The UK Gambling Commission this week posted a new senior role — 'Head of Illegal Markets' — with a base salary of £65,000, a figure that industry observers have widely criticized as inadequate for tackling a black market now valued at £16.6 billion. The recruitment comes during a leadership transition at the regulator and amid escalating pressure from the betting industry for stronger enforcement resources.
Key Takeaways
- The UK Gambling Commission is hiring a 'Head of Illegal Markets' at £65,000 per year to combat a £16.6 billion black market.
- Acting CEO Sarah Gardner welcomed £26 million in new government funding over three years to address illegal gambling.
- Executive Director Tim Miller reported 741 cease-and-desist notices, nearly 400,000 URL reports to search engines, and 1,134 site takedowns in 2025-26.
Salary vs. Market Size: A Stark Contrast
Speaking at the Bingo Association AGM on May 7, acting chief executive Sarah Gardner welcomed the new £26 million government funding over the next three years, describing it as enabling the regulator to tackle land-based illegal gambling “arguably for the first time in a serious way.” However, the £65,000 salary for the new senior role has drawn sharp criticism. Trade press and LinkedIn discussions have flagged that the compensation is out of step with the scope of the problem — a £16.6 billion unlicensed market.
The scale of the issue has expanded dramatically. Research from H2 Gambling Capital, cited by the Betting and Gaming Council, found that the unlicensed UK gambling market reached £16.6 billion in 2025, up from roughly £5 billion in 2019. Separate WARC analysis projected that unlicensed operators will exceed £1 billion in UK advertising spend by 2028, with illegal sites already accounting for about 42% of the country’s £1.9 billion gambling ad spend in 2026.
Enforcement Actions and Achievements
Even before the new role and funding take effect, the Commission has been active. Executive Director Tim Miller said at the Ethical Gambling Forum on April 28 that during 2025-26, the regulator had issued 741 cease-and-desist notices, reported nearly 400,000 URLs to search engines, referred over 1,000 websites for delisting, and disrupted 1,134 additional sites through takedown or geo-blocking. Miller pledged that the Commission would “continue to ramp up our action against the illegal market” and called on Meta, Google, and Visa for a coordinated response.
Leadership Transition and Government Task Force
The hire coincides with a leadership transition. Andrew Rhodes stepped down as chief executive on April 30; Gardner moved up from deputy chief executive to acting CEO while a permanent replacement is recruited. Meanwhile, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a dedicated illegal gambling task force in January, led by gambling minister Baroness Twycross, to coordinate enforcement across regulators, law enforcement, and major platforms.
Parallel Crypto Regulatory Push
The Commission is also advancing work to bring cryptocurrencies into the UK’s regulated gambling framework. At the BGC Annual General Meeting in February, Miller said the Commission’s Industry Forum had been tasked with examining how crypto assets could be used to fund legal gambling under the FCA’s incoming regulatory regime, expected to take effect on October 25, 2027. Any operator offering crypto-funded gambling would need to be FCA-authorized by that date.
Industry Skepticism and Outlook
The £65,000 salary attached to the 'Head of Illegal Markets' role has been widely flagged as inadequate. Many in the industry question whether the Commission can attract a senior candidate capable of working alongside Gardner’s acting leadership and the £26 million in new funding. The recruitment outcome will be an early test of the Commission’s stated intent to seriously address illegal gambling at scale.