Regulators · Great Britain
UK Gambling Commission: register, licence types and statuses
The Gambling Commission licenses gambling businesses serving consumers in Great Britain under the Gambling Act 2005. Its public register lists 2,633 businesses with their licence numbers, activities and statuses, plus the domains and trading names each business has declared. The register is downloadable as four CSV files; Kompanion reads them every week.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Gambling Commission (UK Gambling Commission, UKGC) |
| Jurisdiction | Great Britain |
| Legal basis | Gambling Act 2005 |
| Public register | Register of gambling businesses |
| Data files | Businesses, licences, domain names, trading names (CSV, Excel) |
| Register date | 26 October 2026 |
| Read by Kompanion | 26 October 2026, weekly |
| Licence guide for this market | UK Gambling Commission licence |
Which licence types does the register use?
Every licence in the register has one of three types. In the register's own descriptions:
- Remote: needed for any gambling provided to players online or by other remote means, and when any gambling equipment is based in Great Britain. Active remote licences: 680.
- Non-Remote: needed for physical, land-based gambling such as betting shops, arcades and casinos. Active: 1,674.
- Ancillary Remote: lets a licensee offer remote gaming from equipment located entirely on the premises where the gaming takes place. Active: 446.
What does each licence status mean?
Status is recorded per activity, so one licence number can show several. Meanings below follow the register's field descriptions; the right column is Kompanion's count of activities.
| Status | Meaning, per the register | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Licence is in force and up to date | 3,650 |
| Pending | A new licence or a variation has been applied for and is not active yet | 124 |
| Surrendered | The business gave the licence up as no longer needed | 645 |
| Revoked (non-payment of fee) | Revoked because the annual fee was not paid | 49 |
| Lapsed | The business was liquidated or declared bankrupt, or the licensee can no longer carry out the activity | 27 |
| Revoked | Revoked after regulatory action or a breach of licence conditions | 8 |
| Suspended | Suspended by the Commission pending investigation | 2 |
| Expired, Forfeited | No new licence applied for after the end date; or a court ordered that the licence no longer has effect | 0 |
What the register does not confirm
- Domains and trading names are self-declared. The Commission states that businesses provide them and that it cannot guarantee their accuracy. Kompanion marks them "declared by the business" on every profile.
- "White Label" is a status without a definition. 353 of 2,224 declared domains carry it; the register does not explain it, so we report it as listed.
- Corporate groups are not shown. The register names the licensed legal entity, not the group that owns it. Profiles show the group as "not disclosed" until a primary source links them.
- Head office addresses appear on each business's page, not in the files, and may be shortened at the business's request.
- Regulatory actions (sanctions and settlements) are listed on each business's page. Kompanion checks them by hand before showing any on a profile.
How Kompanion uses the register
A weekly import reads the four files, compares them with the previous snapshot and records every change. New domains and trading names are recorded automatically. Status changes, removals and renames wait for an editor, who confirms them on the official page before they appear. Full rules are in the licence verification method.
The Commission's terms of use allow linking but require approval to copy its material. Kompanion therefore publishes its own counts and ten operator profiles, each linked to the official record, and does not republish the register files.