Standards body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has represented the regulated betting and gaming sector at a shadow DCMS roundtable held on Tuesday.

The roundtable, titled: Future of the Gambling Industry in the United Kingdom, drew industry leaders together to explore key issues including responsible gambling, regulatory developments and the future of the sector.

CEO Grainne Hurst represented the BGC at the summit, hosted by Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Stuart Andrew MP and Shadow Minister for Gambling Louie French MP inside the House of Common’s Shadow Cabinet Room.

BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said: “It was fantastic to sit down alongside our members and other stakeholders from across our diverse sector to thrash out the challenges and opportunities facing the sector today with the shadow DCMS team.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Stuart Andrew and Louie French, two dedicated MPs who understand this industry, and are keen to ensure the Opposition are completely across the key pressures facing our members, their millions of customers, and thousands of employees.

“Collaboration is key for the BGC, and we welcome this positive engagement with the shadow DCMS team.”

The roundtable also focussed on balancing economic growth with consumer protections and social responsibility.

Following welcome remarks, the summit heard industry’s perspectives on current challenges and future opportunities plus ways in which the Opposition can support future policy.

Grainne attended alongside representatives from BGC members, Flutter, Entain, Evoke, bet365, Bally’s, The Rank Group, Star Sports and the Hippodrome Casino, plus the UK Tote Group, National Lottery, BACTA and the Gambling Business Group.

BGC members support 109,000 jobs, generate £6.8bn for the economy while raising £4bn in taxes.

They also help fund horseracing to the tune of £350m a year through sponsorship, media rights and the levy, provide £40m for the English Football League and its clubs and millions more for rugby league, darts and snooker.

Each month in Britain around 22.5m adults have a bet and the most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.

Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery, has announced that it has secured the European Lotteries (EL) Responsible Gaming Certification, as well as Level 4 of the World Lottery Association’s (WLA) Responsible Gaming Framework – the highest possible level.

The responsible gaming accreditations from these leading industry bodies help ensure that members of these organisations – like Allwyn and other lottery operators worldwide – operate their licensed lotteries with the highest standards of player protection and safety. They also reflect how successfully a lottery has implemented responsible play into its day-to-day operations.

These industry-standard certifications demonstrate Allwyn’s firm commitment to participant protection – with a continuous programme of work to prevent underage and excessive play from the outset.

Allwyn’s CEO, Andria Vidler, said: “Just over a year on from taking over as The National Lottery operator, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve achieved these important EL and WLA Responsible Gaming Certifications.

“National Lottery games are specially designed to be safe and secure, ensuring they don’t appeal to underage or vulnerable players. However, with over 30 million people routinely playing National Lottery games – raising over £30 million a week for Good Causes in the process – it’s crucial that we continue to do everything we can to prevent underage and excessive play.

“So, it’s great to have this external recognition of what we’ve achieved so far, but we also know that our work in this area is never finished. We plan to continue working hard on our responsible play credentials and driving up our own high standards, keeping National Lottery players at the heart of everything we do.”

BETER, an award-winning supplier of fast betting content, data, and odds, has entered into a major distribution agreement with Turbo Stars, a cutting-edge platform and game provider for the next generation of sportsbooks.

According to the deal, BETER integrated its full suite of content into the Turbo Stars platform, allowing its operator partners to access its fast betting content for esports and sports.

This includes BETER’s proprietary ESportsBattle tournaments that deliver non-stop betting action across popular titles like eFootball, eBasketball, and eHockey, totaling 35,000+ monthly events.

Operators powered by Turbo Stars can also offer their players BETER’s flagship Setka Cup table tennis tournaments, and BSKT Cup basketball league.

Across both esports and sports, BETER has more than 46,000 fast betting events each month that Turbo Star’s operator partners can offer to their players. All matches are provided with 24/7 live streaming, real-time data, and odds, and are monitored by BETER’s in-house integrity team.

BETER has also integrated its Esports Odds Feed which delivers market-leading odds across more than 450 tournaments globally with 40,000+ pre-match and live events each year. Odds are calculated using official data and are compiled by a team of expert traders.

Chuck Robinson, Chief Revenue Officer at BETER, said: “We see Turbo Stars as a strong, reliable partner with excellent capabilities and a seamless content delivery approach. We’re excited to integrate our full suite of fast betting products into their offering.

The demand for fast betting content has never been greater, and through this partnership, more players worldwide will gain access to our engaging esports and sports products.

This partnership is also an essential step for BETER, allowing us to reach more operators and provide more players with high-quality content than ever before.”

Alex Kozachenko, Chief Executive Officer of Turbo Stars, added: “We sit at the cutting edge of sports entertainment and in BETER we have a partner that delivers next-generation experiences through its fast betting content for esports and sports.

“The integration with BETER stands as a major addition to our offering and strengthens our position as a technology and content provider that is very much ahead of the curve.”