{"id":11276,"date":"2026-09-22T22:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T22:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:22:08","slug":"betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/","title":{"rendered":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops.<\/p>\n<p>Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Betfred currently operates about 1,094 UK betting shops.<\/li>\n<li>Done estimates 495 closures could reduce government tax receipts by about \u00a367 million.<\/li>\n<li>Remote Gaming Duty already increased from 21% to 40% in April 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong>Betfred Says Retail Economics No Longer Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Betting machines remain a major part of Betfred retail economics. Done said they generate roughly half of shop profit even after the maximum FOBT stake fell to \u00a32 in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>The standard Machine Games Duty rate currently stands at 20% of net takings for qualifying machines. Chancellor John Healey is reportedly considering raising that rate to 40% in the Autumn Budget.<\/p>\n<p>Betfred already closed 132 shops earlier in 2026 as higher taxes, employment costs and wages weighed on the retail business. Chief Executive Jo Whittaker said at the time:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Other major bookmakers have also reduced retail operations. Evoke announced plans to close around 200 William Hill shops, citing higher costs including gambling tax increases.<\/p>\n<p>Entain CEO Stella David has separately warned that a 40% Machine Games Duty rate could add around \u00a3100 million to annual costs. She wrote to Prime Minister Andy Burnham:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThey are people losing their jobs and communities losing long-established high-street businesses.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Fred Done Warns Betting Shops Could Vanish<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Done went further than outlining possible Betfred closures. He said the economics of operating betting shops could become unworkable across the sector by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI believe that by 2030 we will have no betting shops. The high street will be dead. We\u2019ve already worked it out that with the increases in taxes and salaries and other wages it won\u2019t be worth operating,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n<p>The warning comes while the government also prepares planning changes for betting shops. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced in August that the government plans to remove the existing \u201cAim to Permit\u201d approach and give councils more control over new betting shops and adult gaming centres.<\/p>\n<p>Betfred also has close financial links with British horse racing. The bookmaker sponsors all five British Classics, including the Derby, Oaks and St Leger. Its current agreement made Betfred the first company to sponsor all five at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Done said uncertainty around gambling taxation could affect future sponsorship decisions. He also argued that fewer regulated betting shops could direct some customers toward unlicensed gambling operators.<\/p>\n<p>The Done family paid about \u00a3400 million in UK taxes during the previous year, while Betfred contributed around \u00a3210 million, according to the Financial Times.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThey keep saying those with the broadest shoulders should be paying more tax. Well, how broad do my shoulders have to be? We paid \u00a3400 million in taxes as a family last year.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/\">Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.1.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino Online Best\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.1.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Online Casinos - News about Online Casinos\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos\",\"headline\":\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/c-and-c-media\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/#organization\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#webpage\"}},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Best Online Casinos\",\"description\":\"News about Online Casinos\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/c-and-c-media\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/c-and-c-media\\\/\",\"name\":\"Casino Online Best\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aea35efa16ab25f562b2cf968e6f8b5a7b924961b1e74651e01522ac09ec2106?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Casino Online Best\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos\",\"description\":\"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/c-and-c-media\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/c-and-c-media\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Best Online Casinos\",\"description\":\"News about Online Casinos\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/casino-online-best.com\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos","description":"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates","canonical_url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#blogposting","name":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos","headline":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/author\/c-and-c-media\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/#organization"},"datePublished":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#webpage"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#listItem","name":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com#listItem","name":"Home"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/#organization","name":"Best Online Casinos","description":"News about Online Casinos","url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/author\/c-and-c-media\/#author","url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/author\/c-and-c-media\/","name":"Casino Online Best","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aea35efa16ab25f562b2cf968e6f8b5a7b924961b1e74651e01522ac09ec2106?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Casino Online Best"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/","name":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos","description":"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/author\/c-and-c-media\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/author\/c-and-c-media\/#author"},"datePublished":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/","name":"Best Online Casinos","description":"News about Online Casinos","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Best Online Casinos - News about Online Casinos","og:type":"article","og:title":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos","og:description":"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates","og:url":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/","article:published_time":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-09-22T22:22:08+00:00","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase - Best Online Casinos","twitter:description":"Betfred founder Fred Done says another UK gambling tax increase could force the bookmaker to close almost half of its remaining betting shops. Done told the Financial Times that a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty could put 495 Betfred shops and 2,575 jobs at risk within a year. Good to Know Betfred currently operates"},"aioseo_meta_data":[],"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tBetfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com"},{"label":"Betfred Warns 495 Shops Could Close Under Machine Tax Increase","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/betfred-warns-495-shops-could-close-under-machine-tax-increase\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}