The UK Gambling Commission has posted a job advertisement for a senior 'Head of Illegal Markets' position with a £65,000 annual salary, aiming to tackle the country's rapidly expanding unlicensed gambling market. Research commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and conducted by H2 Gambling Capital reveals that the UK black market reached £16.6 billion in 2025, more than tripling from roughly £5 billion in 2019. Separate WARC analysis projects that unlicensed operators will account for about 42% of the UK's £1.9 billion gambling ad spend by 2026, with illegal advertising exceeding £1 billion by 2028.
Enforcement Actions and New Funding
Speaking at the Bingo Association AGM on May 7, acting chief executive Sarah Gardner welcomed £26 million in new government funding over three years, stating it would allow the regulator to address land-based illegal gambling 'arguably for the first time in a serious way.' Executive director Tim Miller reported at the Ethical Gambling Forum on April 28 that during 2025-26 the Commission 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 takedowns or geo-blocking. Miller called on Meta, Google, and Visa for a coordinated response while vowing to 'continue to ramp up our action against the illegal market.'
Leadership Transition and Task Force
The job posting arrives during a leadership transition at the Commission. Former CEO Andrew Rhodes stepped down on April 30, with Gardner moving from deputy CEO to acting CEO while a permanent replacement is recruited. 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.
Crypto Regulatory Framework
Parallel to enforcement efforts, the Commission is examining the integration of cryptocurrencies into the UK's regulated gambling framework. At the BGC Annual General Meeting in February, Miller stated that the Commission's Industry Forum has been tasked with studying how crypto assets could fund legal gambling under the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) forthcoming regulatory regime, expected to take effect on October 25, 2027. From that date, any operator offering crypto-funded gambling must be authorized by the FCA.
Salary Controversy
The £65,000 base salary for the new role has drawn significant criticism from industry observers, who note the stark disparity between the compensation and the scale of the £16.6 billion black market. Whether the recruitment yields a senior hire capable of working alongside Gardner's acting leadership and the £26 million in new funding will be an early test of the Commission's stated intent to address illegal gambling at scale.