Anna (intro to topic)

This is Inside the Commission. A Gambling Commission podcast.

Welcome to Inside the Commission, a podcast all about gambling in Great Britain. Here we'll cover all the latest topics and trends from across the gambling sector, and discuss the big issues that matter to you, from consumer queries to industry insights.

We'll bring you the facts from the front line of regulation, share the stats and stories from those in the know.

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In this episode, we'll be focusing on our third annual Spring Conference held at the ICC in Birmingham back in March. We'll talk to representatives from the industry, academia and the third sector about how we use robust research and statistics to inform the work we do and explore the progress we're making across various areas, including the illegal market, open banking data and international collaboration.

This is inside the Commission, a Gambling Commission podcast.

Haroon

Hi, Nick. Welcome to the Spring Conference 2025. Could you please introduce yourself for our audience?

Nick Rust

Yes, I'm Nick Rust. I'm the chair of the Gambling Commission’s Industry Forum.

Haroon

And what's your role in the industry?

Nick Rust

I don't work in the industry at the moment, but I had 20 years experience there, operating in betting and gaming, both betting shops and then later the online space. I worked from shop floor to executive level.

Haroon

Wow, that's really good. And you're at the conference today just to learn about what's going on in the retail space. Have you found it yet? Picked up?

Nick Rust

Well, the conference is always interesting. Second time I've been along. Today, obviously, there's a real focus on data and making sure that the Commission does all that it can to generate a good picture of a body of evidence to help make its policy decisions. So it's been really interesting to see how some of the work has progressed since last year.

Haroon

And relationships between industry and academics sometimes can be a little bit difficult and some challenges. Where do you think that is at the minute?

Nick Rust

I think the relationships are fine at a human level. I think obviously there's an industry that wants to know that its regulator is acting with the future of the industry in mind as well, within its objectives. And sometimes academics are looking to research and go down a particular line so that can cause a difference of opinion about how to approach the data.

But it's good to have all the academics here. It's good to have people taking an interest in it, and it's good to have rigor in the way in which the gambling industry is researched.

Haroon

Yeah. And obviously today you've heard a lot about sort of building the bigger picture. What's been the most useful part so far?

Nick Rust

I think the session with Tim Lapsley and others, looking at the nuts and bolts of how some of the individual streams of research and evidence gathering are being conducted and the progress made. That's been really good. I think it would be good if there was a chance to have a bit more questioning and suggestions around it, but maybe that can come after the conference. But it's been really good.

Haroon

And with your industry hat on, you're hearing all this stuff – which bits are really getting your antennas going? Thinking, oh, we could be a bit more involved there, or maybe we should do a little bit more on this?

Nick Rust

I think some of the way in which the research is done, we need to be very, very careful that we are not leading the witnesses and that the language we use is really, really important. The industry can help with understanding sometimes to help the guys in the research teams and the data teams to frame their questions in a way which is straightforward and which will hit home with respondents, using language that they understand to help get the answers that your colleagues want to get.

Haroon

Absolutely brilliant. And finally, just to finish on it, this is an annual event now. It happens every year. You'll probably be here next year. What are you most excited about over the next 12 months in terms of data?

Nick Rust

The two areas I'm particularly interested in are: the general consumer voice—customer voice, I think you call it. Much more information there outside of just people who have been at harm, where the Commission has done a lot of work on that before. We need to understand the general consumer much better.

And I'm also really pleased to see that non-licensed gambling and understanding what is truly happening there and why consumers are using those services is really important. Because if we want to make sure that people are protected, then we can't just look at the licensed community. That is really important. The licensed community has to deliver. But at the same time, if we're bleeding people out where they're not really being looked after in the unlicensed space, that's important to get hold of. I'm delighted to see that the Commission is looking at the size of that issue.

Haroon

Thank you very much. Thank you, Nick.

Stephen Sheriden

I'm Stephen Sheridan, Director of Consumer Protection with the Gambling Regulatory Authority in Ireland.

Anna

We're at the Spring Conference today here at the Gambling Commission of Great Britain. Can you tell us what you're hoping to get out of today and what you've enjoyed so far?

Stephen Sheriden

Today is a good opportunity to learn a lot from a research perspective. We're at the very beginning of our journey in Ireland in relation to setting up the regulator and putting in place our statutory functions around research. So we’ve learned a lot from the UK on how research and data collection has been so important here. It’s been really helpful in setting our own goals as we move to the future.

Anna

Fantastic. What would you say have been the challenges without having a specific body overseeing gambling regulation?

Stephen Sheriden

There hasn’t been a regulator in Ireland, so it’s only really been a licensing regime until now. That means we can learn a lot from our colleagues in the UK and other European regulators. The UK has been very helpful in giving us advice and guidance on how we set up our functions.

Anna

What about the journey so far to establishing a regulator in Ireland?

Stephen Sheriden

We've been focused on setting up the organisation. The passing of the legislation has been a huge milestone, which happened in October. Today we are firmly legally established as a statutory regulator, which is hugely significant. We've got our authority members in place, so we can now start making progress toward implementation of the new act, with a particular focus on licensing as a key priority.

Anna

What will be the next steps around gathering data to support the work of the regulator?

Stephen Sheriden

Once we get our licensing regime in place, understanding the sector in Ireland will be key. There are a lot of similarities with the UK. We'll be looking at how we use data in the future in relation to research, policy, compliance, and enforcement. We've been lucky that we can rely on the UK to help explain some of the areas they’ve explored and the lessons they've learned.

Anna

Stephen, what features of the market would you say are similar between Ireland and Great Britain?

Stephen Sheriden

There are quite a lot of similarities. A lot of the same organizations operate in both jurisdictions. Gambling activities are similar—sports betting, football, and horse racing are key areas. There's a huge amount of crossover, which helps us, especially with organizations already familiar with regulation.

Anna

What would you say is the value of events like these for attendees?

Stephen Sheriden

These are hugely important for all stakeholders. It gives people the opportunity to engage with the regulator, provide feedback on the work being done, and feel involved in the development of new policy.

Reece Bush Evans

Hi, I'm Dr. Evans from Bournemouth University. I spoke today about the ongoing research looking at gambling-related harms within the LGBTQ+ community.

From our research, we see that individuals from the LGBTQ+ population perceive there to be certain barriers for support. The support that currently exists may not feel specific or relevant to them. As a gay man, I may not be comfortable speaking to a perceived cisgender, heterosexual support worker about how my gambling is shaped by my identity.

Also, there’s a lack of representation across support organizations, making it hard for individuals to realize there are others like them experiencing gambling-related harms.

Sam McGregor

I’m Sam Guy, Deputy Director of Smart Data Research UK. It’s a £59 million publicly funded program, funded by UK Research and Innovation. Our mission is to unlock the power of data to improve lives.

We’re currently looking at generative AI and the opportunities it brings to research and big data. Generative AI has accelerated thanks to big data, and we can explore this in multiple ways—enabling data analysis, collecting more data, interrogating training data, and more.

There are endless possibilities for how we can innovate in the future of technology, research, and data science. Generative AI is just the hot topic right now.

Muneeb Hafiz

I'm Muneeb. I'm Head of Consumer Protection in the Gambling Policy Team, and I traveled up today from Westminster.

One of the things I’m passionate about is making sure lived experience shapes the future of the levy system—not just in research, but in shaping the questions themselves. I don’t want lived experience to just be a quote or an interviewee. I want those communities to co-produce the research questions.

And to Tim’s earlier point—looking at each piece of evidence from the widest perspective is vital. Statistics might sound good, but when you put them into context, they can mean very different things. I’m really keen for textured conversations about what the research shows and what it means for policy. That’s crucial for someone like me in government.

Anna (outro)

This is inside the Commission, a Gambling Commission podcast.

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Thanks for listening.