Britain's betting shops have been part of the high street for generations. They employ around 26,600 people, support British racing and remain among the few places where betting takes place in a staffed, age-verified and regulated setting.

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, further increases in gambling taxation, including a significant rise in Machine Games Duty, are under consideration. While intended to increase revenues, rises of this scale risk making some betting shops uneconomic to operate, leading to more closures across the country.

Shop closures would affect far more than the businesses themselves. They would mean fewer local jobs, less activity on the high street, reduced funding for British racing and fewer places where customers can interact face-to-face with trained staff. Some customers may choose to bet elsewhere, including with operators outside the UK's regulatory system.

Key facts

• 26,600 livelihoods supported by betting shops
• Staffed, age-verified and UK-regulated places to bet
• Betting shops help fund British racing through the Levy and media rights
• Illegal operators contribute nothing in UK gambling tax

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What's at stake?

Communities, jobs and high streets

Betting shops are more than places to place a bet. They are employers, training grounds and long-standing parts of local communities across Britain.

For many colleagues, a betting shop provides a first step into employment and the opportunity to build a career through training, development and progression. Some colleagues have spent decades in the industry, working in the same communities for 20, 30 or even 40 years. They know their regular customers by name, have built relationships over many years and are often among the most familiar faces on the local high street.

For many customers, visiting a betting shop is about far more than betting. People come in for a coffee, to watch sport, catch up with friends or simply have a conversation with someone they know. Many customers visit regularly without placing a bet at all. They value the routine, the social interaction and the sense of familiarity that comes from seeing the same staff and customers each week.

In communities across the country, betting shops provide a place where people come together. Customers often bring their dogs into the shop. Staff ask after family members and check in on regular visitors. Friendships are formed between customers who might never otherwise have met. These everyday interactions help create a sense of belonging and connection.

For some people, particularly those who live alone, are retired or spend much of their time by themselves, these regular social connections can be an important part of their week. At a time when many high streets have become less personal and increasingly self-service, betting shops remain staffed places where people know each other's names and conversations happen face-to-face.

Every closure means more than the loss of a business. It means fewer local jobs, less activity on the high street and the loss of a place where people meet, socialise and maintain connections within their community.

Supporting British racing

British racing and betting have a long-standing relationship. Betting shops contribute to the sport through the Horserace Betting Levy and media rights agreements, helping fund prize money, racecourses, training yards and thousands of jobs.

When retail betting activity falls, the effects are felt throughout the sport. Reduced turnover means less money flowing back into racing and the businesses and livelihoods that depend on it.

That means the impact of shop closures is felt not only on the high street, but across racecourses, training yards and the wider racing community.

Why betting shops are different

Betting shops offer something that cannot be replicated online: face-to-face interaction with trained colleagues.

Customers can speak directly with staff who are trained to identify changes in behaviour and start conversations about safer gambling when appropriate. Shops also provide in-person age verification and operate under strict licence conditions.

Betting shops contribute to gambling taxation, the Horserace Betting Levy and safer gambling initiatives. They are visible, accountable and subject to oversight under the UK's regulatory framework.

These are protections that only exist when customers and trained colleagues are together in the same place. Maintaining a viable retail sector means those protections remain available to customers.

Key protections

• Trained colleagues who can identify changes in behaviour and start safer gambling conversations
• Face-to-face age verification
• Oversight through UK licensing and regulatory requirements
• Contributions to gambling taxation, the Levy and safer gambling funding

If customers go elsewhere

Closing a betting shop does not mean people stop wanting to bet. Some may choose to use alternatives, including operators that fall outside the UK's regulatory framework.

Unlike licensed operators, illegal providers do not contribute UK gambling tax, support British racing or follow UK regulatory requirements. At the same time, concerns continue to be raised about the visibility of unlicensed operators and fraudulent gambling advertising online.

Government policy should encourage customers towards regulated operators and licensed premises, while making it harder for illegal operators to reach UK consumers.

A balanced approach to taxation

We support a well-regulated gambling market and a fair tax system. However, future policy decisions should recognise the role betting shops play in supporting jobs, communities, racing and customer protections.

A balanced approach would:

• Recognise the difference between staffed betting shops and other gambling products within the tax and regulatory framework
• Prioritise action against illegal operators and unlicensed gambling activity
• Focus on measures that reduce gambling-related harm
• Consider the wider impact on jobs, high streets, racing and tax revenues before introducing further increases in retail taxation

We’re at risk of losing the heart of high streets across the country

Betting shops support jobs, communities and British racing, while providing face-to-face customer protections that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Before any further tax rises are introduced, the impact on jobs, high streets, racing and customer protections should be fully understood.