Entain is the latest of the UK gambling giants to confirm mass job losses.
Around 400 members of staff could be made redundant as the Coral and Ladbrokes owner embarks on a cost-cutting exercise – with the firm’s CEO, Stella David, confirming that the ‘challenging operating environment’, a nod to the Gambling Tax hike rolled out in April, has been the root cause.
It brings the number of industry job losses to more than 2,500 since Rachel Reeves’ catastrophic Autumn Budget of last November.
Challenging Conditions
Around 20% of Entain’s customer support division could be lost as the company seeks ways to save money.
David confirmed that the job cuts were necessary in order to ensure the ‘business remains competitive, financially resilient and well positioned for the future as our sector faces an increasingly challenging operating environment.’
“This decision has not been made lightly, and our immediate priority is to support those of our colleagues who may be impacted through this transition,” David commented.
Although Entain are far from the only UK-focussed gambling firm to be making mass redundancies, they are one of the few to have posted positive financials over the course of the year to date.
For the first half of 2026, Entain revealed that underlying profit had reached £479 million; a 2% drop on the same period last year but £20 million more than the company itself had predicted.
Increased Duties
However, an already challenging operating environment could be about to get a whole lot tougher, with reports that the government are planning a further tax sweep of the sector in their next Autumn Budget, which is due in November.
John Healey, Reeves’ replacement as Chancellor, is expected to hike Machine Games Duty (MGD) – the tax paid on gaming machines hosted by betting shops, bingo halls and Adult Gaming Centres.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has made no secret of his bid to rid the high street of ‘dodgy businesses’, with the duty increase seen as a way to close the door on retail gambling.
In addition, the hike would gain the Treasury a much-needed pay day to cater for the government’s spending plans; anything from £275 million to £450 million has been quoted.
Stella David personally wrote to Burnham last week, revealing that a doubling of MGD – from 20% to 40%, as has been reported by some media outlets – would cut millions from Entain’s revenue stream… and likely result in as many as 1,470 betting shops to be closed.
And that, in turn, could see nearly 16,000 more jobs lost.
Downward Trend
Although it’s the numbers that make the headlines, behind them lies the human stories of redundancies and trying to find work in a troubled industry.
Just last week one of the most successful of the British betting firms confirmed that they would be slashing 300 jobs in the UK and 40 more overseas.
Confirming the news, a company spokesperson directly cited the recent tax grab as one of the main factors.
That was merely the tip of the iceberg, with the Evoke Group – the current owner of William Hill, until the takeover by Bally’s Intralot is finalised – closing 270 betting shops over the course of 2026 at a loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
And it was as recently as July that Betfred confirmed that they would also cull their betting shop numbers, reducing their estate by 132 properties. That accounted for 600 or so jobs.
And it never rains but it pours. Paddy Power revealed that more than 100 of their shops were to be shuttered, with an estimated 400 jobs at threat.
Should the government bring in its MGD hike as expected, thousands more gambling venues will be forced to close – with a staggering number of jobs lost.
Anyone that has worked in retail will know how few jobs there are out there to move into, so Burnham and co seem happy to create long-term unemployment – and essentially cut their tax take in the long run – for a short-term political ‘win’.
But with thousands of people made redundant, and many of them unlikely to walk into another job in the near future, is it really a win for the UK economy at all?