UK Treasury pushes back on Betfred after 132 shop closures as retail betting tax stays unchanged

Betfred says tax pressure helped force it to close 132 retail betting shops, more than 10 per cent of its 1,200-plus locations. HM Treasury says the core claim does not hold up: the duty rate on high street betting shops has not changed.

1. Betfred chief executive Jo Whitaker said the closures were driven by “the increase in gambling taxes, wage inflation, National Insurance contributions, and general economic uncertainty.” The company’s latest round of cuts affects 132 retail betting shops.
2. The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which represents much of the regulated industry, backed that line. It said last year’s budget warnings about further tax increases undermining “jobs, investment and growth” across Britain’s regulated betting and gaming industry had now been borne out by the closures.
3. HM Treasury took a different view in a statement to The Times: “It is wrong to suggest it is the fault of government for these closures. Gambling duty rates for high street shops have not changed.”
4. The tax changes that were announced hit online and future remote betting, not the high street. Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21 per cent to 40 per cent in April, but only for online casino revenue. General Betting Duty will rise from 15 to 25 per cent from April 2027, while retail betting remains exempt.
5. Betfred was not alone in trimming its estate. Entain announced job cuts last month, Evoke said in March it would close 200 William Hill betting shops, and Flutter Entertainment announced closures of dozens of Paddy Power shops last October, before the Autumn Budget had even been published.

The timing matters for operators and their PSPs because the actual tax pain point is being split between online casino, future general betting duty, and unchanged retail duty. That makes shop closures a cost-cutting decision in a tougher retail environment, not a simple response to a new tax on high street betting.