Controversy in the UK: Upcoming regulatory change targets bookmakers on shopping streets

The story continues

The biggest overhaul of the British gambling market in nearly two decades is not over yet. After implementing much of the reforms stemming from the Gambling Act 2005 White Paper, the Labour government opened a new regulatory front that could transform the land-based sector: giving local authorities greater powers to prevent the opening of new betting shops and adult gaming centres (AGCs).

The initiative, promoted by the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is part of a broader strategy to recover the traditional shopping streets of the United Kingdom, where the closure of independent shops and pubs has coincided with the growth of betting shops and vape shops.

A reform that now looks at the territory

The revision of the Gambling Act focused mainly on online gambling, affordability controls, consumer protection and strengthening operator supervision. However, the political debate has now shifted to the urban impact of physical establishments.

Burnham called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to scrap regulations that limit the ability of municipalities to reject new gambling licenses. Their petition was backed by nearly 300 politicians and activists, who argue that communities should decide what they want their main streets to look like.

According to British government sources, a six-week expedited public consultation will seek to introduce the new measures with the aim of them coming into force in early 2027.

"Local people will have more influence on whether those shops should open or not, giving them a real say in what their high streets should look like," Downing Street said.

The economic argument behind betting shops

One of the most active voices in this campaign is Dawn Butler, MP for Brent East, who said that understanding the profitability of gaming machines completely changed her view of the sector's presence on the shopping streets.

"It was a real shock to me to find out, during a previous visit to a high street with The Guardian, how much money slot machines can generate," Butler said.

The lawmaker cited an official analysis based on data from the Gambling Commission, according to which B3 machines generate an average of £35,000 per year of gross output per machine.

"That figure made me understand the magnitude of the gambling industry's presence on our high streets and why they would want to have multiple stores on the same street to maximize their profits," he explained.

Butler also compared those revenues to the wages of British workers to illustrate the economic impact of the business.

"To put it in perspective, the national living wage for a person aged 21 and over is around £26,400 a year working 40 hours a week. In Brent, the average salary is less than £35,000. That experience underscored to me why urgent action was needed."

On the other hand, Entain's chief executive, Stella David, rejected the British government's project that would give municipalities greater powers to block the opening of new bookmakers. She said there is a clear difference between traditional betting shops such as Ladbrokes and Coral and adult gaming centres (AGCs), which operate high-stakes slot machines and a different business model.

In fact, as The Times explains according to the report, the sector argues that bookmakers are being unfairly associated with the deterioration of shopping streets. The Betting and Gaming Council states that the number of venues has fallen by more than a third since 2019, with around 3,000 shops closed, while adult gaming centres grew by 7% between 2022 and 2024, reaching 1,451 establishments

What B3 machines mean for industry?

B3 machines are one of the main revenue drivers within UK bookmakers and adult gambling centres. Its high profitability has been the subject of debate for years, as it partly explains the concentration of several premises of the same operator in the same commercial area.

For the defenders of the reform, limiting the opening of new establishments does not seek to prohibit gambling, but to avoid the saturation of certain communities and return greater decision-making power to local governments.

Potential impact on the UK market

It should be clarified that if the proposal succeeds, operators in the land segment could face a significantly different regulatory scenario:

• Greater veto power by municipalities.
• More demanding authorisation processes with greater citizen participation.
• Fewer opportunities for physical expansion in certain cities.
• Greater strategic value of existing licenses and premises.

As the growth of the sector continues to shift towards online gambling, the political debate shows that high streets remain a central element of British regulation.

In conclusion, the controversy is far from resolved. In this sense, the next big transformation of the market might not depend on new deposit limits or financial controls, but on a much more visible question for communities: who decides how many bookmakers can open on a shopping street.