On Monday, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) launched a campaign titled "Back Our Betting Shops," emphasizing the potential fallout from proposed tax increases and the closure of betting shops on employees, communities, and local high streets across Britain.
The initiative aims to shine a light on various individuals within the industry, including longstanding employees, apprentices, managers, customers, and community partners. The BGC wants to portray betting shops as crucial community centers that serve a purpose beyond just commercial interests.
A significant message from the campaign underscores the “very real human consequences” that could arise from heightened taxes, affecting workers, their families, local businesses, and the broader community.
In Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency of Makerfield, which he uses to test the viability of his policies, Grainne Hurst, the BGC's chief executive, remarked that "Makerfield tells a very human story about what betting shops mean to communities across Britain."
She noted, "The prime minister has said policies should face a ‘Makerfield test’ that if they don’t work for people here and don’t lift them up, they shouldn’t happen at all. Behind every betting shop is a team of real people earning a living, supporting their families, and playing a part in their local community." Hurst described betting shops as "community hubs" and called for public support.
According to an Opinium poll cited by the BGC, 54% of Makerfield residents believe that betting shops have positively contributed to local community life, with a breakdown of responses showing 51% support from Labour voters and 59% from Reform voters.
The campaign also stands against a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty (MGD) to 40%. Citing modeling from EY, the BGC warned that such an increase could jeopardize up to 16,000 jobs and lead to nearly 1,500 betting shop closures and up to 34 casino shutdowns, while paradoxically costing the treasury approximately £124 million in lost revenue.
"Further tax rises risk inflicting exactly the kind of damage that communities like Makerfield are worried about and raise serious questions about whether such a policy would pass the prime minister’s own Makerfield test," Hurst stated.
Stella David, CEO of Entain, echoed these concerns, noting that doubling the current MGD rate could lead to widespread shop closures and substantial job losses, ultimately reducing tax revenue for the government.
Fred Done of Betfred stated that a tax increase would force the company to close 495 shops within a year, resulting in 2,575 job losses and approximately £67 million in lost tax revenue to the Exchequer. Betfred already shuttered 132 locations this year following last year's increase to Remote Gambling Duty.
Additionally, last month, the government announced it would repeal the longstanding "aim to permit" rule for betting shops and 24-hour slot machine arcades across Great Britain, which effectively removed the presumption in favor of allowing such venues.
