Shave The Beard

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“We are committed to minimising the impact on our people and are exploring all avenues to reduce the number of redundancies,” the spokesperson said. “As a first step, we are planning a programme of voluntary redundancies.

“Our colleagues are our priority. We understand the concerns many will have. Impacted staff have been informed and are being fully supported throughout this process.”

Bet365 noted the impact of the UK government’s near doubling of the remote gaming duty, which increased from 21% to 40% on 1 April this year.

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This isn’t the first time this policy has been mooted in the Dutch parliament. A 2025 bill proposed raising the age for “higher-risk” activities like online slots.

Van Bruggen insisted more time was needed to establish whether an age limit hike to 21 would actually have the adverse effect of pushing young people in the Netherlands towards unlicensed offerings.

Among those pushing for the increased age limit were the SGP’s Diederik van Dijk and the CDA’s Tijs van den Brink.

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Entain warned that a sharp rise in MGD could prompt customers to migrate out of the regulated market, estimating that up to £1 billion in gambling stakes could shift to the black market.

The company cited analyses from the Office for Budget Responsibility which suggested previous gambling tax rises had reduced expected tax receipts, including a £500m reduction in forecast receipts for 2029-30. This revenue, writes David, would flow to the black market. 

A new report commissioned by Euromat, and produced by Regulus Partners and Helios, has estimated that Europe’s black market has sustained a compound annual growth rate of 18% between 2019 and 2026, and will be worth up to €13 billion by the end of the year.