief executive and owner Greg Knight told The Times a doubling of the duty could force the closure of 100 shops. Betfred owner Fred Done went further, telling the Financial Times: "I believe that by 2030 we will have no betting shops."

The BGC has pointed to modelling by EY suggesting a rise in machine games duty to 40% could cost the sector nearly 1,500 betting shops, 34 casinos and 16,000 jobs.