Evoke Plc is considering whether to close “one in 10 betting shops”, depending on the outcome of the Autumn Statement and the Treasury’s new tax plan on UK gambling.

The extreme solution is being examined by Evoke’s new leadership team, according to The Sunday Times, which reported that the FTSE250 gambling group could close up to 200 William Hill shops.

The outcome would see Evoke shrink its UK high street estate by 9-to-15%, placing around 1,500 jobs at risk across the William Hill network.

The Times cites that William Hill executives are near certain that a tax increase will be announced in the Autumn Statement, as part of theLabour government’s economic strategy to plug widening budget deficits.

In preparation, Evoke has begun modelling several tax and cost scenarios to assess the financial impact on its retail and online operations. Should higher duties be confirmed, the company is expected to act swiftly to implement new cost controls, beginning with a reduction in its betting shop footprint.

In 2022, Evoke, formerly 888 Holdings, acquired William Hill’s UK business for £2bn, a deal that has since weighed heavily on the FTSE-listed group’s balance sheet. The company has reported consecutive FY2023 and FY2024 losses of £56m and £191m, primarily linked to William Hill’s online and retail operations.

However, during the first half of 2025, under a new operating model introduced by CEO Per Widerström, the business has begun to see William Hill return to growth earlier than anticipated.

The recovery strategy has refocused on upgrading betting shops, following the completion of the rollout of 5,000 new gaming machines across its 1,400 retail sites in March.

Leadership seeks to significantly enhance the estate’s hardware and in-store experience beyond those offered by main UK rivals of Ladbrokes, Coral, Paddy Power and Betfred.

Evoke’s leadership remains focused on deleveraging the balance sheet, having reduced the group’s debt leverage ratio to 5.0x, down from 6.7x the previous year. As reported in H1, Evoke holds £121m in available cash and £250m in total liquidity, providing a degree of stability amid continued retail challenges.

Duty merger rings retail alarms

At the heart of the Treasury’s review is whether to align all forms of Gaming Duty with the Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) at 21%, the rate currently applied to online slots, poker, and bingo, or to adopt a far more aggressive approach advocated by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and endorsed by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The IPPR has proposed raising the Remote Gaming Duty to 50%, increasing Machine Games Duty on cash-prize slot machines from 20% to 50%, and doubling General Betting Duty on sports betting from 15% to 30%—or potentially 25% under an alternative model.

The think tank argues that these increases could generate £3bn annually, presenting them as a cost-effective means of addressing what Brown has called the UK’s “social crisis,” in efforts to lift children out of poverty, a pledge that must be kept by the Labour government.

The gambling sector, however, has warned that such measures would have severe economic consequences, leading to further closures, significant job losses, and an exodus of consumers toward black-market betting platforms.

The looming tax review follows months of mounting political pressure on the gambling sector. Former PM Brown labelled gambling as a “polluter industry that is undertaxed,” while more than 100 Labour MPs have urged Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, to raise levies on betting to fund anti-poverty initiatives.

Industry leaders, including Entain CEO Stella David, have warned that any new tax burden could lead to further closures and reduced UK investment across the retail betting sector, already struggling with rising wages and higher National Insurance contributions adopted in Labour’s first budget.

An Evoke spokesperson commented that the company was “continuously reviewing and adapting our shop portfolio to ensure it aligns with our long-term strategy for sustainable, profitable growth,” while remaining “mindful of potential tax increases in the forthcoming budget.”