Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes has stressed there will be “no more warnings” for suppliers that support and enable the illegal market.

Speaking at the GC’s CEO Briefing 2025 last week, Rhodes issued a stark warning to B2B firms that continue to provide games, content and platforms to both licensed operators and the black market.

The issue of suppliers supporting the black market in the UK was drawn into sharp focus last December when the GC opened an investigation into Evolution after some of the supplier’s games appeared on black market sites.

That investigation has yet to reach its conclusion, with Evolution boss Martin Carlesund telling analysts on the firm’s Q3 earnings call he was hoping for a resolution by the end of the year.

Rhodes told those at the briefing that the regulator has undertaken nine suspensions of B2B licences in the “last few weeks”.

No licence suspension notices are on the Gambling Commission database, bar one for Aviator supplier Spribe.

However, Spribe’s licence suspension was not related to the supply of the black market and concerned hosting requirements. The firm has said it is working hard to put the right licensure in place.

No more warnings

Rhodes said: “The other thing that I talked to you about when I stood here last year – and I spoke very slowly on purpose to emphasise my point, I remember – I very deliberately urged everybody who has any B2B partners who might be supplying them with games or software, to make sure you do your due diligence as to where they’re doing business.”

“There will be no more warnings for those actors. I’m not talking about you; I’m talking about providers who may be also servicing the illegal market. There will be no warnings.

“There are no excuses. We will not accept any excuses. And you should as a sector, expect to see more enforcement action in the coming weeks and months. We’ve been working on this area very actively and we don’t intend to stop.”

Earlier in his address, Rhodes also touched on the issue of white labels, which the CEO described as a “loophole” from which the industry had moved on.

White-label operators, including TGP Europe, allowed hundreds of operators to go live in the UK via a single licence. TGP Europe facilitated the likes of Stake to be live in the market.

In June, the GC informed TGP Europe that it would have to pay a £3.3m fine and “make significant improvements” in order to continue operating in the UK.

The fine was issued to TGP for “failing to carry out sufficient checks on business partners and breaching anti-money laundering rules”.

In response, TGP Europe chose to surrender its licence and leave Britain’s licenced gambling market.

However, Stake has continued to serve as the front-of-shirt sponsor for Premier League side Everton, despite not having a licence. Stake’s UK-facing site is not live and remains inaccessible, unless using a VPN.

Rhodes said: “The Commission thinks it is wrong that people are sponsoring football clubs who don’t have a licence in this country. We just think that is wrong.

“But it is not necessarily automatically an infringement of the licencing objectives, because if they are not taking any traffic from Great Britain, it is difficult to see how that would be an infringement, but our analysis is demonstrating that it is not quite as clear cut as that.

“And if you are under pressure as a sector, to consider how you advertise and when you advertise, who you use to advertise – all of those complex areas – we don’t think that you should be pitted against people who don’t have licence.”

Rhodes indicated a continuation of stricter measures, which are being backed by a “very, very supportive” government.

He added: “We’ve had genuine, grown up conversations about how the world has moved on and enforcement action has been taken in relation to some white-label providers which has meant they have exited the market.

“I think that is the right thing to have happened, but it’s given us a different challenge. And that is one that we’re addressing with government and I’m really optimistic that we will be able to do something in this in this space.”

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