BresBet and Bet St George Shut Down in the UK Following Suspension

BresBet and Bet St George have ceased trading, after both operators’ licenses were suspended by the Gambling Commission for suspected social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The suspension was announced by the British regulator in August, although specific details of the alleged offences were not confirmed. The suspension was set to remain in place until the Commission was satisfied both licensees had addressed any issues and showed they are compliant.

Players informed

However, both operators, which are linked to the same ownership, have decided to surrender their licenses. Both could still be liable to enforcement from the Commission if the Commission finds both operators guilty of the alleged offences.

All players who have an account with Bet St George have been encouraged to get in touch and reclaim their funds by the end of the month.

An email to Bet St George customers read:

“We’re sorry to bring you some difficult news. Following the suspension of our licence by the Gambling Commission, we’ve had to make the tough decision to stop operating.”

In its own email to players, BresBet wrote:

“A bit of news from us ...we're sorry to bring you some difficult news. Following the suspension of our licence by the Gambling Commission, we've had to make the tough decision to stop operating. Thank you for betting with us. It's genuinely meant a lot.”

A short journey

The decision to cease trading brings an end to short time in which both brands were active in the UK market. BresBet was incorporated in March 2021 and Bet St George was incorporated in June 2025.

BresBet moved on to its own Gambling Commission license in February 2025 and Bet St George’s license has been live since last December. Bet St George’s license went live three months before its website launched in March this year.

Both operators appear to be owned by BresCorp, which was incorporated in March 2021 as a white-label business using the website technology and operating license of Playbook Engineering.

Both BresBet and Bet St George are listed at the same address in Sheffield, Yorkshire, while BresCorp is also listed in Sheffield. There also appears to be plenty of crossover between the two brands, in terms of personnel.

Nic Brereton is the owner of BresBet. Sarah Laycock was listed as a director for both BresBet and Bet St George, and her LinkedIn profile displays the title of Managing Director of both brands. However, a filing on Companies House shows Laycock’s position as a Director of both brands was terminated on August 10.

BresBet has not publicly announced its gambling revenue, but its accounts showed £3.5 million was owed to creditors, with amounts falling due within one year from March 31, 2025. Bet St George is yet to file any accounts.

A tricky market

Both operators opting to shut down rather than risk paying a greater fine or paying a settlement to the Commission could be a sign of the financial constraints on smaller operators in the UK market at present.

Since the start of April, remote gaming duty, paid on online casino bets, has been raised from 21% of gross gambling yield (GGY) to 40%.

In addition, general betting duty, paid on online sports bets, will increase from 15% of GGY to 25% in April 2027; bets on horseracing will be exempt from the increase. Recent reports also suggest machine games duty could be raised in the October Budget.