Written by Jon Bryan | Expected reading time 4 minutes
Last Updated: March 25, 2026
Written by Jon Bryan
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) AGM often sets the tone for the year ahead. Jon Bryan, writing for SlotsHawk, offers his thoughts on the event and what it says about the sector.
CLEAR MESSAGES
With everything that 2025 brought for the gambling industry, there was a bit more pressure on the BGC at their AGM last month. There are different views among key parts of the sector, so some clear messages to unite people was the order of the day. The focus they chose was the black market.
Kicking off what is arguably their flagship event, Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC, led from the front about what the sector was looking for, and what was needed from the government and regulators. Reflecting the difficult and destabilising twelve months, she said that the industry was looking for ‘stability and certainty’, particularly with the tax increases announced last November and the impact that they will have.
Hurst didn’t ignore what has been going on, acknowledging that the day felt ‘a little bit different’. That feeling was evident amongst others who were there.
THE BLACK MARKET
The key message that the BGC wanted to get across was about the black market. This has also been a theme of their work since the AGM. There was an opportunity on the day to play their ‘innovative new online game’ which is ‘designed to help consumers spot the warning signs of unsafe, unregulated gambling websites.’ The black market was also referred to in other speeches on the day: both the Gambling Minister and the Gambling Commission (GC) referenced it. The Commission noted the additional funding from the Treasury to tackle unregulated gambling.
Hurst made some useful observations about the black market, and there were continual references to it being ‘harmful’, ‘unsafe’ and ‘unregulated’. The fact that government predictions identify this as a growth area (and that they can’t claim revenue through taxation from the black market), suggests there is an opportunity for some mutual work and understanding in this area.
For me, the simple point that the unregulated market “do not support communities”, a comment that Grainne Hurst made in her closing remarks at the end of the day, is reason enough to identify it as a problem which needs tackling.
CHALLENGING THE DOMINANT NARRATIVE
In several of the sessions, the message came across that there is a real need to ‘challenge the narrative’ about gambling, with Hurst pointing out that it is not ‘a shameful activity’.
In one of the discussions with some industry leaders, the need for an alternative to the continual news feed we get about gambling harm came across loud and clear.
There is a total imbalance in what we hear, see and read about, compared to the reality of the enjoyment of gambling that millions participate in. It is a shame that the government do not assist in challenging that imbalance, both in what they say and what they implement in policy and regulation.
PLANNING IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
During the day, industry leaders stated that the question of ensuring the sector continues in this new environment is being addressed:
‘We are having to do financially responsible things’, one said, giving an indication about the planning that was being undertaken. ‘We have to address the cost base, and that will mean people’.
Another asked ‘How do we survive this?’
One message that came across from the industry was that people want to gamble, and they will do so in the black market if the regulated market is unable to adapt and offer what customers want. David Williams, The Rank Group, told us that ‘The black market is a symptom of imbalance’. It means that the government has got it ‘wrong’ with the regulation of the sector.
THE FUTURE
The next twelve months will give us an indication about how ‘wrong’ and how ‘imbalanced’ things are in the gambling sector. There is certainly a need to continue to challenge the imbalance in public discourse.
Jon Bryan is a Gambling Writer and recreational Poker Player who writes regularly on his Substack, as well as for SlotsHawk, which you can find here: Jon’s articles for SlotsHawk.
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