The gambling industry is one of the most successful in the UK. That has been illustrated by the latest Sunday Times Tax list with the top 100 including Fred and Peter Done from Betfred and bet365’s Denise, John and Peter Coates.
2026 is going to be a worrying one for UK online gambling businesses. April will see remote gaming duty increased from 21% to 40%. The Treasury is determined to raise a lot more money in tax revenue than ever before. Why is this happening and what does the future hold for our top gambling businesses?
Topping a chart is often seen as a great achievement for those concerned. The new Sunday Times Tax List sees brothers Fred and Peter Done climb to the top of the tree with an estimated £400.1 million paid in tax over the past year. That’s up from £273.4 million in the previous list.
2027 will mark sixty years since they founded Betfred. They progressed from opening land-based betting shops all around the UK. As the gambling industry underwent great change due to the arrival of the internet, the company saw increasingly higher amounts of revenue being earned by the company. Despite the huge tax bill, Peter Done says that he and his brother won’t quit the UK as they feel “they owe this country.”
Last March saw Betfred report a net profit of £112.6 million, though this covered a 78-week period rather than the usual 52. Betfred’s business has undergone several operational changes with withdrawals from the Spanish and American gambling markets. The desire is to concentrate on markets that can produce healthy financial results, particularly South Africa.
The past year has seen stricter regulation placed on the UK’s gambling industry. There continues to be concerns about the safety of gambling, particularly online. Online slots are considered to be highly addictive and 2025 saw new maximum stakes imposed on them.
Despite the new limits of £2 for players aged 18-24 and £5 for those 25 and above, the online slots continue to be highly profitable for online gambling companies. Their Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) for the period between July and September 2025 was £747 million, an increase of 9 percent from the same period 12 months ago. Total online GGY for July to September 2025 was £1.42 billion, an 8 percent year-on-year increase.
With such large amounts of GGY being earned, it is not therefore surprising that the remote gaming duty rate was increased in last November’s Budget. In the weeks leading up to the Budget, Betfred announced that a rise could see them close their land-based shops.
More problems hit Betfred when the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) ordered Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited, trading as Betfred, to pay £825,000. This came after the Commission carried out an investigation that discovered anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. This was the latest in a series of fines issued by the UKGC.
Also on the list in fifth place were Denise, John and Peter Coates who paid a total of £227.1 million in tax. Bet365 has long been one of the most successful online gambling companies in the UK. 2025 saw Denise Coates receive a pay package that came to at least £280 million, up from nearly £158 million in the previous year.
The increase came despite bet365 reporting a fall in pre-tax profits from £596 million to £339 million. A key reason for the fall was rising costs associated with the company expanding in new overseas markets. Direct costs rose from £696.8 million to £895.5 million. Better news was a 9 percent rise in overall revenue to £4 billion. Up to March 2025, bet365 paid £482 million in tax, up from the previous year’s £364 million.
Entain, who are the owners of Ladbrokes and Coral, reported a 6 percent revenue growth for Q3 2025. Net gaming revenue for the UK and Ireland rose by 8 percent compared to the previous year. With success in the USA too, the company is making steady progress but their CEO Stella David is concerned about the upcoming tax increases.
The CEO has said that they are “disproportionate tax increases” and will have a “detrimental impact” on the economic contribution the gaming industry makes. The future may see jobs being put at risk and the amount of funding given to sports may be reduced.
Another concern that the regulated gambling industry has is the rise of the black market. The unlicensed sites do not need to adhere to the strict regulation that is now in place, including new rules on bonuses as per bonusrated.com. Nor do they pay any tax to the Treasury. The tax rises are good news for the black market as more players may leave the regulated market if services are reduced thus affecting revenue figures for the licensed sites.