William Hill to close 200 shops after Labour’s £1.1bn raid on the playing sector

William Hill owner Evoke yesterday confirmed plans to close 200 betting shops following Labour’s £1.1billion raid on the gambling sector.

The move comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiked online gaming and sports betting duties.

Evoke had warned ahead of Reeves’s Budget last autumn that the changes were likely to result in the closure of a large number of its 1,300 UK sites.

Last night a spokesman said: ‘Following a thorough review and further to increased cost pressures on the regulated sector including significant tax increases announced by the Government in last year’s Autumn Budget, from May we are closing a number of shops that are no longer sustainable.

‘These decisions are never taken lightly, however in the face of rising cost pressures we must take action to ensure we can continue to invest in our core retail estate, with the right shops, in the right locations.’

The decision will be seen as the latest example of Labour’s punishing anti-business policies.

Closures: William Hill owner Evoke had warned ahead of Rachel Reeves’s Budget that the changes were likely to result in the closure of a large number of sites

Reeves used her Budget to raise remote-gaming duty levied on online casinos from 21 per cent to 40 per cent from April, and lifted the levy on online sports betting from 15 per cent to 25 per cent.

The tax hikes sparked fury across the gambling industry with Evoke boss Per Widerstrom at the time labelling the move ‘ill-thought-through, counter-productive, and highly damaging’.