Betfred Online Revenue Nears Half Of 2025/26 Turnover
Betfred's online betting site generated £451.6m in the 52 weeks to March 29, 2026, close to half of the bookmaker's £995.6m group turnover for the period, according to accounts filed with Companies House by Betfred Group Holdings Limited.
The Warrington-based operator's digital revenue of £451.6m made up roughly 45% of its £995.6m total for the 52-week period, up from a smaller share in the prior reporting year. Gross profit came in at £720m, operating profit at £74.1m and post-tax profit at £39.6m.
Betfred said the comparative 78-week period to March 30, 2025, which produced revenue of just under £1.5bn, "may not be entirely comparable" given the different reporting length.
A £110.4m Platform Rebuild Behind The Shift
Betfred disclosed £110.4m in development costs for a revamped online platform that went live in December 2023, with all UK customers migrated onto it by early 2024.
The group absorbed Manchester tech agency Sharp Gaming into the business, rebranding it as Betfred Technology, and appointed former Sharp Gaming boss Andrew Daniels as its chief information officer.
The company said the investment and accompanying marketing push delivered a like-for-like revenue increase of £23.3m on an adjusted 12-month basis, part of a deliberate push to grow online market share.
Casino Games Hub
Retail Footprint Shrinks As Tax Bills Climb
Betfred operated 1,293 betting shops as of March 29, 2026, down from 1,351 a year earlier, and has since announced the closure of a further 132 shops, putting roughly 600 jobs at risk.
The filing covers a period that ended just before remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% on April 1, 2026, and the company said it had factored that increase, plus a planned rise in general betting duty from 15% to 25% in April 2027, into its forecasts.
Betfred paid more than £200m in combined betting and machine games duties during the year, on top of £18.6m in statutory levy payments.
Founder Warns On Further Duty Rises
Average headcount fell slightly to 9,463 from 9,622, though employee costs rose by £19.2m on a like-for-like basis, which the company linked to increases in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions.
The filing also recorded £4.6m in aborted acquisition costs, without naming the deals involved. Founder Fred Done, who remains chair while Joanne Whittaker serves as chief executive, has separately warned that a doubling of machine games duty, a change reportedly under consideration for the Autumn Budget, would force the closure of 45% of Betfred's retail estate.
Full details of Betfred Group Holdings Limited's accounts, including the Betfred brand's reporting history, are available via Companies House's public filing record.
