As Tax Hikes Force More UK Betting Shops to Close, Devon's Bingo Fans Are Moving Online
Britain had 5,669 betting shops left at the latest official count. The decline has been running for years, and another round of betting shop closures suggests the bottom has not yet been reached.
Higher taxes are the culprit, squeezing the industry more than ever. The main tax on remote gaming rose to 40 per cent in April, while staffing costs and business rates continue to weigh on physical premises. Operators say the bill doesn't fit neatly within the online side of the business. So, when savings are needed, shops producing the weakest returns become obvious targets.
Bingo is feeling the very same pull away from the high street. Exeter lost its last dedicated hall in June, leaving regulars with fewer practical ways to play in person. In that setting, moving online is hardly surprising, as the digital game needs neither an ageing building nor a journey into town.
A Contraction With Names Attached
The long overview is bleak enough to discuss. The Betting and Gaming Council and the latest Gambling Commission figures put the contraction in plain numbers:
The number of UK betting shops fell from 8,304 in 2019 to 5,825 by March 2025, a drop of about 30 per cent.
The latest official count recorded 5,669 shops in Great Britain.
Betfred has proposed closing 132 branches, with around 600 jobs at risk.
Flutter confirmed that up to 100 Paddy Power shops across the UK and Ireland are under review, placing roughly 400 roles at risk.
The final totals may change, and no Devon locations have been named. Still, two national operators are considering sizeable cuts to their high-street networks.
Why an Online Tax Reaches the Shop Counter
The tax bill arrives online, yet the savings may appear behind a shuttered shopfront. April's increase in remote gaming duty did not make a cash bet at the counter more expensive. It covered online casino games and digital bingo. Large gambling groups balance costs across their online and retail operations.
The government's changes pull in different directions:
Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21 to 40 per cent on 1 April 2026.
Bingo Duty on play in licensed premises was abolished on the same date.
A 25 per cent rate for most remote betting begins in April 2027, while ordinary shop bets remain at 15 per cent.
The policy was meant to protect community bingo while hitting remote casino gaming hardest. For an operator running both, however, the line is not so tidy. Flutter estimates a $320 million hit to its 2026 adjusted earnings before $85 million of early mitigation. Its wider programme targets $500 million in gross savings by 2029.
Exeter's Final Call
Exeter's Mecca Bingo closed on 7 June, ending a run on North Street that began in 1963. The venue's closure notice now thanks customers and directs them towards the company's website and app. Twenty-two employees faced redundancy.
This was not presented as a casualty of the new remote tax. Rank, Mecca's parent company, pointed instead to an expiring lease and substantial maintenance costs. Even so, the closure belongs in the wider picture. Fixed premises become harder to defend as footfall shifts and running costs continue to rise.
Former regulars taking the digital route can use comparisons of licensed bingo sites to sort through game formats, payment rules and safer-gambling controls. Useful, certainly. But no comparison page can recreate the routine of North Street or the company people found there.
That loss weighs more heavily in places where a trip out already takes planning. For some Devon bingo players, particularly those without easy access to transport, online play is becoming the only convenient option left.
The Migration Is Real, but Incomplete
It would be easy to declare the hall era over. The evidence, however, is less tidy. Gambling Commission research found £650.4 million in land-based bingo yield from April 2024 to March 2025, against £165.6 million online, although £424 million of the venue figure came from gaming machines. The same survey recorded higher recent in-person participation than online. The physical game still has a pulse.
Online bingo removes one obvious problem: distance. Live presenters can recreate a little of the hall experience. A phone steps in and removes the journey entirely. No reliable county-level figure shows how many Exeter regulars moved online after June, but the reasons are clear, even if the scale of the shift remains unknown.
What a Screen Cannot Carry
Operators can move games and accounts from a club to an app, but of course, the local institution is harder to transfer. Exeter's hall offered paid work and a familiar public room. Former customers can still play, but not gather in the same place.
The switch also changes the risks. Deposit limits and account histories can help people monitor spending. Constant access can make it harder to leave a session. As more play moves online, those safeguards need to carry more weight.
The Easiest Option May Be the One Left
Tax doesn't explain every closure. Ageing buildings and changing habits are important. Exeter's hall closed for reasons tied to that property, while the bookmaker reviews reflect decisions across much larger businesses.
The result on a Devon street looks much the same: a familiar frontage goes dark, and the game survives elsewhere. If more premises disappear, moving online will not always feel like an enthusiastic leap into technology. Often, it will simply be the only path left open.
Not every part of Devon's economy is retreating indoors — work aimed at supporting the local economy by keeping Devon walking shows that in-person spending still finds a home when the infrastructure is there to welcome it.
