BGC Warns Of 16,000 Job Losses From Gambling Tax Rise
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) is warning Chancellor John Healey that a further Budget tax rise on gambling could cost 16,000 jobs and close nearly 1,500 betting shops, as he weighs doubling Machine Games Duty (MGD) to 40% at the October 28 Budget.
According to reporting by the Daily Mail, the plan comes after Andy Burnham grouped betting shops with vape shops and businesses linked to organised crime while setting out plans to revive Britain's high streets, with so-called adult gaming centres seen as the main target.
EY Modelling Points To 16,000 Jobs At Risk
Accountancy firm EY estimates that raising MGD to 40% would put up to 16,000 more jobs, nearly 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos at risk, while leaving the Treasury roughly £124 million worse off overall.
"The Chancellor should be under no illusion. Another tax rise would put thousands of those livelihoods on the line," BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst said. "That would mean fewer jobs, more empty units on struggling high streets and less money for public services. Nobody wins."
Women And Young Workers Make Up Much Of The Workforce
BGC figures show betting shops support more than 36,000 jobs across Britain, with one in four employees under 25 and 54% under 35. Women make up half the workforce, and more than eight in ten shops sit outside London, with 27% in the North of England, rising to almost 40% once Scotland is included.
"These are good, secure jobs in market towns, former industrial communities and seaside towns, many of them across the North, where opportunities can be harder to find," Hurst said. "For many, it is their first job, their first pay packet and their first opportunity to build a career."
Sports betting operators such as Ladbrokes run much of that retail estate, which the BGC says is already shrinking fast.
Casino Games Hub
Industry Still Absorbing Last Year's Duty Rises
The sector is still absorbing last year's increases, after former Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% and the levy on online sports betting from 15% to 25%. The BGC says more than 600 betting shops will have closed and over 10,000 jobs will have been lost across the wider industry by the end of this year since the last Budget.
"Eight in ten of the jobs at risk are outside London, in communities that can least afford to lose them," Hurst added. "Every closure means another dark window on the high street and another young person, working parent or carer facing an uncertain future."
The BGC first raised the EY modelling in its "Back Our Betting Shops" campaign launched in late September; the fresh Daily Mail report suggests the warning has now been aimed squarely at Healey ahead of a Budget widely expected to target the sector again.
