Betting Sector Chiefs Address Chancellor on Duty Concerns Ahead of Budget

Chief executives representing six prominent UK betting and gaming companies sent a joint letter to Chancellor John Healey in October 2026, and they asked him to rule out any extra rises in gambling duties for the forthcoming Budget, while they pointed to recent shop closures and employment risks that followed the 2025 changes.

The operators involved include Entain, Flutter UK and Ireland, bet365, Bally’s Corporation, evoke, and Betfred, and their correspondence highlights how the near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty last year triggered more than 600 betting shop closures along with 10,250 positions either eliminated or placed under threat, according to industry figures shared in the letter.

Details of the Correspondence and Requested Action

Executives framed their request around the need for stability after the 2025 adjustment, and they noted that further increases, particularly on Machine Games Duty, could accelerate additional closures while ultimately reducing net revenue for the Treasury because of lower overall activity and higher compliance costs. The letter urges Healey to provide clear confirmation that no new duty hikes will appear in the Budget, and it presents the recent job and premises losses as evidence that the sector already faces significant pressure from the prior rate change.

Executives warn that any extension of similar measures to Machine Games Duty would compound the situation, and they argue the result could include further site reductions together with net fiscal losses once lost economic activity and associated tax receipts are taken into account. The correspondence therefore focuses on preventing escalation rather than reversing existing rates, and it positions the current environment as one where additional changes risk outweighing any short-term revenue gains.

Operators Involved and Shared Position

The six companies that signed the letter operate across both online and retail channels, and together they represent a substantial portion of the licensed market, with their joint approach underscoring a unified view that further duty rises would hinder recovery from the 2025 changes. Each operator contributed to the document, which sets out the specific closure and employment numbers alongside projections for additional impacts if Machine Games Duty rises occur, and the message reaches the Chancellor at a point when Budget preparations continue in October 2026.

Observers note that the letter arrives after months of sector monitoring following the Remote Gaming Duty adjustment, and the included statistics reflect cumulative effects across multiple regions rather than isolated incidents. The executives emphasize that the Treasury could experience reduced overall returns because closures diminish both direct duty payments and secondary economic contributions from staff and suppliers, and they present this as a straightforward calculation based on observed trends since 2025.

Projected Outcomes if Duties Increase Further

The correspondence outlines how additional taxation on machine gaming could trigger another round of premises reductions, and it connects these risks directly to the 10,250 jobs already affected by illustrating how marginal locations become unsustainable under higher cost structures. Data from the sector shows that many closures occurred in areas where betting shops served as community anchors, yet the letter avoids broader social commentary and instead concentrates on the fiscal arithmetic that could leave the Treasury with lower net collections once activity contracts.

Executives include examples of how Remote Gaming Duty changes already influenced decisions on shop viability, and they extend this logic to warn that Machine Games Duty adjustments would accelerate similar outcomes across remaining sites. The letter therefore requests explicit assurance that the upcoming Budget will contain no such measures, and it frames this request as a means to allow operators time to stabilize operations after the previous rate increase.

Context of the 2025 Duty Change and Current Timing

The 2025 Budget introduced the near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty, and subsequent months saw operators adjust their retail footprints in response, leading to the reported 600-plus closures and the associated employment effects. By October 2026 the sector has absorbed these shifts, yet the letter indicates that recovery remains incomplete and that further tax pressure could reverse any stabilization achieved so far. The Chancellor received the document during ongoing Budget deliberations, and the timing allows the concerns to inform decisions before final announcements.

Those monitoring regulatory developments note that the six operators chose a collective letter rather than individual approaches, and the shared statistics provide a consolidated view of impacts across different business models. The correspondence stops short of requesting duty reductions and instead centers on preventing additional increases, thereby focusing the discussion on future policy rather than past changes.

Conclusion

The letter from the six chief executives reaches Chancellor John Healey with concrete figures on closures and jobs, and it urges him to confirm that the Budget will exclude further gambling duty rises in order to avoid compounding existing pressures. The operators present the post-2025 outcomes as evidence that additional changes, including on Machine Games Duty, could produce net revenue losses for the Treasury, and they seek clarity during the October 2026 preparation window. This communication remains limited to the specific request for no extra increases, and it relies on the documented employment and premises data to support its position.