Betfred founder Fred Done has warned that 495 of the bookmaker’s UK betting shops could close if the government doubles Machine Games Duty (MGD) from 20% to 40% at the 28 October Budget, in an interview with the Financial Times published over the weekend.
Done told the FT the closures would put 2,575 jobs at risk and cut Betfred’s tax payments to the Exchequer by £67 million a year. The 495 shops are about 45% of the 1,094 Betfred expects to keep once its current closure programme is complete.
What Fred Done said
Done founded Betfred with his brother Peter in 1967 and still owns the business. He told the FT the Done family paid £400 million in tax last year. Betfred’s own UK tax bill was £210 million in the year to March.
“They keep saying those with the broadest shoulders should be paying more tax. Well, how broad do my shoulders have to be? We paid £400mn in taxes as a family last year,” Done said.
His outlook for retail betting was blunt.
“I believe that by 2030 we will have no betting shops. The high street will be dead.”
Done said customers would keep betting after the shops closed, and warned where that spend could go.
“Do you think when there’s no betting shops punters will stop betting? The answer is no. They will find a way to bet, like in the prohibition.”
He also told the paper he had never felt so gloomy about the country’s prospects since opening his first shop in Salford in 1967.
The warning comes seven weeks after Betfred opened a consultation on closing 132 UK shops, with about 600 jobs at risk. Chief executive Jo Whittaker blamed higher employer National Insurance, wage inflation, gambling taxes and economic uncertainty at the time. Last November, Done said the rising tax burden could force the closure of all of Betfred’s UK shops.
What the machine tax change would mean
MGD is charged on net takings from gaming machines at three rates: 5% on low-stake machines, 20% standard and 25% on machines with a maximum stake above £5. Chancellor John Healey is considering an increase at the 28 October Budget, according to The Times.
The option under discussion comes from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), which recommended in June that the rate on Category B machines, the higher-stake machines found in betting shops, casinos and adult gaming centres (AGCs), double from 20% to 40%. The SMF puts the yield at £275 million to £458 million a year once reduced play is factored in.
Regulus Partners has modelled a 40% rate and estimates that about 4,000 betting shops, or 70% of the estate, and 90% of AGCs would close, with 43,000 direct job losses. Both sets of numbers are projections.
Machine income covers a large share of a shop’s fixed costs, which is why the retail estates are most exposed. The 2025 Budget left MGD at 20% while raising Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) on online casino from 21% to 40% from April 2026, and remote betting duty from 15% to 25% from April 2027. Operators with both online and retail businesses have already taken the first increase.
Entain puts its cost at £100m a year
Entain, which owns Ladbrokes and Coral, has written to the Prime Minister’s office urging Andy Burnham to drop the MGD proposal. According to The Independent, Entain says doubling MGD would add around £100 million a year to the cost of running its UK retail business.
The letter, which refers to a Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) report on shop closures, says the increase could lead to up to 1,470 shop closures and 15,900 job losses, as quoted by This is Money.
Entain shared the letter as it announced a consultation on 400 customer care jobs, its second round of cuts in 2026 after 500 roles in July. The group has estimated the online duty changes add about £200 million a year to its costs.
Paddy Power
Flutter Entertainment is reviewing up to 100 Paddy Power shops across the UK and Ireland, with around 400 roles at risk, according to Business Post. Flutter closed 57 Paddy Power shops in the two markets in October 2025. It has pointed to the RGD increase, high street competition and economic uncertainty.
What happens next
Healey presents the Budget to the House of Commons on 28 October. No MGD rate has been confirmed, and the SMF report does not bind the Treasury. Betfred’s 495 shops, Entain’s £100 million and the BGC closure figures are the numbers the sector has put in front of the government before then.
If the rate doubles and Betfred follows through, an estate that peaked at 1,680 shops in 2017 would fall to about 600.
Source: Financial Times
