William Hill owner could shut up to 200 shops if Reeves raises gambling taxes

"We are mindful of potential tax increases in the forthcoming budget which would impact investment in the UK and drive more customers to the black market. As part of our ongoing planning, we are assessing the potential impact of different overall tax scenarios on our UK operations. This includes the difficult but necessary consideration for shop closures. The company stressed that no decision had been taken yet."

"Evoke, formerly known as 888, which acquired William Hill in a 2bn takeover in 2022, is drawing up plans for different scenarios before expected gambling tax increases in the chancellor's budget on 26 November. Evoke is considering shutting a number of outlets, in news first reported by the Sunday Times, which said closures could range from 120 shops to closer to 200. This would amount to between 9% and 15% of William Hill's chain of 1,300 betting shops, with up to 1,500 jobs potentially affected."

"The FTSE 250 company is struggling under a debt pile of 1.8bn after its largely debt-funded acquisition of William Hill, and made a pre-tax loss of nearly 78m in the first half of the year. Between five and 10 people typically work in a betting shop. Evoke, which also owns the 888 and Mr Green brands, has 10,000 staff in total."

Evoke, the FTSE 250 owner of William Hill, is preparing scenarios that could include closing 120–200 betting shops if expected gambling tax increases are enacted in the chancellor’s autumn budget. Closures would represent roughly 9–15% of William Hill’s 1,300 shops and could place up to 1,500 jobs at risk, with five to ten staff typically employed per outlet. Evoke acquired William Hill in a largely debt-funded 2bn takeover and now carries about 1.8bn of debt, recording a near 78m pre-tax loss in the first half. The company, which also owns 888 and Mr Green and employs 10,000 people, said tax rises could push customers to the black market and that no closure decision has been taken. Entain issued similar warnings, while the government is consulting on simplifying gambling duty rates, a change the sector fears would increase its overall tax burden.

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