Evoke, the debt-laden company behind William Hill, is drawing up plans to close up to 200 betting shops if Rachel Reeves raises taxes on the gambling sector in the autumn budget on 26 November. The potential closures could affect up to 1,500 jobs.
According to reports, the closures would range from 120 to 200 outlets, representing between 9% and 15% of William Hill’s chain of 1,300 betting shops. Evoke, which also owns the 888 and Mr Green brands, employs 10,000 staff in total.
The FTSE 250 company is struggling under a debt pile of £1.8bn following its largely debt-funded £2bn acquisition of William Hill in 2022. It reported a pre-tax loss of nearly £78m in the first half of the year.
A spokesperson for Evoke said: “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.”
Evoke is the second major gambling company to warn of tax rises within a week. Stella David, chief executive of Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, also said higher taxes could lead to shop closures and investment being diverted abroad. The government is consulting on simplifying gambling duties, a move the sector fears would raise its overall tax bill. Former chancellor Gordon Brown has argued that up to £3bn extra could be raised from taxing gambling properly, while the Institute for Public Policy Research says changes could generate £3.2bn and lift 500,000 children out of poverty.
