The chief executive of Entain, the FTSE 100 group behind Ladbrokes and Coral, has said traditional betting shops should not be grouped with adult gaming centres under government plans to scrap the Gambling Act’s “aim to permit” rule, announced by the prime minister on Tuesday 11 August.
Stella David said the government needed to “be very careful not to bundle our great traditional betting shops” with adult gaming centres, which she said have a “very different style and tone”.
Andy Burnham said this week that he would give local councils the power to block gambling, gaming and vaping shops, pledging to bring high streets “back to life”. Under the measures announced by Downing Street, the government intends to revoke the aim to permit rule, which restricts the ability of councils to refuse new betting shops and 24-hour slot machine shops even where there are strong local concerns.
Adult gaming centres, which are adult-only venues offering up to 24-hour access to gambling machines, will also require planning permission under proposals due to come into effect at the start of next year.
Adult gaming centres have expanded across the country in recent years while traditional high street bookmakers have continued to decline. The number of adult gaming centres, which offer high-stakes gaming machines such as digital slot and fruit machines, rose 7 per cent to 1,451 between 2022 and 2024, according to Gambling Commission data.
The Betting and Gaming Council said the number of betting shops in Britain had fallen by more than a third since 2019, and that about 3,000 shops had closed. Entain has about 2,300 betting shops.
An industry source said that although the aim to permit reforms will cover betting shops, they are likely to focus on adult gaming centres. In a video posted on X, Burnham singled out vape shops and gaming centres when talking about the new powers given to councils.
Michael Snape, Entain’s finance boss, said the company’s shops “provide a safe place for people to gamble. We are very strict about underage people not coming in, unlike a lot of adult gaming centres, and we pay higher taxes.”
He added: “If you look at other operators who perhaps don’t pay taxes and don’t do anything for player safety, that’s where the problem is.”
The Betting and Gaming Council said it was wrong for the government to “lump highly regulated, licensed betting shops together with rogue or criminal businesses”.
The intervention follows earlier warnings from Entain that higher gambling duties could trigger shop closures, and from Betfred, which said 1,300 shops and 7,000 jobs were at risk if taxes on the sector rise. Ministers had previously shelved a separate set of slot machine reforms.
Entain started as GVC Holdings in 2004 under Kenny Alexander and has grown into one of the biggest betting businesses in the world. It owns the betting brands BetCity, Coral and Eurobet, as well as the gaming brands Foxy Bingo, Gala and Partycasino.
The company reported that net gaming revenues in the six months to the end of June rose 5 per cent, ahead of management’s expectations. Online net gaming revenues were up 7 per cent, helped by the World Cup. Twice as many first-time deposits came into its sports arm during the tournament compared with the 2022 World Cup.
Underlying operating profits were £479 million, 2 per cent down on the same period last year but ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Entain stuck by its aim for online net gaming revenue to grow by between 5 per cent and 7 per cent this year, and said it remained “comfortable” that it would be able to deliver underlying profits, excluding its US joint venture, of £934 million.
