Big Bad Wolf

What is Big Bad Wolf?

In March, William Hill told staff it plans to permanently close approximately 200 of its retail shops in the UK, around 15% of Evoke’s retail estate.

Last month, meanwhile, Betfred announced plans to shutter 132 of its UK betting shops, reducing its workforce by over 600 employees.

Betfred CEO Jo Whittaker said: “We have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice.”

What is Big Bad Wolf?

Growth was strongest online, where remote casino, betting, and bingo GGY climbed 6.9% to £8.3 billion ($11.1 billion), compared with a modest 1.1% increase across land-based sectors.

This digital expansion coincided with a continued shrinkage in physical retail. Great Britain had 8,081 licensed premises at the end of the period, down 2% year-on-year.

Several operators have announced shop closures over recent months, including Entain and Flutter, citing a rising tax burden.

About Big Bad Wolf

Tech Race Summit 2026 takes place on 10 September in Warsaw. It gathers the experts working on the technology behind today’s digital businesses.

According to Kastukevich, Tech Race Summit is filling a genuine void. Although he has seen plenty of business-focused conversation in iGaming, there is almost no dedicated space for engineering and technology discussions.

The event is positioned as knowledge-sharing infrastructure for the industry rather than a SOFTSWISS sales platform. With SOFTSWISS positioned as host rather than presenter, the focus stays on where senior technologists think the industry should be putting its investment and attention over the next six to twelve months.