Techme101.com

Problem gambling referrals doubled in Northern Ireland last year, as well as a notable rise in women seeking support.
The news comes from Extern Problem Gambling’s Barry Grant and Claire Donegan, who briefed the All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling on Tuesday, January 27. The organization offers online and app-based support to those struggling with problem gambling, helping more than 12,000 people across the island of Ireland.

Today the APG met to hear a briefing from Claire Donegan and Barry Grant from @ExternProbGam on the organisation’s important work and what it is doing to support people experiencing gambling-related harms. pic.twitter.com/bAFoKouGjf
— Reducing Harm Related to Gambling APG (@GamHarmAPG) January 27, 2026

Grant stated that the number of referrals in Northern Ireland has roughly doubled in the last year, with preference given to Northern Ireland referrals as there are few comparable services that offer alternatives to residents. In addition, the number of women seeking help has risen.
Grant also noted that there are more land-based gambling addictions in Northern Ireland than compared to the Republic of Ireland, explaining that it’s thought this is due to the difference land-based gambling products available between the two countries.
As just one example, Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) are available in Northern Ireland, but do not exist in the south, while Northern Ireland also has fewer alcohol and age-related restrictions on gaming machines. Extern urged the group to introduce legislation to establish an Office of Gambling Regulator to improve protection for vulnerable people.
Problem gambling in women
Donegan expanded on the situation for women, presenting a summary of Extern’s Women’s Gambling Support Network (WGSN), which includes one-to-one recovery plans, group support meetings, online services, and a 10-week module-based recovery plan. Since its introduction, 42 women have sought help from the network, a 328% increase from before its inception. She also highlighted that land-based gambling is more prevalent in older women.
When asked about how women are developing issues with problem gambling for women, Donegan explained that many use gambling as a stress response or a form of escapism from caregiving responsibilities. Some women also use casino-based products, particularly among older women, for social reasons.
Ireland’s All Party Group recently called for a gambling tax hike to raise funds to support those with issues with problem gambling and  reduce gambling-related harm.
Featured image: All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling
The post Problem gambling referrals doubles in Northern Ireland, with rise in requests from women appeared first on ReadWrite.

The brother duo behind the UK betting shop chain Betfred has been named the UK’s biggest taxpayer for the first time.
Brothers Fred and Peter Done, founders of bookmaker chain Betfred, have been named in the top spot of The Sunday Times Tax List, a round-up of the UK’s highest-paying taxpayers in 2025. The brothers paid £400.1 million ($547.7 million) tax over the last year, coming in ahead of various other rich names and families, including Harry Styles, aristocrats, and entrepreneurs.

But he’s right in saying the UK does have a billionaire problem.
Too many of them are leaving. We need them to stay, invest, create jobs – and pay tax.
Today’s Sunday Times names the top 100 taxpayers. https://t.co/BYxziCcXCR https://t.co/QLF357Sc2A pic.twitter.com/bzrtArOXA2
— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) February 1, 2026

In total, the 100 individuals and families included on the list paid £5.758 billion ($7.88 billion) in taxes in the UK, a 15.5% increase from the year before. The Betfred brothers are in the top spot with a clearance of £68.7 million ($94 million).
The duo got their start in the world of betting with a winning wager for England to win the 1966 World Cup. They used those winnings to open the first Betfred shop, with over 1,300 shops now open in the UK in 2025.
However, Fred Done warned last year that a tax hike could see those locations forced to shut down, saying that the tax rises would be the “biggest threat” to the industry in his lifetime. This warning was followed by a steep rise in UK betting taxes, much as Done had feared.
The next entry on the Sunday Times list is Alex Gerco, a Moscow-born trader based in London who paid £331.4 million ($453.6 million) in taxes last year.
Betfred’s not just paying high taxes
As well as the Done brothers’ personal hefty tax bill, the company itself was slapped with a large bill at the end of 2025, after Betfred was found “unable to effectively identify and manage money laundering risks” related to their gaming machines and failed to “identify spend and associated financial indicators of gambling harm for customers using B3 gaming machines.”
This landed the company with a £825,000 ($1.1 million) fine.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
The post Betfred brothers named the UK’s biggest taxpayer for the first time appeared first on ReadWrite.