BGC Warns Business Rates Risk High Street Betting Shops

The Betting and Gaming Council has warned that the current business rates regime is accelerating the decline of Britain’s high streets, with betting shops among the sectors most exposed. The standards body, which represents much of the regulated betting, gaming and igaming industry, said the system is placing a disproportionate burden on bricks-and-mortar premises and undermining local jobs, investment and council revenues.

The intervention comes as the Government reconsiders its wider approach to business rates, having recently signalled a rethink on planned increases for pubs in response to pressure on hospitality and retail. According to official figures cited by the BGC, the number of betting shops on Britain’s high streets has fallen by around 30 per cent since 2019, from 8,304 outlets to 5,825 by March 2025. The organisation estimates this has resulted in more than 10,000 job losses and lower business rate income for local authorities, with further closures expected.

Although recent gambling tax rises have targeted online betting and igaming activity rather than retail shops directly, many operators run integrated online and land-based businesses from a single balance sheet. The BGC argues that higher digital taxes will inevitably affect investment decisions across entire groups, including staffing levels and the long-term viability of retail estates. This comes on top of concerns already raised by retail, hospitality and leisure operators, who have long argued that the current system places unsustainable pressure on physical venues such as shops, pubs and cafés.

Despite the challenging environment, the BGC points to the role licensed betting shops continue to play on the high street, supporting around 42,000 jobs, contributing close to £1 billion a year in direct tax and generating approximately £60 million annually in business rates. Research by ESA Retail indicates that 89 per cent of betting shop customers also visit other nearby outlets, helping to sustain wider footfall and local economic activity. The council also stresses that licensed betting shops and regulated igaming operators operate within some of the strictest compliance frameworks in the UK, with mandatory age checks, safer gambling measures and ongoing oversight, while NHS surveys put the rate of problem gambling at around 0.4 per cent of the adult population.

The BGC has warned that further tax increases risk accelerating shop closures, complicating high street regeneration efforts and potentially pushing customers towards unlicensed online and offshore markets, where there are no consumer protections, no safer gambling safeguards and no tax contribution to the Exchequer, sport or treatment services. It is calling for an evidence-led, proportionate policy approach that supports town centre recovery, ensures a more consistent treatment of different sectors and avoids measures that could advantage the illegal market at the expense of the regulated betting and igaming industry.

Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, said: “Britain’s high streets are already under intense pressure, and an outdated and unfair business rates system is only accelerating their decline. Betting shops are closing not because communities don’t value them, but because the costs of running physical premises continue to rise. Ministers were right to recognise these pressures when it comes to pubs, and the same common-sense approach must now be applied across the high street. Without urgent reform, we risk losing thousands more local jobs, investment and vital footfall, while handing a growing advantage to the harmful gambling black market.”