Former UKGC director Tim Miller launches GamReg Consulting after ten years at the regulator

Tim Miller, who spent ten years at the UK Gambling Commission, has started a consultancy called GamReg Consulting. He announced his departure from the regulator in June and left last month. Early clients include Gaming Compliance International, a provider of transaction and market monitoring tools to regulators, and Spectrum Gaming Group.

At the Commission, Miller led delivery of the 2023 white paper reforms, covering age verification, game design, marketing controls and financial risk checks. He also oversaw the launch of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). He names the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms as his proudest achievement, saying it brought the financial services sector into harm prevention and helped prompt challenger banks such as Starling to introduce gambling blocks.

Miller's exit came during a period of change at the regulator. Chief executive Andrew Rhodes stepped down at the end of April, and financial risk assessments (FRAs) were confirmed in July, with full implementation still to come. Miller says nothing about the Commission's direction pushed him out and that he was simply ready for a new challenge. His name had been mentioned as a possible successor to Rhodes, but he says he never considered the role, which would require a commitment of at least three years. He describes the recent run of senior departures as coincidental timing.

On the illegal market, Miller says the biggest challenge facing the regulator is unrealistic expectations of its reach. He compares it to organised crime such as the international drugs trade and says law enforcement, governments and technology companies must also play their part. He defended the GSGB against industry criticism that it overstates participation and harm, noting that the Health Survey for England, which critics tend to prefer, points to a rising rate of problem gambling while the GSGB suggests a broadly stable one.

Miller attributes the industry's pushback against FRAs to branding, as opponents called them affordability checks, and to commercial impact. He says the pilot identified at-risk customers not picked up by other tools. He argues that well-implemented checks should reduce document requests to consumers. He rejects reports that the board delayed its FRA decision, calling them inaccurate.

The first stage applies only to the largest operators and to customers whose net deposits exceed £5,000 in a rolling 24-hour period, or £2,500 for under-25s, with no enforcement action initially. Final thresholds will be £1,000 in 24 hours or £3,000 over 90 days. Miller acknowledges a displacement risk that must be monitored, but says operators' own restrictions on successful customers also push players to unlicensed sites. He rejects any conflict-of-interest suggestion regarding his new advisory work.