Bet365 has announced plans to eliminate approximately 340 positions as a response to rising regulatory and tax expenses. This reduction accounts for about 3% of the company's workforce and will affect its offices located in Stoke-on-Trent, Malta, and Gibraltar.
The decision comes as Bet365 faces a challenging competitive landscape alongside increasing costs from regulatory measures. A spokesperson for the company highlighted efforts to mitigate the job losses and provide assistance to the affected employees. "We are committed to minimizing the impact on our people and are exploring all avenues to reduce the number of redundancies," the spokesperson stated. They added that a voluntary redundancy program is being implemented as the initial measure to address these changes.
“We understand the concerns many will have. Impacted staff have been informed and are being fully supported throughout this process,” the spokesperson concluded.
The tightening of UK tax policies has further strained the industry, particularly following the near doubling of the remote gaming duty, which rose from 21% to 40% on April 1 of this year. Additionally, a new remote betting duty set to take effect in April 2027 will increase the tax rate on all sports betting products, except for horse racing, from 15% to 25%.
Other companies are similarly reacting to the challenges presented by these tax hikes. In March, William Hill announced plans to permanently close about 200 retail locations in the UK, equating to roughly 15% of its shop network. Betfred, last month, revealed its intention to close 132 of its UK betting shops, resulting in a reduction of over 600 jobs. Betfred's CEO, Jo Whittaker, remarked, "We have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes, and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice."
