bet365 to cut about 340 jobs. Tax is the letter. AI is the floor talk.

bet365 told staff on 8 September 2026 it would take about 340 roles out of its European hubs — roughly 3 per cent of the workforce. Papers split that as about 300 in Stoke-on-Trent and about 40 in Malta and Gibraltar. Voluntary redundancies first.

The public line is a competitive market plus “increased regulatory and tax-related costs.” Remote gaming duty on online casino and slots went from 21 per cent to 40 per cent in April. A higher sports-betting duty is due in 2027. That is what the BBC, Telegraph and Sun printed, next to Denise Coates’s £104 million salary.

The company did not mention AI. Floor talk did, because the Sun put the Stoke jobs on trading and operations, and because bet365 already runs assist365 for staff and is hiring AI roles. Those facts sit next to the letter. They are not the letter.