Sarah Gardner has dedicated nearly 17 years to the Gambling Commission, holding various positions that reflect the complexities of the gambling sector. In a recent conversation with GGB, Gardner emphasized, "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. 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."
Currently, Gardner serves as the interim CEO of the regulator, stepping into the role after Andrew Rhodes departed in February. This year has seen several shifts within the Commission's leadership, with Tim Miller, the director of policy, announcing his planned exit in June. At iGB Live in July, Miller shared reflections on his decade with the Commission, while part of his responsibilities will transition to Sarah Fox, a senior civil servant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), in September.
Despite this reshuffling, Gardner humorously refers to herself as a "Gambling Commission lifer," stating, "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." She aims to nurture a creative approach within the Commission, prioritizing innovation over rigid regulation.
However, her tenure has not been without difficulties, especially in light of industry and political opposition to the white paper and the review of the Gambling Act 2005. "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," Gardner noted.
A particularly contentious issue has been the Commission’s stance on affordability checks, also referred to as financial risk assessments (FRAs). A pilot program launched in 2025 involved flagging high-spending players across several tier-one operators for extra credit evaluations by independent agencies. This year, the Commission postponed its announcement regarding the implementation of these checks, but in July confirmed a phased approach to their introduction, prompting backlash from various sectors, including horse racing and political circles.
Gardner explained, "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."
