Bet365 announces heavy job cuts
The company is the last of the five biggest UK gambling operators to announce major layoffs in the last 12 months.
Key takeaways:
- Bet365 plans to cut around 340 jobs, including approximately 300 in Stoke-on-Trent.
- It cites increased regulatory and tax-related costs alongside a highly competitive trading environment.
- The bookmaker is the last of the UK’s five largest gambling operators to announce workforce reductions, following Evoke, Entain, Betfred and Flutter.
- The Betting and Gaming Council argues that the cuts validate its warnings about employment losses after tax hikes.
UK.- Bet365 has become the last of the UK’s five largest betting operators to announce major workforce reductions. The Stoke-on-Trent-based company, led by the Coates family, plans to cut around 340 jobs, equivalent to approximately 3 per cent of its workforce.
Roughly 300 of the layoffs are expected to be made in Stoke-on-Trent, where the operator is the city’s largest private-sector employer. The other cuts will be made at the group’s offices in Gibraltar and Malta. The cuts will be made initially through a programme of voluntary redundancies, but compulsory layoffs are not ruled out.
Earlier this year, Bet365 expanded into France after gaining a licence from the ANJ.
A bet365 spokesperson said: “As an international business, we continually review and assess our operations to ensure the business’s long-term future. We’re currently facing a highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs. As a result, we’re restructuring some of our locations this year. Ultimately, this will result in a reduction of approximately 340 roles across our European hubs, which is the equivalent of around 3 per cent of the workforce.
“We’re committed to minimising the impact on our people and are exploring all avenues to reduce the number of redundancies. As a first step, we’re planning a programme of voluntary redundancies. Our colleagues are our priority. We understand the concerns many will have. Impacted staff have been informed and are being fully supported throughout this process.”
Wider UK gambling layoffs
While Bet365’s operations are based entirely online, the bookmaker follows William Hill owner Evoke, Ladbrokes Coral parent Entain, Flutter Entertainment and Betfred in confirming job losses linked to mounting costs facing the sector. The other four big players have announced hefty cuts to their retail estates in the UK, with Flutter recently announcing plans to close up to 100 more Paddy Power shops in the UK and Ireland by the end of the year, with 400 jobs at risk.
In March, Evoke revealed plans to close up to 200 William Hill betting shops, with reports suggesting up to 1,500 employees could be affected. Entain later reversed its previous stance against workforce reductions, with reports suggesting that up to 500 jobs could be cut, while Betfred plans to close 132 shops, affecting more than 600 employees.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has linked the cuts to the rise in UK Remote Gaming Duty to 40 per cent in April and upcoming rise in General Betting Duty for online betting from April 2027. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) had forecast that the impact of the tax rises on employment should be minimal, while the BGC had said that up to 40,000 jobs could be lost. Both of those estimates appear to have been a long way off the mark.
Responding to today’s announcement from Bet365, the Betting and Gaming Council said: “This is yet more evidence of the real-world consequences of the tax rises imposed on Britain’s betting and gaming industry. The sector repeatedly warned that higher taxes would lead to job losses, less investment and damage to successful British businesses, and sadly that is exactly what we are now seeing.
“Bet365 is one of Stoke-on-Trent’s biggest employers and a major British success story. The loss of hundreds of jobs will be deeply felt by workers, their families and the wider local economy.
“Britain’s regulated betting and gaming industry supports tens of thousands of jobs and contributes billions to the economy. The Government must now rule out any further tax rises on the sector. Ministers should instead pursue an evidence-led approach which protects jobs, investment and the regulated market, rather than handing an advantage to the unsafe, unregulated illegal gambling market.”
The industry is now warning that a mooted rise in Machine Games Duty being considered for this year’s Autumn Budget could have a similar impact on the land-based gaming hall sector. Chancellor John Healey is reportedly considering a proposal to double the rate on Category B slot machines. The trade body Bacta warns that any significant change could lead to the closure of adult gaming centres.
