Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has announced plans to cut approximately 400 jobs from its global customer care team. The gambling giant has attributed this decision to rising costs and Prime Minister Andy Burnham's proposals for high street reform.
Stella David, Entain's chief executive, stated that the job cuts are a response to "a backdrop of rising costs and increasing pressure" on the gambling sector, as well as Mr Burnham's plans to further regulate betting shops. Mr Burnham has pledged to crack down on betting shops and vape sellers, which he claims have "hollowed out" high streets.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms David cautioned against increasing machine games duty (MGD) from 20 to 40 per cent. She warned that such a move would lead to "substantial" job losses and shop closures across UK high streets, potentially undermining efforts to boost town centres. A thinktank has suggested this MGD increase could cost the sector £460m, with Entain estimating a £100m annual cost to its UK retail business.
An Entain spokesperson confirmed the job cuts are part of ongoing efforts to address the impact of increased UK gambling taxes and to become a more agile business. Shares in Entain, which recently moved from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250, saw a decline of about 0.7 per cent to 494p on Wednesday morning.