William Hill to close 200 betting shops in the United Kingdom
Major betting company William Hill is closing around 200 betting shops in the United Kingdom from May, with parent company Evoke citing tax increases and rising cost pressures on the regulated sector as the primary reason for doing so. In December 2025, Evoke stated that it would be reviewing options, including a potential sale of the company, following tax hikes in the UK on online gaming and sports betting.
As reported by Bloomberg News, Evoke is planning to close around 200 UK betting stores. An Evoke spokesperson stated that, amid rising cost pressures, the company must take action to ensure that it can continue investing in its core retail estate by focusing on the right shops in the right locations.
Remote gambling duty increase comes into force
As of 1 April 2026, the UK remote gambling duty has risen from 21 per cent to 40 per cent, as part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget measures are now coming into force. Although certain markets, such as horse racing wagers, will remain at 15 per cent, this increase in the online gambling duty has fundamentally impacted the UK gambling industry. Evoke reportedly operates around 1,300 shops in the UK, which would mean that the closure of 200 shops would equate to approximately 15 per cent of its shops being closed.
In addition to the increase in the remote gambling duty, which has now come into place, a separate increase from 15 per cent to 25 per cent in the remote general betting duty will be enacted in a year’s time, in April 2027. This higher rate will apply to online betting, but will exclude self-service betting terminals, pool betting, horse racing, and spread betting.
The threat of the black market
After the gambling budget measures had been announced, Evoke chief executive Per Widerstrom had said that the company would work to implement mitigation plans which were likely to involve a significant reduction in UK investment, potentially including the loss of jobs with the closure of shops which would be deemed no longer sustainable. Widerstrom had commented that Evoke was very disappointed with the outcome of the UK Budget, as he said that it dealt a significant blow to the regulated industry, in turn, ultimately serving the growth of the illegal black market.
Similar concerns have been expressed by others, including Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) CEO Grainne Hurst, who said that the black market has continued to grow following the Chancellor’s Budget. Hurst argued that tax increases on the regulated sector are making it more difficult for licensed operators to compete against illegal sites that offer better odds and bigger incentives due to not paying tax and disregarding the rules.
Earlier in the year, the BGC had spoken of how official figures showed a 30 per cent fall in the number of betting shops in the UK. It said that the number of betting shops had gone down from 8,304 in 2019 to 5,825 by March 2025, which in turn resulted in the loss of over 10,000 jobs. At the time, it had stated that further closures would be expected as a result of gambling tax increases placing additional pressure on operators in both the online and retail market, and with Evoke now set to shut down 15 per cent of its UK shops, this seems to be ringing true at the moment.
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