(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Betting and Gaming Council has launched Back Our Betting Shops, a new campaign putting the people, jobs and communities behind Britain’s betting shops front and center.
The campaign will shine a light on the real people who rely on betting shops for their livelihoods, from long-serving employees and apprentices to managers, customers and community partners, while highlighting the role shops continue to play as community hubs on high streets across Britain.
It will also warn of the very real human consequences further tax increases could have for workers, families, local businesses and communities.
EY modelling suggests that increasing Machine Games Duty 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.
Behind every one of those numbers is a person whose job, income and future could be affected.
The warning comes after years of closures across the sector. Since 2019, more than 3,000 betting shops have closed, costing over 16,000 jobs. Over the same period, 22 casinos have shut their doors 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, betting shops continue to support more than 36,000 jobs across Britain.
For many communities, they are also an important part of the local high street: places where people work, meet and socialize, while bringing customers into town centers and driving footfall to neighboring businesses.
The wider regulated betting and gaming sector 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 play a major role in supporting British sport, including horseracing through the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, alongside wider sponsorship and investment in professional and grassroots sport, including rugby league clubs and competitions rooted in communities across Britain.
Back Our Betting Shops will bring those contributions to life through stories from shops across Britain, giving a voice to the people who work in them, the customers who use them and the communities that value them.
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said: “Behind every betting shop is a team of real people earning a living, supporting their families and playing a part in their local community.
“These shops are not just businesses. For many people they are community hubs, familiar places on the high street where people work, meet and socialize, often with staff who have known their customers for years.
“They also help support British sport, from horseracing to rugby league, including clubs and competitions that are themselves at the heart of communities across the country.
“We have already seen thousands of shops close and thousands of jobs disappear. Further tax increases 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.”