William Hill Hints at Moving Operations Offshore

Even though the United Kingdom boasts one of the most progressive land and online gambling industries in the world today, it hefty rates of taxation may well send its largest gambling groups packing, the latest of which is rumoured to be leading UK-based betting and gambling operation, William Hill.

Despite the fact that William Hill is as British a company as any, according to recent reports it may be looking to run its lucrative online gambling operation from greener, more tax-friendly pastures offshore. It's no secret that gambling companies based in the UK are liable for higher taxes than those based offshore.

William Hill CEO, Ralph Topping was recently quoted as saying, 'When it comes to telephonic and online gambling we're competing in a global market, even more than we were five years ago. As such we believe that the competitive landscape will change even more over the next decade and we must adapt to it.'

The UK's relaxed gambling laws and regulations act like a double-edged sword. On one hand they allow and encourage gambling companies to be based and operated in the country. But on the other, they offer tax breaks to offshore gambling firms which has increased competition for locally based operations.

Continued Topping, 'Currently William Hill faces worldwide competition from approximately 400 English-language betting websites. So under these circumstances, we clearly do not have the luxury of being parochial about our future or taking a simplistic stance on complicated issues.'

Successful gambling companies such as Ireland-based Paddy Power and Gibraltar-based Bwin are just two of the companies vying for a piece of the lucrative UK gambling market, and are currently paying lower taxes than William Hill. For this reason William Hill may be looking at relocating outside of the UK.

This admission by William Hill may come as a much-needed wake up call for the UK government which would stand to lose out on up to 45 million pounds a year in taxes if William Hill and the country's other two major betting operations, Ladbrokes and Coral, relocated their online and telephonic businesses offshore.