UK Betting Trade Body Launches Back Our Betting Shops Campaign Against MGD Doubling Rumours
BGC’s Back Our Betting Shops campaign launches as the government under Prime Minister Andy Burnham prepares to publish its Autumn budget later this month. The government is reportedly considering doubling all three rates of MGD. Entain and Betfred warn of imminent shop closures as thousands of shops close and thousands of jobs disappear.
SCCG Take — The industry must convert community appeals into measurable fiscal offsets if it hopes to blunt the rise; without them, further high-street contraction appears probable.
The Betting and Gaming Council has launched its Back Our Betting Shops campaign as the government led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham prepares to release the Autumn budget later this month. Reports indicate officials are weighing a doubling of all three Machine Games Duty (MGD) rates.
Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive Officer of the BGC, stressed the human stakes. “Behind every betting shop is a team of real people earning a living, supporting their families and playing a part in their local community,” Hurst said. She described the shops as community hubs that sustain local employment, social ties and support for British sport including horseracing and rugby league.
Warnings of Closures and Job Losses
The proposed changes would lift the lower MGD rate from 5% to 10%, the standard rate from 20% to 40%, and the higher rate from 25% to 50%. Fred Done, founder of Betfred and operator of more than 1,300 UK shops, has warned that betting shops could vanish from the high street by 2030. Stella David, CEO of Entain, issued parallel cautions in a letter to Burnham, citing the shops’ community role and employment value.
Betfred closed 10% of its estate this summer. Entain has shuttered venues in Ireland. William Hill and Paddy Power have likewise scaled back their retail footprints, as reported by SBC News. Hurst noted that thousands of shops and jobs have already disappeared. Further increases, she said, risk additional livelihoods, vacant premises and the loss of valued local businesses.
Where the Risk Lies
The BGC’s push echoes its 2025 opposition to Remote Gaming Duty and General Betting Duty rises, as well as parallel efforts by the British Horseracing Authority and The Sun newspaper. Burnham’s stated aim of an NHS-style social care system, even if it requires broad tax rises, frames gambling duties as a politically low-friction target. The campaign’s emphasis on jobs and communities seeks to shift that calculus, yet the record of prior lobbying shows the difficulty of halting revenue-driven adjustments once momentum builds. Operators and investors should track the final budget language for any transitional relief or phased implementation that could mitigate immediate retail pressure.
Reporting: SBC News
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
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