Sarah Gardner has spent nearly 17 years at the Gambling Commission in a variety of roles, drawn by the challenges that the gambling industry presents. In a recent interview with GGB, she stated, "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. I've done most of the jobs actually around the senior table at the Commission."
Currently, Gardner serves as interim CEO of the Gambling Commission, stepping in after Andrew Rhodes left the position in February. This year has seen significant changes in the Commission's senior leadership, highlighted by the announcement of Tim Miller's departure in June. At iGB Live in July, Miller reflected positively on his decade of service at the regulator. Following a reorganization, Sarah Fox, a senior civil servant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is set to take over part of Miller's responsibilities in September.
Despite these transitions, Gardner humorously identifies herself as a "Gambling Commission lifer." She shared, "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 aims to cultivate creativity within the Commission, striving to avoid relying solely on strict regulatory measures.
Nevertheless, her tenure has not been without challenges, particularly amid criticism related to the Gambling Act 2005 review and specific white paper updates. "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," she explained.
The Commission’s stance on affordability checks, or financial risk assessments (FRAs), has stirred significant debate. A pilot conducted in 2025 flagged high spending players for additional credit checks by independent agencies. This year, the Commission postponed an update on the measure before finally announcing in July that FRAs would be formally introduced via a phased approach. The decision faced opposition from various sectors, including horse racing and politics.
Gardner described the ongoing work on financial risk assessments as a prime example of balancing player enjoyment with consumer protection. "What we’re currently doing on financial risk assessments, controversial though that it is, is a really good example of striking a balance 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," she commented.
