BresBet and Bet St George to Close Following Licence Suspension

Two British betting sites are to cease trading after the Gambling Commission suspended their licenses.

BresBet and Bet St George, which are both connected to the Brereton family, will not reopen for business after informing the regulator that they were to surrender their operating licence.

The decision was taken less than a week after the Gambling Commission revealed they were investigating the two brands for suspected social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings.

Under Investigation

BresBet was launched in 2021 as a white label operation, but moved to their own operating licence in March 2025.

At the time, company owner Nic Brereton commented that ‘our USP is to treat customers exceptionally well’, promising ‘a big improvement when they’re dealing with our in-house compliance, customer service and trading teams.’

Bet St George, meanwhile, was only launched in March of this year, with a plan to focus on the biggest sporting occasions in the UK.

However, things haven’t gone according to plan and at the end of August, the Gambling Commission revealed that both brands were under investigation for potential licence breaches.

Operational Review

Although specifics were not revealed, the regulator confirmed that they were to examine BresBet and Bet St George under Section 116 of the Gambling Act, which gives them the legal right to review the operations of its licensees.

A review doesn’t necessarily lead to sanctions, although the Commission does have the power to issue significant fines – as they did with their mammoth penalties issued to QuinnBet and Evolution earlier this summer – and place conditions on licences.

BresBet and Bet St George were unable to operate while the licence review was in place, with a simple message on their websites confirming ‘the operating licence 65252 has been suspended by the Gambling Commission with effect from 28 August 2026.’

Customers were asked to contact customer support if they wished to ask questions or request a withdrawal of their funds.

Surrendered Licenses

The situation changed late on Friday when the Breretons informed the Gambling Commission that they wanted to surrender the licenses of their two brands – rather than allowing the review process to take its course.

An update from the regulator confirmed: “BresBet Ltd and Bet St George Ltd surrendered their operating licences. Both operators have been reminded of our expectation that they have plans in place, and to take all necessary steps, to make sure consumers are not unnecessarily disadvantaged.”

And at 17:00 GMT on Friday, BresBet emailed their customers to tell them of the ‘tough decision’ to cease operating.

Earlier in the week, a post on BresBet’s X page revealed that ‘bets already placed will stand and be settled as normal, and account balances remain protected and unaffected.’

Leaving the UK

It’s quite rare for a UK licensed betting brand to cease operations.

In 2025, the controversial brand Stake.com surrendered its UK licence over allegations of inappropriate activity on social media. Their white label operator TGP Europe also left when presented with a £3.3 million fine by the Gambling Commission.

Vbet also closed their UK business last year after nearly a decade in the domestic market, while the likes of MansionBet, Novibet and BetBull surrendered their UK licences to focus on other opportunities overseas.

One of the most significant closures of recent years saw the Evoke Group shutter the sports betting operations of Mr Green in the UK, having decided to focus on casino gaming instead.

Anyone affected by the closure of BresBet or Bet St George can contact them at support@bresbet.com or support@betstgeorge.com.