Britain’s second-largest bookmaker has warned it will close all its 1,300 betting shops and cut 7,000 jobs if the government presses ahead with plans to double gambling taxes in next month’s budget.
Joanne Whittaker, chief executive of Betfred, said the measures being considered by chancellor Rachel Reeves would “wipe out the high-street betting shop”, threatening the future of Britain’s traditional gaming sector.
“The most frightening element is we’re going to lose the whole retail business,” Whittaker told The Sunday Times. “I’m not scaremongering — I’m not being alarmist. If these rises happen, that’s the reality.”
The Warrington-based company, owned by brothers Fred and Peter Done, is warning of what it calls an “existential threat” to the industry if Treasury proposals to increase sports-betting duty from 15% to 30% and machine and online-gaming duty from 20% to 50% are enacted.
The changes — strongly supported by former prime minister Gordon Brown and more than 100 Labour backbenchers — are forecast to raise £3.2 billion a year, enough to fund the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
The UK currently has around 5,900 licensed betting shops, employing roughly 46,000 people. Whittaker said if Betfred shutters its estate, rivals would likely follow suit.
“If the impact to us is that we lose the whole estate, that’s the same for all our counterparts,” she said.
In a letter to Reeves and Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, Whittaker warned that the policy could reduce, not increase, Treasury revenue by driving punters to unregulated offshore operators.
“These proposed changes would produce the opposite of their intended effect — reducing tax revenue and accelerating black-market growth,” she wrote.
Whittaker admitted she had been “stupid and naïve” to assume the government would exclude high-street shops from the new regime, adding that Treasury officials “don’t understand our business.”
Whittaker’s candid public stance marks a departure for the usually secretive Done empire. A self-described “accidental bookmaker”, she began working for Betfred after meeting Fred Done’s daughter during a part-time degree at Bolton College.
She helped launch the firm’s first online business in the early 2000s, left to found a childcare-voucher company, then returned in 2021 as chief executive when Fred Done became chairman. The Done family was ranked Britain’s second-largest taxpayer in 2025, contributing £273.4 million.
Betfred’s warning follows news that rival Evoke (owner of William Hill) is preparing to shut 200 shops, while Paddy Power has announced 57 closures. Entain, the FTSE 100 group behind Ladbrokes and Coral, has also said its retail arm would be “at risk” under steeper tax rates.
Campaigners argue that higher taxes are overdue after years of lax regulation under Labour governments in the 2000s. A 2023 study by Gamble Aware found 20% of adults are directly or indirectly harmed by gambling, while the NHS estimates 0.4% of the adult population suffers from problem gambling.
Whittaker insists most Betfred customers wager modestly: “The average bet is £9. People come in, sit, have a coffee and a chat. We’re part of local communities. We’re not the scourge of society.”
She warned that forcing mainstream operators out of business would only empower illegal betting websites, which took 71% of Europe’s online wagers last year, according to data analyst Yield Sec.
“The safest place for anyone to have a bet is with a UK-regulated bookmaker,” she said. “We haven’t always got it right, but we’ve invested heavily in player protection. If someone wants to bet, they should do it safely.”
Behind the scenes, industry sources believe Gordon Brown remains the driving force behind the expected tax overhaul. Asked what she would tell him if given the chance, Whittaker said: “Come and look at our numbers. Look at the modelling. See what those tax rates would do to UK jobs.”
The November 26 budget could therefore prove defining for both Reeves and Britain’s embattled betting industry — determining whether high-street bookmakers survive, or whether the era of the local betting shop finally draws to a close.
