Sarah Gardner has dedicated nearly 17 years to the Gambling Commission, accepting various roles throughout her tenure. Her commitment to this regulatory body is rooted in the diverse challenges posed by the gambling sector.
In a recent conversation with GGB, Gardner expressed, "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 is currently serving as interim CEO, stepping in after Andrew Rhodes left the position in February. This year has seen a shake-up in the Commission's upper management, with policy director Tim Miller also announcing plans to depart in June. At iGB Live in July, Miller reminisced about his ten years with the Commission, as responsibilities from his role will be transferred to Sarah Fox, a senior civil servant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) beginning in September.
Despite these leadership transitions, Gardner lightheartedly refers to herself as a "Gambling Commission lifer." She mentioned, "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 is focused on fostering a more creative regulatory approach, opting for methods other than traditional enforcement techniques. However, her time at the Gambling Commission has not been without its difficulties, particularly in light of industry and political backlash regarding updates to the white paper and the Gambling Act 2005 review.
She stated, "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."
A particularly contentious issue has been the Commission’s strategy concerning affordability checks, also referred to as financial risk assessments (FRAs). A pilot program took place in 2025, identifying high-spending players at top-tier operators for additional credit evaluations by external agencies.
In July, the Commission confirmed a phased rollout of the new measure after initially delaying its update, resulting in resistance from various segments of the sector, including horse racing and political figures. Gardner defended the approach, stating, "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]." She emphasized the need for a more refined method to identify consumers who truly require support, minimizing intrusive requests for documents from wider groups.
"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," she concluded.
