LONDON – A senior official at Britain’s gambling regulator warned that the agency cannot single‑handedly combat the growing threat posed by major offshore operators and organized criminal groups targeting the U.K. market.
Tim Miller, executive director of the U.K. Gambling Commission, told the Betting and Gaming Council’s annual meeting on Feb. 26 that while the regulator is taking a “robust approach” to illegal gambling, its size and mandate require close cooperation with other government bodies and private‑sector partners.
Miller welcomed the additional £26 million in funding allocated to the commission in the government’s latest budget but said the agency remains a relatively small public body. Tackling sophisticated black‑market actors, he said, requires coordination with social‑media companies, technology platforms, affiliates, financial institutions, and the government’s new illegal‑gambling task force.
“We are a fairly small public body based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, often trying to take on either big multinational corporations or criminal gangs based in places like Russia,” Miller said during a Q&A session. “So we’ve got to be realistic about what we can achieve.”
He said the commission is encouraged by the creation of the cross‑government task force, which includes representatives from finance and social‑media sectors, but stressed that the most serious threats to the regulated market come from large international operators and organized crime groups operating outside U.K. jurisdiction.
Miller also addressed emerging issues such as the potential use of cryptocurrency in gambling, noting that any future policy changes would require careful assessment of risks.
The remarks come as the commission undergoes internal change. CEO Andrew Rhodes recently announced he would step down to take a new role, which has not yet been disclosed.
