The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) on Monday launched a campaign highlighting the potential impact of further tax increases and betting shop closures on employees, families and communities across Britain.
The “Back Our Betting Shops” campaign profiles employees, apprentices, managers, customers and community collaborators to highlight the role of betting shops as local “community hubs”.
The campaign comes as the BGC opposes a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty (MGD) to 40%, citing EY modelling that suggests the measure could put up to 16,000 jobs, nearly 1,500 betting shops and up to 34 casinos at risk.
The BGC said the tax increase could also leave the Treasury £124 million ($163.86 million) worse off, according to the EY modelling.
“Makerfield tells a very human story about what betting shops mean to communities across Britain,” BGC Chief Executive Grainne Hurst said.
Makerfield is the prime minister’s constituency, and he uses it as a bellwether for his policies.
“The prime minister has said policies should face a ‘Makerfield test’ that if they don’t work for people here and don’t lift them up, they shouldn’t happen at all,” Hurst added.
“Behind every betting shop is a team of real people earning a living, supporting their families and playing a part in their local community.”
The BGC cited an Opinium poll showing 54% of Makerfield residents said betting shops had contributed to local community life. The figure included 51% of Labour voters and 59% of Reform voters.
“Further tax rises risk inflicting exactly the kind of damage communities like Makerfield are worried about and raise serious questions about whether such a policy would pass the prime minister’s own Makerfield test,” Hurst said.
Entain CEO Stella David also warned that doubling MGD to 40% could lead to widespread betting shop closures and significant job losses while potentially reducing government tax revenues.
Betfred CEO Fred Done said the proposed increase would lead the company to close 495 shops within a year, resulting in 2,575 job losses and around £67 million in foregone tax revenue for the Exchequer. Betfred has already closed 132 outlets this year following last year’s RGD increase.
The government said last month it would repeal the “aim to permit” rule for betting shops and 24-hour slot machine arcades across Great Britain, removing a presumption in favour of granting permission for such venues.