Bet365 to cut around 340 jobs across Stoke-on-Trent, Malta and Gibraltar after UK tax increases

Bet365 has confirmed plans to reduce headcount by around 340 roles, or approximately 3% of its workforce, as higher regulatory and tax costs continue to squeeze UK gambling margins. For PSPs and partners, the important part is simple: when tax pressure rises, operators tend to cut costs first, and that usually reaches payments, risk, and local operational teams before it reaches anything else.

1. Bet365 said the job cuts will affect offices in Stoke-on-Trent, Malta and Gibraltar. The company said the decision reflects a “highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs”.
2. A company spokesperson said Bet365 is trying to limit the number of redundancies and will begin with a programme of voluntary redundancies. Impacted staff have already been informed and are being supported through the process.
3. The tax pressure is not abstract. Bet365 pointed to the UK government’s near doubling of remote gaming duty, which rose from 21% to 40% on 1 April this year. It also noted that a new remote betting duty will come in from April 2027, lifting the effective tax rate on all sports betting products except horse racing from 15% to 25%.
4. Bet365’s move sits in a broader sector response to the same UK tax changes. In March, William Hill said it planned to permanently close around 200 retail shops in the UK, about 15% of Evoke’s retail estate. Last month, Betfred said it would shut 132 UK betting shops and reduce its workforce by over 600 employees.
5. Betfred CEO Jo Whittaker tied those closures to a familiar margin squeeze: higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty. In other words, the tax bill is not staying in one department; it is working its way through the whole operating model.

One additional detail worth noting: in May 2025, reports said Bet365 had held informal internal talks about a possible sale, IPO or partial sale of the company. That does not change the immediate issue, which is that UK tax and regulatory costs are now shaping staffing and footprint decisions at one of the sector’s biggest operators.