The Gambling Commission's Business Register Brings Transparency to Gambling Compliance
28 September 2026
The Gambling Commission's public register of gambling businesses enhances regulatory compliance by openly exposing key information on licensed businesses, their trading names, domains, and regulatory actions. As of 21 September 2023, the register lists 2,640 records, actively updated and searchable by account number, trading name, domain, or regulatory action.
What the Register Shows
Each gambling business recorded in the register includes a wealth of compliance-relevant information, comprising the business's account number, trading name, domains, licence status, activity dates, associated premises, and regulatory actions like licenses revoked in the last three years. "Licensed businesses must display that they are licensed to the public," according to Gambling Commission guidance. This requirement helps reinforce the public visibility of the register.
Why Compliance Visibility Matters
The open publication of a business's licence status, trading names, domains and history of regulatory actions increases transparency for consumers, industry stakeholders, and the Commission. "The register helps the public verify a business’s licence and regulatory history," the Commission notes. By studying register data, the public can spot potential licensing gaps for businesses before gambling, and the regulator gains oversight to check compliance more systemically.
"Openness and transparency underpin all the Commission's work," states its policy. By exposing gambling businesses' regulatory status, the register allows businesses greater reason to live up to the license conditions and empower consumers with compliance knowledge.
How the Commission Uses Compliance Oversight
The Gambling Commission uses the register as one tool in its wider compliance framework to assess the suitability of gambling businesses. It runs remote compliance audits, using video-based interviews and document analysis. "The Commission may conduct these assessments without notice, using documents such as internal board and/or audit reports, customer and trading records, player profiles and/or marketing materials," the regulator's guidance warns.
The Commission classifies non-compliance outcomes as 'Compliant', 'Improvement Required', or 'Serious Failings'. Serious Failings prompts the regulatory equivalent of probation: the business goes into 'Special Measures' and must submit to an 'Urgent Action Plan'. Non-cooperation could lead to a licence review.
What Happens When Problems are Found
When the Gambling Commission flags a licence-holder for serious infractions, it can request emergency remedial action without notice. Failure to agree or follow through on a remedial plan exposes the business to licence revocation - the regulator's ultimate compliance leverage.
Typical infractions draw one or more of the following regulatory sanctions:
- Enhanced compliance procedures
- Regulatory settlements
- Direct licence reviews
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- Formal enforcement
- Criminal investigations, and
- Criminal prosecution
Individual and firm licensees that dodge sanctions will see their infractions published in the public register indefinitely: "The Gambling Commission publishes the names of companies or individuals whose licenses have lapsed, been revoked, forfeited, expired, suspended, or surrendered in the last three years," the Commission reports.
What Gambling Businesses Need to Know
The stakes for gambling businesses are clear: meet the regulator's licensing and compliance terms, or risk the full force of the Commission's regulatory powers. Getting marked as a 'Serious Failure' in the public register is an awful last resort for any business with a compliance record coming under close public scrutiny. The pressure on any manager to steer clear of penalties may rewrite the very corporate culture.
For any gambling business, if you're advertising or providing remote gambling services to consumers in Great Britain, it's mandatory to have an operating licence issued by the Gambling Commission. Entirely separate licensing exists for land-based gambling activities. Any service providing the "facilities" to customers for gambling activities needs to stand normatively licensed.
The Gambling Commission also carries out annual compliance inspections, with details of licence applications and compliance visits published yearly. The public-facing register then incorporates the findings of these compliance spot-checks, prompting businesses to prioritise transparency.
How the Register Works in Practice
For industry organizations, consumer advocates and other stakeholders, the register is the first stop when vetting businesses for regulatory compliance. It's a handy search function, selectable by account number, account name, trading names, domains and associated premises. "Searching for a gambling business or trading name that you think may be linked to UK regulated gambling?" prompts the Commission. Just enter the info, hit search, and the register compiles the results.
All that said: the Commission cautions readers that while the data is gathered pursuant to legal authorization, it still comes from the gambling businesses themselves. The Commission undertakes to keep the data up-to-date, but it will not typically verify the licensee's own self-reported data. Register transparency provides objective, searchable information, but for subjective assessments, licensing applicants and auditors must proceed with some diligence.
Check the Gambling Commission's Public Register of Gambling Businesses