Gambling Firm William Hill to Pay Record £19.2 Million Penalty for ‘Alarming’ Failures

A man walks past a William Hill betting shop in Birkenhead, northwest England, on Sept. 30, 2020. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Three gambling businesses owned by William Hill have been ordered to pay a total of £19.2 million for “widespread and alarming” social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, the Gambling Commission has announced.

This is the largest settlement in the history of the Gambling Commission, which was established in 2007.

WHG (International) Limited, which runs williamhill.com, will pay £12.5 million; Mr. Green Limited, which runs mrgreen.com, will pay £3.7 million; and William Hill Organization Limited, which operates 1,344 gambling premises across Britain, will pay £3 million.

Social responsibility failures at William Hill businesses included allowing one customer to open a new account and spend £23,000 in 20 minutes, allowing another to open an account and spend £18,000 in 24 hours, and a third able to spend £32,500 over two days—all without any checks.

Ineffective controls allowed 331 customers to gamble with WHG (International) Limited despite having self-excluded with Mr. Green.

Anti-money laundering failures included allowing customers to deposit large amounts without carrying out appropriate checks—one customer was able to spend and lose £70,134 in a month, another to lose £38,000 in five weeks, and another to lose £36,000 in four days.

Suspension Considered

Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said: “When we launched this investigation, the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming, serious consideration was given to licence suspension.

“However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.”

The Gambling Commission said all £19.2 million will be directed towards “socially responsible purposes” as part of a regulatory settlement.

A spokesman for 888, the new owner of William Hill, said: “The settlement relates to the period when William Hill was under the previous ownership and management. After William Hill was acquired, the company quickly addressed the identified issues with the implementation of a rigorous action plan.

“The entire group shares the Gambling Commission’s commitment to improve compliance standards across the industry and we will continue to work collaboratively with the regulator and other stakeholders to achieve this.”

Deadly Addiction

But critics say the commission’s move does not go far enough.

Will Prochaska, strategy director at Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said, “Fines won’t stop the gambling industry from deliberately exploiting its customers and driving hundreds every year to suicide.”

He added, “The deaths will continue until the Gambling Commission uses the powers it already has to remove gambling firms’ licences and hold individual executives liable for these failures, or until the government announces significant reforms to gambling regulation.

“In the UK we desperately need the government to end gambling advertising and stop gambling companies from luring people to gamble more than they can afford.”

There are signs that gambling has become a more serious issue as millions of Britons are struggling with the soaring cost of living.

GamCare, a gambling charity, said the National Gambling Helpline which it operates took more than 3,700 online chats and calls in January—a 17 percent increase compared with the same time period last year.

According to the charity, which said it receives more than 42,000 calls to its helpline each year, its advisers are increasingly citing examples of how the cost-of-living crisis is causing people to turn to gambling.

‘Signs of Improvement’

The action against William Hill is the Gambling Commission’s largest enforcement case so far. The previous largest was £17 million action taken against Entain in August last year.

Since the start of 2022, the regulator has concluded 26 enforcement cases with operators paying over £76 million because of regulatory failures.

Rhodes, the commission’s chief executive, said: “In the last 15 months we have taken unprecedented action against gambling operators, but we are now starting to see signs of improvement. There are indications that the industry is doing more to make gambling safer and reducing the possibility of criminal funds entering their businesses.

“Operators are using algorithms to spot gambling harms or criminal risk more quickly, interacting with consumers sooner, and generally having more effective policies and procedures in place.”

It comes just a week after the commission fined two operators owned by Kindred Group plc a combined £7.2 million.

32 Red Limited, which runs 32red.com, was ordered to pay £4,195,655 and Platinum Gaming Limited, which runs unibet.co.uk, will pay £2,937,599.

Both also received an official warning following the Gambling Commission investigation.

32Red’s social responsibility failures included failing to identify customers at risk of harm based on their session times, and not having effective enough controls to identify and protect potential problem gamblers.

One customer was allowed to deposit £43,000 and lose £36,000 within seven days, the commission said.

Some self-excluded or blocked customers were able to register on Platinum Gaming after being blocked or self-excluded on the 32Red platform, and Platinum Gaming also failed to identify and interact with customers who may have been experiencing harm.

PA Media contributed to this report.