Britain’s second-biggest taxpayers will close their entire estate of nearly 1,300 betting shops if Rachel Reeves increases gambling taxes in the budget, The Sunday Times can reveal.
Almost 7,000 UK jobs could be lost at Betfred, the Warrington-based bookmaker owned by the siblings Fred and Peter Done, its bosses said. “The most frightening element is we’re going to lose the whole retail business,” said Joanne Whittaker, chief executive. “I’m not scaremongering … I’m not being alarmist.”
Reeves is poised to increase duties on sports betting from 15 to 30 per cent and on machine and online slots from 20 to 50 per cent in the budget on November 26.