Andrew Rhodes joins advisory firm Hawkbridge after leaving UK Gambling Commission leadership

Andrew Rhodes, former Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission, has joined betting sector advisory firm Hawkbridge shortly after leaving his regulatory post.

Rhodes stepped down from his role at the Gambling Commission after five years in leadership, with his exit first announced in February and formally taking effect just over a month ago.

The move had been widely expected, with reports in March indicating he was already in talks to join the firm. The Gambling Commission previously said Rhodes had informed it of plans to work elsewhere in the gambling sector.

Hawkbridge said that Rhodes will serve as a consultant focused on international regulatory strategy, regulatory and government engagement, governance, and operational standards.

“Hawkbridge was established to give operators, suppliers, investors and boards sharp, pragmatic counsel on the questions that sit above legal advice and beyond commercial diligence,” said Bahar Alaeddini, Hawkbridge co-founder.

During Rhodes’ tenure, he led the Gambling Commission through a period defined by major policy reform under the review of the Gambling Act Review, initiated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The review culminated in a White Paper published in April 2023, shaping ongoing debate around customer affordability checks and financial risk assessments, gambling advertising and sports sponsorship restrictions, funding for gambling harm prevention and research, and cross-selling and bonus restrictions.

Key affordability measures remain under discussion, including the potential introduction of Financial Risk Assessments, following earlier rollout of lighter-touch vulnerability checks.

The Commission does not currently have a permanent CEO. It is being run in an interim capacity by Sarah Gardner, the Acting Chief Executive and former Deputy CEO, who also previously stepped in as Acting CEO during the gap between Neil McArthur and Andrew Rhodes from 2020 to 2021.

Rhodes also oversaw the fourth National Lottery licence competition, which awarded the contract to Allwyn in 2022, ending decades of operation by Camelot UK since the lottery’s launch in 1993.

The decision triggered legal disputes involving Camelot UK, IGT, and Richard Desmond’s New Lottery Company. Several challenges were later withdrawn or ruled in favour of the regulator and Allwyn.

Rhodes said he expects the coming years to be highly significant for regulation in the gambling sector, noting increasing complexity for operators and boards adapting to new frameworks. 

“The next five years will be more consequential for gambling regulation than we have seen in many years, and even more so than I saw as Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission in the previous five years," he stated.

“This brings uncharted challenges for boards, investors and leaders,” Rhodes added. ”I have decided to join the founders of Hawkbridge for a simple reason: there has rarely been a single source of regulatory, commercial and operational advice at such a senior and experienced level available to the sector."