Emma Floyd Appointed by DCMS as Director for Sport and Gambling

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has appointed Emma Floyd as Director for Sport and Gambling, with the appointment being made at an important time in the context of gambling reform in the UK.

Floyd joins the DCMS with a background in governmental roles in the UK Civil Service and the energy sector. Her last full-time position was as Director, Clean Energy Investment for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, where Floyd was responsible for delivering government priorities on clean energy investment and system transformation; Floyd had been in the role since 2024.

Floyd has also previously worked for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where her roles included Programme Director, Covid Response. In that time, she directed cross-government response during the pandemic. Prior to this, Floyd worked in various roles in the civil service for 17 years, from 2003 to 2020.

Getting “stuck in”

Commenting on her new position with the DCMS, Floyd posted on LinkedIn: “It’s a new sector for me, but one I’m excited to get stuck into. Sport and gambling sit right at the intersection of growth, regulation and public trust - and they matter a lot to people, communities and everyday life across the country.

“There’s a real opportunity to get that balance right. I’m looking forward to getting under the skin of the issues, working with colleagues across DCMS and wider government, and building strong relationships with the organisations and bodies that are central to how the sector operates - and across the sector more broadly to deliver in practice.”

Experience questioned

In a reply to the post, Geoff Banks, CEO of independent bookmaker GB Sports Advisors, questioned Floyd’s lack of prior experience in the gambling industry, posting: “Exactly how do you plan on regulating a 16 billion pound company [industry] with zero prior knowledge of its functions or consumers?” Banks was referring to the £16.8 billion gross gaming yield generated by the British gambling industry in the 2024/25 financial year.

Floyd will not be the most senior member of the DCMS, as it is overseen by Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who is Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

White Paper crucial

Floyd’s appointment comes at a crucial juncture in the process of gambling reform in the UK. In January, Ian Murray MP, who is the Minister of State jointly for the DCMS as well as the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, called for all terms within the 2023 Gambling White Paper to be implemented before the country has another gambling review.

The Gambling White Paper was one of the most significant publications in the history of gambling in the UK, setting out more than 60 proposals to update the country’s gambling laws.

Among the terms recommended were affordability checks, in an attempt to protect players spending a certain amount within a certain timeframe, improved identification checks, a statutory levy, and a cap on the maximum stakes on online slots at £5 for older adults and £2 for younger adults.

While these measures among others have either been implemented or are in the process of being implemented, a number of terms are still to be rolled out. These include reform at land-based venues, including cashless payments on machines, which is still in the rollout phase, as well as the introduction of a gambling ombudsman, which is yet to come to fruition.