The UK exit continues for Gambling firms

The United Kingdom has seen a number of gambling firms decide to leave the country over the last 12 months and this trend does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.

In October, Dunder became the latest iGaming platform to decide to pull their operations from the UK. Owned and operated by Malta-based MT SecureTrade, the operator had confirmed that they would be closing down their online casino within the country and would pull back on their domestic presence within the nation.

There are a number of reasons as to why the company has become one of the latest to leave the UK, although one was not particularly specified for their own decision.

Restrictions continue to get tougher

One of the biggest factors, though, could be the continued restrictions that companies within the iGaming sector continue to find themselves under whilst operating in the UK.

The country has continued to take a hardline stance against a number of gambling operators as they look to take control of the issues that gamblers can face – although the country has gone after gamblers as well.

The UK government have made it rather difficult for gamblers to receive entertainment from the industry as well because of the restrictions that have been implemented over the last few years. For example, the introduction of a new legislative group in the House of Lords has done little to keep many gambling operators around, which perhaps is why companies like Betsson no longer operate in the UK.

Poor external factors

Another reason that could be provided in response to why companies such as Dunder have decided to pull out of the UK is that the market is just not as lucrative as it was at the current moment.

Of course, the current global economic climate is not what it once was and that may have struck fear into many companies across the world and iGaming operators are not exempt from those fears. For example, Gaming Innovation Group (GIG) were one of the biggest operators looking to expand and enter the UK market, however timing did not work out for them.

In 2018, their attempt to become a key player in the market failed as they found it difficult to overcome many of the obstacles that they came up against in regards to the legislators looking to crack down on gambling.

Unknown political landscape

Whilst gambling operators leaving the UK market is not a new trend, the sheer fact that the political landscape within the country certainly does not help in regards to retaining confidence that things will work out.

Of course, Brexit is still set to happen and there are some unresolved issues in regards to the agreement, in which everyone seems none-the-wiser to what outcome could be reached.

Once Britain leaves the European Union, there will also be some concern that taxation for certain businesses may increase, which is perhaps why some iGaming organisations continue to leave the country.

Indeed, many of these businesses have been set up in countries where tax rates are favourable, thus an increase will only likely see operators look elsewhere to host their business practices.