Betfred has announced that it will shut down 132 of its betting shops across the UK and lay off more than 600 employees starting in September. The news, first disclosed by Sky News on Friday, follows a consultation regarding the company’s retail operations, largely influenced by the increase in Remote Gaming Duty earlier this year.
Although a further rise in the UK’s remote betting tax is scheduled for 2027, it is not expected to impact retail betting directly.
Jo Whittaker, Betfred's Chief Executive, expressed deep regret in a statement saying, "It is with deep regret that we have today started a consultation with colleagues working in more than 130 of our shops regarding a proposal to close those locations. 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.
"These are well-run shops, staffed by dedicated colleagues, and it is incredibly hard to see any of them close, but the current fiscal and regulatory environment has made it impossible to keep trading all our shops. Our priority now is to support the colleagues affected, and to continue serving customers and communities across the rest of our estate."
The closures are largely a consequence of tax increases enacted in the UK’s autumn budget last year, which included a significant rise in remote gaming duty and an online sports betting levy that is slated to begin in 2027. Betfred plans to retain around 1,100 locations throughout the UK after these restructurings and began consultations with staff affected by the closures on Friday.
This situation mirrors actions taken by other companies in the sector. Entain, which owns the Ladbrokes and Coral brands, also announced shop closures in Ireland earlier this year, shuttering 39 of its approximately 100 Ladbrokes shops, which resulted in 226 job losses. In July, Entain disclosed plans to cut around 500 jobs globally, mainly in operational roles. A representative noted the changes would bolster the company’s business and maximize shareholder value, asserting that these cuts were not a direct response to the tax increase but part of a broader efficiency initiative.
Conversely, Evoke, which operates William Hill, confirmed that the tax hike prompted their decision to close 200 shops in April. An Evoke spokesperson stated, “Following a thorough review and further to increased cost pressures on the regulated sector including significant tax increases announced by the government in last year’s autumn budget, from May we are closing a number of shops that are no longer sustainable."
