Former education secretary Gavin Williamson has said the budget tax rises on online gambling will be a “hammer blow” to jobs in Stoke-on-Trent, the Midlands city where bet365 is based.
Williamson, who is the Tory MP for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, a constituency that lays just south of Stoke-on-Trent, added that jobs in wider Staffordshire would also be impacted.
Speaking during a Budget Resolutions debate, Willamson said: “One of the most successful technology companies in this country is based not in London or Cambridgeshire, but in Stoke-on-Trent, and it is called bet365.
“It is the world’s leading technology company for betting. It employs 5,500 people in Stoke-on-Trent, and it is the single biggest private sector employer there.
“Those who work there live not just in Stoke-on-Trent, but right across Staffordshire, the north west and the country. However, this Budget could destroy one of our most successful technology sectors, and for what?”
The Budget plans means remote gaming duty will rise from 21% to 40% next April, before online general betting duty will jump from 15% to 25% in April 2027.
The changes are expected to raise £1.1bn by the start of 2030s.
Williamson went on to cite Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) analysis detailing the likely effects of the budget on the gambling industry.
The OBR stated that it expects yield to be reduced by one third, and for operators to mitigate 90% of the duty increases by increasing prices or reducing payouts.
The OBR analysis also mentioned worsening channelisation and substitution to different forms of gambling as other potential ramifications. It did not refer directly to job losses.
Williamson said: “This Budget is an absolute hammer blow to an industry that is providing high-quality, well-paid jobs in Staffordshire, and in a city that has seen the decline of coalmining, the decline of ceramics and so many job losses over so many decades.
“Bet365 has been one of the most responsible employers by investing in the local community, investing in charity and paying its taxes here in the United Kingdom.
Speaking yesterday in a debate on gambling reform, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell said “real people will lose their jobs” due to tax hikes.
A Labour backbencher, Snell’s constituency includes bet365 HQ.
He said: “I come to this debate from a slightly different position. The single largest employer in my constituency is bet365, which employs 5,500 people in some of the high-value jobs in Stoke-on-Trent, and there will be job loss implications as a result of the Budget.
“I am not here to plead the case of bet365; the company will do that itself. I also have no interest to declare because I have never taken any hospitality or financial support from it.
“However, it is important to put it on the record that there are always consequences to the way that we regulate companies.”
The post Stoke-on-Trent MPs warn of “hammer blow” to jobs due to tax hikes first appeared on EGR Intel.
Gavin Williamson and Gareth Snell point to impact at bet365, which employees more than 5,000 people in the city
The post Stoke-on-Trent MPs warn of “hammer blow” to jobs due to tax hikes first appeared on EGR Intel.