Gambling Commission CEO Outlines 2025 Priorities for the UK Gambling Sector
Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), has outlined the regulator’s key priorities for 2025 at his annual industry briefing. The event was attended by representatives from over 85% of the British-facing gambling market by gross gambling yield (GGY) and covered compliance, customer fairness and regulatory innovation.
Compliance and Persistent Issues
Rhodes said compliance is improving, with fewer cases of unchecked high velocity gambling. But he noted volatility in assessment outcomes with 25% of assessments between July and September showing significant failings.
“The introduction of LCCP 3.4.3, or customer interaction requirements, means there are new standards, and operators are adapting,” Rhodes said.
He emphasized the importance of well-developed algorithms, policies, and interventions:
“Any operator of any real size and scale now who does not have well-developed algorithms, policies, procedures, interactions, and interventions in place is increasingly an outlier.”
He also highlighted issues around mergers and acquisitions, particularly technical complexities leading to marketing failures, such as targeting excluded customers. While he acknowledged these are unintentional, he said there needs to be a resolution mechanism to avoid public criticism.
Transparency and Consumer Fairness
Customer account closures and restrictions emerged as a significant area of focus. Rhodes criticized the use of “regulatory requirements” as a blanket explanation for such actions, calling for greater transparency:
He said, that operators must be transparent with customers about why additional information is requested or accounts are restricted or closed. This lack of clarity generates unnecessary complaints and frustration.
The UKGC plans to gather detailed data on account restrictions, closures, and withdrawal delays. Rhodes also addressed consumer complaints about withdrawal delays, acknowledging that 99% of withdrawals are processed within 48 hours by major operators, but emphasizing the need to resolve issues affecting the remaining 1%.
Expansion of GamProtect
Rhodes urged operators to join GamProtect, a data-sharing initiative launched in September to address gambling-related harms. The system enables operators to share information about consumers identified as high-risk, preventing further harm.
“It is early days but GamProtect has already identified over 6,000 consumers, helping protect them from risk and serious harm,” Rhodes noted.
Crackdown on Illegal Gambling
The UKGC has intensified efforts against illegal gambling, issuing over 770 cease-and-desist notices since April 2024. These include actions against operators, advertisers, and unlicensed platforms. The regulator also referred over 102,000 URLs to Google, resulting in the removal of 64,000 and the takedown of 264 websites.
“This is more than a tenfold increase in URL takedowns compared to the entire 2023-2024 period,” Rhodes said.
