Sarah Gardner has dedicated nearly 17 years to the Gambling Commission in various roles, drawn by the unique challenges that the gambling sector presents. In a recent discussion with iGB's sister publication GGB, she stated, "From a regulatory standpoint it’s a really interesting sector because you’re really trying to strike the right balance between enabling people to enjoy what they enjoy doing in their leisure time, while making sure there are protections for those that need it." Gardner added, "It’s why I’ve never left. In this time, I’ve done most of the jobs actually around the senior table at the Commission."
Now serving as interim CEO following the departure of Andrew Rhodes in February, Gardner faces considerable changes within the Commission's senior leadership. Tim Miller, the director of policy, announced his plans to leave in June after ten years of service. At iGB Live in July, Miller shared reflections on his tenure and noted that his responsibilities would soon transition to Sarah Fox, a senior civil servant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), starting this September.
Despite these transitions, Gardner humorously identifies herself as a "Gambling Commission lifer," citing the ongoing allure of her work. She remarked, "The Commission’s proved quite difficult to leave. I think there is always a new challenge. Someone once described it to me as gambling regulation is utterly seductive. And I’m not sure I get that far, but it certainly keeps you really interested."
Gardner aims to cultivate a more innovative approach within the Commission, moving away from conventional methods.
However, her tenure has not been without difficulties, particularly due to criticism surrounding updates to the white paper and the Gambling Act 2005 review. "Regulation can be a pretty thankless task because you can never please all the people. I can’t think of any announcement I’ve ever made where I haven’t had one half of the debate saying: ‘oh that doesn’t go far enough’. And the other half saying: ‘oh, it might go too far’. That can actually be a bit of an indicator that you’re broadly in the right place," she said.
The Commission's stance on affordability checks, or financial risk assessments (FRAs), has proven particularly divisive. A pilot program in 2025 flagged high-spending players from several top operators for additional credit checks by independent agencies. Although the Commission delayed its update on this initiative, it confirmed in July that a phased implementation would proceed, drawing criticism from various sectors, including horse racing and political figures.
Gardner defended the current approach to financial risk assessments, asserting, "What we’re currently doing on financial risk assessments, controversial though that it is, is a really good example of striking a balance between player enjoyment and consumer protection because that is about finding a more sophisticated way than currently exists to hone in on the consumers who actually need the support. So you don’t have to ask a much larger sample of consumers for [additional] documents, which strikes me as frankly too intrusive for what’s meant to be a leisure activity."
