{
  "id": 7765083,
  "title": "Gambling giant blames job cuts on Burnham high street crackdown",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/gambling-giant-blames-job-cuts-on-burnham-high-street-crackdown",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-16T10:11:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/gambling-giant-blames-job-cuts-on-burnham-high-street-crackdown/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, has announced plans to cut approximately 400 jobs across its global customer care team. The gambling giant attributes this decision to both rising costs and increasing pressure on the industry, as well as to plans by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, to crack down further on betting shops in his efforts to revitalize Britain's high streets. In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Entain's CEO Stella David warned Burnham against increasing the machine games duty (MGD) from 20% to 40%, stating that such a move would lead to \"substantial\" job losses and shop closures across the UK high streets. David emphasized that betting shops have been a long-standing part of local communities, providing jobs, supporting local economies, and serving as familiar, staffed gathering places for customers. She argued that a 40% increase in MGD would cost Entain's UK retail business £100 million annually, threatening the company's ability to hire young people and exacerbating the youth unemployment crisis. David warned that such a tax hike could push gambling activity away from the regulated high street, potentially leading to illegal activities. Entain's CEO also noted that gambling tax hikes imposed during the previous government have already caused significant costs for businesses, and a further doubling of MGD would add to these burdens, making it harder to sustain shops, jobs, and investment in local communities.",
  "summary": "Ladbrokes owner Entain has hit out at Andy Burnham’s plans to shake up the high street as the gambling giant blamed the Prime Minister for its decision to cut 400 jobs. The group, which also owns Coral, has announced that it will cut about a fifth of the headcount of its global customer care team, [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}