The UK Gambling Commission has appointed Sue Young as executive director of operations, bringing in a senior public sector figure with a background in HMRC and the Home Office to lead a portfolio of the regulator’s operational functions.
Background and Appointment
Young joins from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, where she served as director of debt management. Her public sector career also included posts at the Home Office, Border Force, and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
The Commission confirmed she will lead a number of its operational teams. Given the regulator’s stated enforcement priorities, that remit is widely expected to cover its illegal market programme — an area that has absorbed increasing institutional attention following record compliance activity in the 2024-25 financial year.
The appointment follows the departure of former chief executive Andrew Rhodes. Sarah Gardner has stepped up as acting chief executive in his place.
“I’m delighted to welcome Sue to the Gambling Commission. There is a great deal of important work underway across our operational teams, not least our continued focus on tackling the illegal market and delivering strong regulatory outcomes. Sue brings a wealth of operational leadership experience and I’m very much looking forward to working with her.” — Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Executive, UK Gambling Commission
“I’m excited to be joining the Gambling Commission and to be learning about a new sector. The Commission plays an important role in protecting consumers and ensuring gambling is conducted fairly and safely. I’m looking forward to building on the significant work already underway across the organisation.” — Sue Young, Executive Director of Operations, UK Gambling Commission
Record Enforcement Backdrop
Young’s arrival comes at a moment of significant operational expansion for the regulator. The Commission’s latest annual report showed its Operations Directorate completed more than 9,700 compliance actions in 2024-25, compared to 4,200 the year before — an increase of almost 3,000 activities above any prior year on record.
The scale of that enforcement ramp-up sets the context for Young’s brief. The Commission has made tackling unlicensed operators a central plank of its current strategy, and her background coordinating large-scale compliance operations at HMRC positions her for that work.
The UKGC has faced sustained scrutiny from operators over the pace and cost of regulatory change. A series of major operator penalties and an aggressive push on illegal market identification have defined the Commission’s recent posture, and the £18m in penalties issued during 2025 underlines how actively it is deploying enforcement tools.
Leadership Transition in Context
The Commission is managing a period of leadership transition at the executive level. Rhodes’s departure left the chief executive post vacant, with Gardner holding the acting role. Young’s appointment stabilises the operations function during that interval and signals the Commission is pressing ahead with its enforcement agenda regardless of the broader leadership picture.
The Commission has also recently opened consultations on cryptocurrency payment access for licensed operators — a policy area that sits squarely within its licensing and compliance framework, and one that Young’s team will be expected to operationalise if the consultation moves forward. For background on that process, see the Commission’s formal consultation on crypto payments.
On the broader UK regulatory environment, operators navigating the confirmed gambling tax increases taking effect in April 2026 will be watching how the new operations leadership prioritises its compliance caseload — particularly as higher tax rates increase the commercial pressure that has historically driven some activity toward unlicensed channels.
Source: Gambling Commission
