JenningsBet Warns 100 Shops Could Close Under Proposed Machine Gaming Tax Rise
High street bookmaker JenningsBet has warned that up to 100 of its 212 betting shops would become unviable if the government proceeds with proposals to double the rate of machine games duty, the tax levied on gaming machines in retail premises. The company has indicated that more than 400 jobs could be placed at risk as a result of closures across its estate. The original article in the Times Newspaper.
The warning comes amid ongoing deliberations over gambling taxation, in which the Treasury has been weighing increases across a range of duties in order to bolster public finances. Machine games duty currently applies at a rate of 20 per cent to revenue generated from fixed odds betting terminals and other gaming machines located in betting shops. Proposals under consideration would double that rate, placing the retail betting sector, which is heavily dependent on machine revenue, under considerable financial strain.
Greg Knight, managing director of JenningsBet, has previously drawn attention to the cumulative pressures facing the retail sector, including prior stake reductions on fixed odds betting terminals, rising employment costs and increased media rights fees. The company has described the combination of higher taxation and these cost pressures as creating a “perfect storm” for betting shops and the wider racing industry that depends on levy contributions from retail wagering.
Industry bodies have amplified the warning. The Betting and Gaming Council, the sector’s main trade association, has claimed that doubling machine games duty could lead to the closure of more than 2,900 betting shops nationwide. The council has also estimated that a duty rise to 40 per cent could result in nearly a third of the UK’s approximately 5,600 betting shops closing, with associated losses of thousands of jobs and reductions in funding for horse racing, football and rugby.
The government, however, has faced counterarguments from within Westminster. Some members of Parliament have characterised the industry’s warnings as scaremongering, pointing to the sector’s profitability and arguing that operators have overstated the likely impact of tax increases. Supporters of higher duties note that gambling firms generate substantial revenues and that increased taxation would raise more than £1 billion annually to support public finances, while also contributing to the cost of regulation and research into gambling-related harm.
The debate is taking place against a backdrop of significant change in the retail betting landscape. Remote gaming duty on online casino games rose from 21 per cent to 40 per cent from April 2026, while general betting duty is scheduled to increase from April 2027. Several major operators have already moved to shrink their estates: Betfred has opened consultations on closing 132 shops with the loss of more than 600 jobs, citing higher gambling duties and employment costs, and its founder, Fred Done, has predicted that betting shops could disappear from the high street altogether by 2030. Bet365 has also cut hundreds of roles, citing higher taxation.
