Betfred Owner’s Jersey Move Highlights Offshore Pressures

Britain’s gambling industry is facing mounting pressure. Rising taxes are affecting how major operators structure their businesses.

When Betfred co-owner Fred Done moved his property group to Jersey shortly before Chancellor Rachel Reeves removed inheritance tax exemptions for family-owned businesses, the decision attracted attention far beyond the property sector.

The move was linked to Done’s personal property interests rather than Betfred itself. However, it has reignited debate around offshore structures and whether the UK’s increasingly expensive tax environment could encourage more gambling operators to relocate parts of their operations overseas.

Fred Done’s Jersey move causes debate

Fred Done and his brother Peter were reportedly Britain’s largest individual taxpayers in 2025. They paid around £400 million in tax through their Betfred empire. Around half of that total came from gambling duty.

It has been said that Done’s Jersey restructuring could save tens of millions of pounds in inheritance tax because ownership would be placed under a trust structure.

Although the restructuring was not connected directly to Betfred’s gambling business, the timing has caused wider discussion about the growing financial pressures facing UK-facing operators.

Gambling companies have been preparing themselves for substantial tax increases introduced in the government’s autumn budget. Remote Gaming Duty on online casino products doubled from 21% to 40% in April 2026. Online sports betting duty is also due to rise from 15% to 25% in April 2027.

The Treasury expects the changes to generate more than £1 billion annually by 2031. For operators, however, the increases represent a major hit to profitability.

Sky Bet’s Malta Structure Became an Offshore Blueprint

Betfred would not be the first gambling company to restructure parts of its business offshore.

In late 2025, Sky Bet owner Flutter Entertainment shifted certain commercial and marketing functions into Malta through SBG Sports Limited. Analysts at Tax Policy Associates estimated that the structure could reduce UK tax liabilities by around £55 million per year.

Flutter maintained that the move was driven by operational efficiency and said Sky Bet would continue paying UK corporation tax on profits generated in Britain. Critics weren’t convinced.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for an investigation into the arrangement. Tax campaigner Dan Neidle questioned the VAT structure publicly.

The controversy showed how UK-facing gambling operators can legally maintain their British consumer brands if they move selected commercial functions into jurisdictions like Malta, Gibraltar or Jersey, where tax treatment is often more favourable.

For large operators spending hundreds of millions on marketing each year, relatively small differences in tax treatment can create substantial savings.

Rising gambling taxes increase pressure on operators

The tax burden facing UK operators has intensified significantly over the past 12 months.

Flutter projected that the new UK tax measures would reduce earnings by approximately £230 million in 2026 before mitigation measures. By 2027, the company estimated the impact could rise to £540 million.

Flutter UK and Ireland chief executive Kevin Harrington warned that Britain’s remote gaming tax rate is now higher than some European markets, including the Netherlands. He argued that previous tax rises overseas had contributed to increased black-market gambling activity.

Fred Done has made similar warnings repeatedly. Speaking to the BBC last year, he argued that high taxes risk pushing consumers toward offshore operators that “don’t pay anything to this country.”

Betfred chief executive Joanne Whittaker also criticised the government’s approach, saying she had been “stupid and naive” to believe retail betting shops would be protected from wider tax changes.

Betfred currently operates around 1,273 betting shops across the UK. Done previously warned that around 300 of those stores were already loss-making before the latest tax increases were introduced. He suggested that further pressure could threaten thousands of jobs.

The numbers

Retail betting shops continue to decline

The UK’s retail betting sector has already been shrinking for years.

Industry figures show the number of betting shops has fallen from almost 10,000 in 2017 to around 6,668 today. Operators increasingly rely on online revenues to support parts of their retail estates that are no longer profitable on their own.

That change means the profitability of digital gambling operations is becoming more important than ever.

With taxes on online gambling rising, operators may face difficult decisions. They will need to think about where they locate commercial functions, how they structure their businesses and whether the UK remains competitive compared to other regulated markets.