Bet365 is cutting around 340 jobs across its European operations, with staff in Malta and Gibraltar among those affected and the bulk of redundancies falling at the company’s Stoke-on-Trent headquarters.

The British gambling giant confirmed the restructuring on Wednesday, blaming a highly competitive trading environment alongside rising regulatory and tax-related costs. The company said the changes were necessary to secure its long-term future.

Roughly 300 of the 340 roles are expected to go in the UK, while approximately 40 positions will be lost across Malta and Gibraltar combined. The cuts represent around three per cent of bet365’s global workforce of approximately 10,000 people, of whom some 5,500 are based at its Stoke-on-Trent base.

Bet365 said it was exploring every available option to limit the number of redundancies and had launched a voluntary redundancy programme for affected staff. The company added that those impacted had been informed and were receiving full support throughout the process.

The Malta connection has its own history. Bet365 relocated staff there from Gibraltar back in 2019, citing a need to reduce exposure to Brexit-related disruption. The latest round of cuts marks a notable change in the company’s European footprint, arriving as gambling operators across the continent face tightening regulations and a heavier tax burden.

Three per cent of a 10,000-strong workforce may sound modest in percentage terms, but for those in Stoke, Malta and Gibraltar, Wednesday’s announcement was anything but a small number.