The failures at William Hill’s brand that have led to the new record penalty continued for at least a year after that.
Mr Green, William Hill and 888 have incurred significant fines from the Gambling Commission in recent years, including a £3m fine for Mr Green handed down in February 2020.
The commission has never suspended the licence of a big operator, although it has the power to do so in response to repeated transgressions. The regulator said it had considered suspending William Hill’s licence but this was avoided after the company worked rapidly to make changes. The previous largest fine was £17m imposed last August on Entain, the gambling firm behind Ladbrokes and Coral. William Hill and its sister brand Mr Green will pay a total of £19.2m, which is the largest penalty in the commission’s history but equates to less than four days of revenue for their parent company, 888, which won £1.8bn from punters last year.
The Guardian understands that the “write round” process, where government departments approve the reforms, will begin this week, with a white paper due to be published in April. The failures also continued after the government launched a landmark review of gambling laws that has led the industry to promise to improve safety standards.
