BGC Launches Back Our Betting Shops Campaign
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has launched a new campaign, ‘Back Our Betting Shops’, putting the workers, customers and communities behind Britain’s betting shops at the centre of its case against a further rise in Machine Games Duty (MGD).
The trade body says EY modelling suggests raising MGD to 40 per cent could put up to 16,000 jobs, nearly 1,500 betting shops and as many as 34 casinos at risk, while leaving the Treasury £124 million worse off overall.
The campaign lands ahead of next month's Budget, where the Chancellor is reportedly weighing a further increase to gambling taxation, as more people use betting apps to place their bets.
Thousands of Shops and Jobs Already Lost
The BGC says the warning follows years of closures across the sector. Since 2019, more than 3,000 betting shops have closed in Britain, costing over 16,000 jobs. Over the same period, 22 casinos have shut with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs, while 108 bingo clubs have closed, resulting in the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.
Despite those pressures, the BGC says betting shops still support more than 36,000 jobs across Britain and remain a fixture on many high streets, drawing footfall to neighbouring shops and cafes.
The wider regulated betting and gaming sector, it says, supports 109,000 jobs, contributes £6.8 billion in gross value added and generates more than £4 billion a year in tax revenue for the Exchequer.
Betting shops also help fund British sport, including horseracing through the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, alongside sponsorship of professional and grassroots clubs such as rugby league teams.
‘Real People’ Behind the Statistics
The campaign will run stories from shops across the country, featuring the staff, customers and community groups the BGC says depend on them, from long-serving employees and apprentices to managers and community partners.
“Behind every betting shop is a team of real people earning a living, supporting their families and playing a part in their local community,” BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst said. “These shops are not just businesses. For many people they are community hubs, familiar places on the high street where people work, meet and socialise, often with staff who have known their customers for years.”
Hurst added that further tax rises “would not just show up on a balance sheet”: “They could mean more people losing their livelihoods, more empty shopfronts and more communities losing businesses they value. That is why we are asking Britain to Back Our Betting Shops. This campaign is about telling the stories behind the statistics and making sure the voices of the people whose jobs and communities are at stake are heard.”
The BGC's campaign follows a wider pattern of industry pushback this year against a potential MGD increase, with operators including Entain and Rank Group separately warning that a rise to 40 per cent could accelerate shop and casino closures.
Casino Games Hub
Operators Have Made Similar Warnings
The BGC's campaign follows warnings from individual operators this year over the same proposed Machine Games Duty increase. Betfred owner Fred Done has said a rise to 40% would lead the firm to close 495 of its shops within a year, at a cost of 2,575 jobs and around £67 million in foregone tax revenue for the Exchequer.
Betfred has already closed 132 shops this year following a strategic review prompted by the previous Budget. Entain chief executive Stella David has separately cautioned that doubling MGD could trigger widespread betting shop closures and job losses while reducing, rather than raising, tax revenue for the government.
