William Hill parent company evoke has declared it will have to cut thousands of jobs after Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% in her 2025 Budget.
The global betting and gaming company, which also operates UK brands 888 and Mr Green, saw its shares tumble 16% on the London Stock Exchange in the hours following Wednesday’s budget announcement.
The 40% Remote Gaming Duty being introduced by Reeves will kick in from April 2026 and there will be an additional 10% applied to General Betting Duty from April 2027, increasing that rate from 15% to 25% for everything but horseracing.
Evoke had been among several market leaders in the UK warning that an increase in taxes would lead to gambling companies reducing investment in the country, with inevitable cutbacks such as betting shop closures and shedding staff.
CEO Per Widestrom described the new measures as “ill-thought-through, counterproductive, and highly damaging.”
Evoke To Take Immediate Action
Widerstrom confirmed that evoke will need to implement immediate changes to limit the long-term financial damage.
“As an industry, we have consistently warned of the significant impact on jobs, investment in the UK, and player protection that these changes would have, yet sadly the Government has chosen not to listen,” he said.
“These proposals are ill-thought-through, counterproductive, and highly damaging.
“It is clear these changes will significantly harm businesses, employees, and customers.
“We will begin immediately on executing our mitigation plans, which involve a significant reduction in investment into the UK, and, very regrettably, the likely need for thousands of jobs to be cut up and down the country.”
Widerstrom warned that the new tax measures would not achieve what the government set out to do and would actually result in much-reduced revenues and see customers turning to unregulated bookmakers.
“As a result of the actions now required, these tax changes will reduce the overall level of tax the regulated industry pays in the UK, and more importantly it will have a significant negative impact on player protection as these changes will incentivise activity moving to the illegal and dangerous black-market.”
How Much Extra Will Evoke Have To Pay?
In its latest financial report for Q3 2023, evoke gave a strong outlook for FY25 but was wary of what the implications would be if there was a gambling tax hike.
Evoke paid tax and duty of £329 million to the UK Exchequer in 2024, which was more than 60% of its UK profits.
Based on the Executive Board’s estimate for gross gaming revenue prior to the Budget, evoke would see its UK tax and duty obligations go up between £125 million and £135 million annually, once both of the new tax rates were in force.
It also estimates that £80 million of those costs would affect its FY26 return.
Following the Budget evoke has withdrawn its medium-term financial target and confirmed its position in a statement.
“The Group currently expects to be able to mitigate approximately 50% of the impact from higher duties over the medium-term through supplier savings, reduced marketing, retail store closures, operating cost savings, and potential changes to the customer proposition,” it read.
“As one of the leading and largest operators in the UK market, the Group is better positioned than many to navigate this increase and, over time, potentially stands to benefit from further consolidation of market share with the likely exit of smaller operators due to the rising costs.
“The Group is withdrawing its medium-term financial targets as it evaluates its future investment plans as a result of these significant duty changes. A further update will be provided as and when appropriate.”
