Tax increases are the “biggest threat” to the industry

Sunday 19 October 2025 12:15
| Updated:

Sunday 19 October 2025 12:16 WIB

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Betfred shops could disappear from Britain’s high streets if Chancellor Rachel Reeves carries out a potential tax raid in November’s budget, the company’s co-founder and chairman has warned.

Fred Done, who founded the business in 1967 with his brother, hailed the tax rise as the “biggest threat” to the industry he had ever seen in his 57 years working in the sector, and echoed similar warnings from other leading gambling firms.

Reeves has previously argued that “there is a reason for gambling companies to pay more” and added “they should pay their fair share of taxes and we will make sure that happens”.

This follows increasing pressure from former chancellor Gordon Brown who called the sector “under-taxed”.

Tax increase warning

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank estimates that an additional tax on the industry, of 50 per cent, could raise £3 billion for the Treasury.

However, Reeves’ suggestion was met with backlash from the industry, who praised the decision as “economically reckless” and damaging to their business.

The move comes as the Gambling Commission and Treasury consider tighter regulations and levies for the gambling sector, which has been hit hard by the £2 betting limit on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

Earlier this month, William Hill owner Evoke said up to 200 of its retail outlets would close if the industry was hit by higher taxes.

Done echoed these warnings, and told the BBC he would also feel compelled to close motorway branches.

He said: “That [tax] it doesn’t even need to be 50 percent.

“If it increases by 40 percent or even 35 percent, there is no profit in this business.

“We had to close it.”

He added that the company could also cut around 7,500 jobs if taxes are raised, adding that 300 stores are “currently at a loss” and an additional 5 percent increase in gambling taxes would force that number to jump to 430.

Done also admitted recent increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage had forced the company to cover additional costs of £20 million.

Although the company made almost £1 billion in revenue from its recent annual results, operating profit was just shy of £500,000.

It’s online

He admitted that more and more customers were also going online, so shop closures were inevitable.

Rival Paddy Power said it would close 57 stores in the UK and Ireland last week, citing increasing cost pressures and challenging market conditions.

Done said: “Slowly things will come online, but we’re talking, without tax increases, we’ve still got 20 years of life on the high street.”

He also acknowledged that rising costs hitting gambling companies would hurt the industry and encourage more customers to bet “offshore” with bookmakers who “pay nothing into this country”.