Brent’s betting shop campaign clashes with 13 years of licensing data as UK shop numbers keep falling

Brent council has made a public show of pushing back against gambling premises, but its own licensing records tell a narrower story: no new betting shop licence has been granted there in 13 years, and the total number of gambling premises in the borough has actually fallen over the past two years. For high-risk operators, the real signal is national, not theatrical: shop estates are shrinking, not expanding.

1. Brent, in north-west London, ranks second in London for the number of gambling premises, which has made the borough a focal point for local politicians campaigning against betting shops and slot arcades. Local MP Dawn Butler organised a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister, while the council declared a “gambling harms emergency” and sent a delegation to Number 10 with a six-point plan to stop the spread of gambling premises.
2. But the council’s own licensing data, reviewed by iGB, shows it has not granted a betting shop licence in 13 years. The council also did not respond to multiple requests for comment on why it has campaigned publicly against the proliferation of betting shops despite last approving one in 2013. Dawn Butler MP also did not respond to requests for comment.
3. The same data suggests the local debate is more about optics than expansion. iGB understands some councillors are more concerned about Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs), yet only three AGCs have opened in the borough in the last five years. Brent council said in January 2025 that it had 83 gambling premises; its database now lists 75, a net drop of eight in under two years.
4. Nationally, the picture is clearer. Gambling Commission data shows betting shop numbers have fallen from 9,128 in 2012 to 5,789 in 2025. Betfred and Evoke have both announced plans to close hundreds more stores in recent months, which matters more to operators and payment providers than any single borough’s political noise.
5. AGCs have also not been on a growth tear. Gambling Commission data shows AGC numbers fell from 2,247 in 2012 to 1,464 in 2019 and have then plateaued, reaching 1,415 premises in 2025. JenningsBet CEO and owner Greg Knight told iGB that the brand opened just four new shops nationally last year.

For PSPs, acquirers and bank partners, the useful takeaway is that UK high-street gambling is still under pressure on both policy and store count, but the operational reality is uneven: some councils talk tough while licensing data shows flat or declining premises counts. The market is shrinking in the aggregate, and that tends to matter more than a loud local campaign.