Gamstop Group - Quarterly Operator Newsletter - Q1 2026

Quarterly Operator Newsletter Q1 2026

“As we close the first quarter of 2026, I would like to begin by thanking our operator partners for the prompt payment of annual licence fees. This continued commitment is essential in enabling us to deliver an effective, resilient self‑exclusion service and to invest in initiatives that raise standards across the industry.”

We have seen continued growth in consumer registrations throughout Q1, with a sustained upward trend in registrations among under‑25s. This reflects the increasing awareness and relevance of self‑exclusion as a key consumer protection measure and reinforces the importance of early intervention and long‑term safeguarding.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Ben for sharing his personal story in this edition. His willingness to speak openly about his experience, and the role Gamstop played in supporting his recovery, is both powerful and impactful. We are proud to be working with Ben and the team at Switchboard on the Recover with Pride initiative, and to support work that helps ensure gambling harm prevention is inclusive and accessible to all communities.

As always, we value the ongoing engagement of our operator partners and look forward to working together throughout the rest of the year.

Fiona Palmer, CEO

Contents Operator Key Information

3

Gamstop Betting Shops Statistics

8

Gamstop Online Statistics

4

Consumer Voices Gamstop Group

9

Fifth Annual Student Gambling Survey

6

Gamstop Group News

10

Gamstop Consumer Insights

7

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Operator Key Information Gamstop Online Annual Licence Fees 2026/2027 Thank you to all the Operators who have paid their Annual Licence fees for 2026/27 –it is much appreciated.

Gamstop Betting Shops Quarterly Updates We would like to inform Gamstop Betting Shop operators that we are updating the way we share our key operational information each quarter. You will now find all updates in our Quarterly Operator Newsletter ensuring you can stay up to date with the latest information.

“We appreciate the diligence you constantly show whilst assisting with our integration” Gamstop Operator

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Change in Platform Provider Please can we remind those Gamstop Online operators that use platform providers that if you change providers, it is important to contact us at support@gamstop.co.uk to keep us informed.

Operators Integrations In Q1 of 2026 Gamstop Online onboarded 11 new operators to the scheme, continuing our work to ensure the schemes full coverage across all operators. We remain focused on making the integration process as straightforward as possible, providing guidance and support to ensure operators can connect quickly and confidently. This ongoing work helps maintain consistent protection for those that are self‑excluded and strengthens the overall effectiveness of the scheme.

Changes in Trading Name Please can we remind operators that if any changes are made to your trading name, you keep us informed via email at support@gamstop.co.uk

3

Q1 Statistics In the first quarter of 2026 we saw a significant increase in the number of registrations when compared to Q1 of both 2024 and 2025. We typically see a drop in the number of registrations in February and this trend has continued in 2026. The growth in the under-25s demographic continued this quarter as did the number of people choosing the 5 year with autorenewal functionality.

Gender Male 72%

25-34

29%

35-44

45-54

32%

23%

55+ 10%

Exclusion length

Monthly registrations

6 months 29%

2025

28%

Age 18-24

2024

Female

1 year

5 years 26%

5 years with auto-renew 22%

23%

2026

13000 12000

587,911

11000

Active exclusions

10000 9000

33,711 Q1 registrations

8000 7000

4

J F M A M J

J A S O N D

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Heatmap Northeast England Focus Nationally, around 1.14% of the UK adult population has ever registered with Gamstop Online, but the distribution of registrations varies across areas of England and the rest of the UK. With 1.70% of the population having registered with Gamstop Online, the Northeast of England registration rate is significantly higher than average.

Northeast England postcode areas where registration rates are the highest include: Hartlepool - 2.32% Middlesbrough - 3.13% Redcar and Cleveland - 1.96%

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

% of LAD population

Local Authority District 1.County Durham 2.Darlington 3.Gateshead 4.Hartlepool 5.Middlesbrough 6.Newastle upon Tyne 7.North Tyneside 8.Northumberland 9.Redcar and Cleveland 10.South Tyneside 11.Stockton-on-Tees 12.Sunderland

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

5

Fifth Annual Student Gambling Survey Student Gambling Survey Overview

Key Findings and Emerging Patterns

In March, we published the latest Annual Student Gambling Survey, now in its fifth year. Delivered in partnership with Ygam, the research provides an independent view of how gambling is experienced within the student population and how these behaviours are shifting over time. The survey draws on responses from 2,000 university students across the UK and continues to build on the datasets from previous years’ surveys to help us understand student gambling participation, motivations and emerging risks.

This year’s results provide a detailed picture of how student gambling is evolving. 65% of students report gambling in the past year, rising to 75% among male students, and average weekly spend on gambling has almost doubled over the five‑year period, social media continues to play a significant role, with 34% of student gamblers identifying it as a key influence, and 46% saying gambling has negatively affected their university experience. These findings highlight the growing impact of digital environments on student gambling behaviour.

Alongside the 2026 report, we have released a five‑year trend analysis using data collected from over 10,000 students.

This longer‑term perspective allows us to track how behaviours have changed over time and to identify patterns that may not be visible in a single year’s results. These insights play an important role in shaping how we approach awareness‑raising among students and the organisations that support them, ensuring our engagement with universities, student unions and sector partners remains targeted, evidence‑led and responsive to emerging trends.

The longer‑term trends show a more complex picture. While overall participation has fallen from 78% to 65% over the past five years, and the proportion of students experiencing harms has reduced from 24% to 18%, the average weekly gambling spend among student gamblers has increased by more than £16, outpacing inflation, while more students say their main motivation for gambling is to make money, suggesting that those who do gamble may be engaging in riskier patterns.

Further Information You can read more about the survey, the five‑year trends and access the full reports by clicking here.

6

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Q1 Consumer Insights Friends or Family followed by Operators continue to be the most frequent ways in which people find out about Gamstop Online.

In Q4 2025 we saw Friends or Family grow as a source of Gamstop awareness, this has continued into 2026. Financial Services (debt support, banks, financial advisors) continues to be the most common ‘Other’ response.

Additional ‘Other’ responses included gambling support services, healthcare and NHS services, advertising across digital platforms and AI chatbots. Continuing the trend of Q4 of 2025, we have continued to see significant growth in the number of people finding our services through AI platforms.

Sources of Gamstop Awareness Friend or family member

34%

Gambling website or app

28%

Internet search

15%

Social media

6%

Gambling support website

5%

Other

12% 0%

10%

Remove expired exclusion

Second removal

Fourth removal

Third removal

49%

5%

Questions about GAMSTOP

4%

Removal questions/requests

4% 1%

Other

24% 0%

50%

43%

7%

18%

69%

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

5%

Registration

Fifth removal

3% 3%

40%

8%

Account amendments

Complaints

First removal

30%

Helpdesk Enquiries Cancel registration

Consumer Removal Behaviour

20%

of consumers who removed their exclusion in the previous quarter reinstated this within 3 months.

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Q1 Statistics The total number of Gamstop Betting Shop registrations was slightly higher in Q1 2026 when compared to Q4 2025. We have continued to see the demographic splits show primarily males using Gamstop Betting Shops with 96% of sign ups being from males. The Age split has remained consistent from 2025 with a majority of users being between 35 and 44 years old. In the first quarter of 2026 we have seen a shift in registrations by country with Wales jumping from a 4% to 6% share in registrations when compared to the last quarter of 2025. In Q4 2025 we saw an increase in the average number of shops per new exclusion. We have seen this figure fall back down to a normal through Q1 2026.

Registrations by country

Gender Male

Female 96%

Age 18-24

25-34

35-44

31%

45-54

36%

55+

18%

10%

Monthly registrations 2024

2025

2026

800 700 600 500 400

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

8%

1,674

Q1 registrations 86% 6%

8

9075

Total registrations

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Consumer Voices Ben rebuilt his life after a long gambling addiction that cost him his career, freedom, and stability.

With that protection in place, Ben could sleep, manage his finances, and start rebuilding trust.

Ben spent years working in health and social care, managing services and leading teams.

From the outside, everything looked stable, but underneath a long standing gambling addiction was getting worse. By 2020, it had reached a point where Ben no longer recognised himself. Ben then crossed a line he never imagined he would: fraud by abuse of position. Instead of waiting to be found out, he handed himself in to the police. It was the hardest thing Ben had ever done, but it was also the moment he knew something had to change. Gambling had taken Ben’s money, time, peace of mind, and sense of who he was.

Alongside therapy, he joined peer‑support groups where people understood what addiction felt like.

Being around others with lived experience eased the isolation and helped him believe that recovery was possible. After a long wait for sentencing, Ben served ten months in prison. It was a difficult experience, but it deepened his understanding of how addiction, trauma, inequality overlap.

Ben’s first step was calling the National Gambling Helpline. He cried through most of the call because it was the first time in years that he felt heard rather than judged. Through that support, Ben then began specialist therapy with GamCare, which helped him understand the shame and fear that had kept him trapped for so long. But he also needed something immediate to stop him from gambling in moments of panic. That’s when he registered with Gamstop. Before signing up, the temptation was constant. Gamstop changed that overnight. The option to gamble online was gone, and the relief was huge. ©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

Since then, Ben rebuilt his life with honesty and purpose. He trained as a peer supporter and recovery coach, contributed to national research, and now works as the Service Manager for Gambling Harms at Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard, supporting LGBTQ+ communities. Five years into recovery, Ben is also training as a counsellor, committed to creating spaces where people feel safe, understood, and able to heal.

“Before signing up, the temptation was constant.

Gamstop changed that overnight. Suddenly, the option to gamble online was gone, and the relief was huge.”

9

News London Gambling Harms Conference Last quarter, Gamstop Group attended the London Gambling Harms Conference.

This event provided us with valuable opportunities to meet colleagues from across the sector and engage in meaningful conversations about our commitment to reducing gambling harm.

Gamstop Online Bi-Annual Data Gamstop Online’s latest bi‑annual data was released for the second half of 2025. This data provides an updated picture of how consumers are engaging with self‑exclusion, highlighting both shifting demographics and changing patterns of long‑term protection.

To find out more, click here. ©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

10

Recover With Pride Recover With Pride launched this quarter as the UK’s first gambling harm recovery service designed specifically for LGBTQ+ communities. Led by Brighton & Hove LGBTQ+ Switchboard, and developed in partnership with Reframe Coaching and the University of Brighton, the programme provides support for LGBTQ+ individuals affected by gambling harm. The service is designed and delivered with LGBTQ+ people with lived experience at its core, ensuring cultural competence, safety and authenticity are embedded throughout.

©Gamstop Group 2026. All rights reserved.

As part of the launch, we were pleased to join Switchboard at the House of Commons for an event bringing together organisations and individuals committed to improving access to safer gambling tools and support across LGBTQ+ communities. Katie Reynolds‑Jones attended on behalf of Gamstop Group and spoke about the role of self‑exclusion in reducing gambling‑related harm, and how inclusive, community‑led services can strengthen the wider support landscape. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Switchboard and supporting their work across LGBTQ+ communities as the programme develops.

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support@gamstop.co.uk Registered Office 3 Greengate, Cardale Park, Harrogate, HG3 1GY Registered No. 14892129

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