Betting and Gaming Council
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) is the UK's main gambling industry lobby group. Its CEO is Grainne Hurst, a former director for Entain. Their self-professed aim is to promote the betting and gaming industry and to try to ensure enjoyable, fair and safe betting and gaming experience for all of their customers. It acts as a a forum to facilitate collaboration, sharing of best practice, drive and champion standards, and create a single voice for the industry.[1]
History
The council launched in November 2019, replacing the Association of British Bookmakers, the Remote Gambling Association and the National Casino Forum.[2] Brigid Simmonds was its founding chair.[3]
In 2024, chief executive Michael Dugher became chair. Grainne Hurst, previously group corporate affairs director at Entain, succeeded him as chief executive in September that year.[4] Dugher stepped down as chair in January 2026.[5]
Initiatives
In October 2021, the BGC launched the "Take Time to Think" campaign, replacing the industry's "When the Fun Stops, Stop" message. The campaign encouraged customers to use tools such as deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion.[6] A randomised online experiment published in Behavioural Public Policy found no statistically credible effects of the message on the proportion of funds wagered, speed of play, number of roulette spins or use of a link to support information.[7]
The council also co-organises the annual Safer Gambling Week with Bacta and the Bingo Association. The campaign publicises support services and tools for managing gambling, including deposit limits and time-outs.[8]
The BGC commissioned GamProtect, a data-sharing scheme launched in 2024. If an operator closes an account after a customer reports serious gambling-related health problems, it can notify other companies participating in the scheme. Those companies can then check whether the customer has accounts with them and close those accounts too.[9]
Policy and lobbying
It has been subject to much criticism. For example Lord Foster, when contributing to the UK's select committee for culture, media and sport, accused them of making inaccurate statements on regulation.[10] Kiran Stacey and Peter Walker writing in the Guardian criticised the BGC for entertaining and paying MPs with trips to the Brit awards and an Ed Sheeran concert.[11]
References
- ^ Abstract, Designline, Pretty. "Our Purpose". Betting & Gaming Council. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Licensing Authority Bulletin December 2019". Gambling Commission. December 2019. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
- ^ Brown, Nick (2024-04-08). "Entain's Grainne Hurst to be new Betting and Gaming Council CEO". iGaming Business.
- ^ Mulligan, Richard (2024-09-09). "New BGC CEO Hurst puts focus on diversity and stability". iGaming Business.
- ^ Goldsmith, Kyle (2026-01-14). "Michael Dugher to step down as BGC chair with immediate effect". iGaming Business.
- ^ Fletcher, Robert (2021-10-15). "BGC replaces 'When The Fun Stops' with new 'Take Time To Think' campaign". iGaming Business.
- ^ Newall, Philip W. S.; Hayes, Ty; Singmann, Henrik; Weiss-Cohen, Leonardo; Ludvig, Elliot A.; Walasek, Lukasz (October 2025). "Evaluation of the 'take time to think' safer gambling message: a randomised, online experimental study". Behavioural Public Policy. 9 (4): 762–779. doi:10.1017/bpp.2023.2.
- ^ Mulligan, Richard (2023-11-22). "BGC: Safer Gambling Week 2023 most successful yet". iGaming Business.
- ^ Kayed, Viktor (2024-09-13). "UKGC: GamProtect "carrot" could soon follow with White Paper stick". SBC News.
- ^ Davies, Rob (2023-07-10). "UK gambling lobby group accused of inaccurate statements on regulation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ Stacey, Kiran; Walker, Peter (2023-04-06). "Gambling industry increased spending on MPs tenfold in five years, data shows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-17.