UK Bingo Operators Warn Proposed Doubling of Machine Games Duty to 40% Risks Venue Closures and 1,625 Job Losses

Bingo operators have warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham that a proposed increase in gambling tax on slot machines could lead to venue closures and job losses across the UK. The Prime Minister and Chancellor are reportedly considering doubling machine games duty on slot machines from 20% to 40% in next month’s Budget.

Dominic Mansour, chief executive of Buzz Bingo, and Richard Harris, chief executive of Rank Group, owner of Mecca Bingo, outlined the threats. The comments follow similar cautions from Entain’s chief executive on potential betting shop closures. As reported by Yogonet International, the industry is also facing remote gaming duty rising from 21% to 40% and online sports betting tax from 15% to 25%, with about 5,000 jobs already lost at bookmakers since the previous Budget. The prior chancellor abolished the 10% bingo duty.

Financial Impacts and Viability Warnings

Harris said increasing machine games duty from 20% to 40% would cost the company £35 million (US$47 million). He said the increase would make between a quarter and a third of the company’s venues “unviable”, with a large proportion of those sites potentially closing. The closures could put up to 25% of Rank’s 6,500-strong UK workforce, or about 1,625 jobs, at risk, many in Red Wall constituencies across northern England.

“Unless bingo clubs are protected from such reform, the viability of bingo in the UK will be at risk,” Buzz Chief Executive Dominic Mansour told This Is Money. “The numbers for Britain’s bingo could truly be up.” Mansour said even increasing the levy from 20% to 25% would leave about a third of Buzz Bingo’s estate loss-making. He added that a blanket increase in machine games duty to 40% “risks undoing the positive impact the abolition of bingo duty was meant to achieve.” Mansour said: “For us at Buzz Bingo, at its worst this would mean the closing of clubs and would be a huge risk to jobs.”

Harris is due to meet Treasury officials. He does not believe ministers “want to close bingo clubs.” Harris explained: “The risk is they are targeting a specific part of the gambling sector they do not like. The risk to us is that we are collateral damage.” He continued that higher taxes would move venues to loss-making status, leading to closures over time, less jobs and investment. Harris said that within 12 months, if the tax rate goes up, the tax take goes down. Rank staff are “living in fear” of what a tax increase could mean for their jobs.

The Risk of Collateral Damage to Communities

Mansour described bingo clubs as “local, social and low risk.” He said: “In an increasingly fragmented world, bingo clubs have become the heart of communities. A local and safe place, where people can go to meet people from their community, share a drink and feel like they are part of something.”

A Treasury spokesman said the Chancellor is focused on giving families and businesses “a bit of breathing space”, supporting British jobs and driving growth while meeting the government’s fiscal rules. Tax decisions will be set out at fiscal events.

The proposed changes carry a direct risk of reducing net tax revenue while eroding employment in northern Red Wall seats. Operators have mapped how duty increases translate into unviable sites and lower overall receipts. Officials should incorporate these mechanics into Budget modelling to avoid policy that harms the very communities and fiscal outcomes it aims to support.

Reporting: Yogonet International

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