Gambling industry giant bet365 has become the latest operator to announce job losses, with the news that 340 roles are set to be cut across the business.
The company blamed pressures from increased taxation and regulation, along with the competitive trading environment, for the decision.
Online gambling operators were hit by a near-doubling of the rate of remote gaming duty to 40% the budget last year, while a new remote betting duty of 25%, up from 15%, will come into effect from April next year—although horseracing received a carve-out.
There are also reports that the government is considering hiking the rate of machine games duty in next month's budget which, at 40%, industry modeling has estimated could result in more than 2,900 betting shops closing and reduce the sector's contribution to British racing through levy and media rights by £70 million (approx. US$94.7 million).
It is expected that about 300 of the jobs at risk will be based at bet365's headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, with the remaining 40 in its offices in Gibraltar and Malta.
The company employs 10,000 people globally, with 5,500 in Stoke where bet365 is one of the city's major employers.
A bet365 spokesperson said: "As an international business, we continually review and assess our operations to ensure the business's long-term future. We're currently facing a highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs.
"As a result we're restructuring some of our locations this year. Ultimately, this will result in a reduction of approximately 340 roles across our European hubs, which is the equivalent of around 3% of the workforce.
"We're committed to minimizing the impact on our people and are exploring all avenues to reduce the number of redundancies. As a first step, we're planning a program of voluntary redundancies. Our colleagues are our priority. We understand the concerns many will have. Impacted staff have been informed and are being fully supported throughout this process."
Since the budget, William Hill has announced it will be closing 270 betting shops, although it did not specify how many jobs were at risk while, at the end of July, Betfred said it was set to close 132 shops, citing increases in taxation and economic uncertainty as the primary drivers behind the decision. Those closures were expected to impact about 600 jobs.
Only last week, Paddy Power, which last October announced the closure of 57 betting shops, revealed that another 100 are set to close before the end of the year, with 400 jobs at risk.
The Betting and Gaming Council has estimated that by the end of 2026 more than 600 betting shops will have closed and 5,000 jobs will have been lost since last year's budget.
Gareth Snell, Labor and cooperative member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central, said the job losses at bet365 "should serve as a warning to the regulators and the Treasury."
He added: "These are well-paid jobs in an area of the country that needs investment. Bet365 is an internationally successful company built from the ground up in Stoke-on-Trent."
Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst said the news was "yet more evidence of the real-world consequences of the tax rises imposed on Britain's betting and gaming industry".
She added: "The government must now rule out any further tax rises on the sector. Ministers should instead pursue an evidence-led approach which protects jobs, investment, and the regulated market, rather than handing an advantage to the unsafe, unregulated illegal gambling market."
