Britain’s biggest bookmaker, which is registered in the island, is working hard to raise standards.

GVC owns Ladbrokes and a string of well-known gambling brands including Foxy Bingo, bwin and Gala Casino.

It has posted soaring full-year sales.

Revenue jumped from £789.9 million to £2.9 billion in 2018 on a reported basis and was up 8% proforma at £3.5 billion, driven by a strong World Cup performance and the integration of Ladbrokes.

GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander reported that the transformation of GVC over the past three years into a global leader in sports-betting and gaming, with over 25,000 employees, has brought with it a commensurate expansion in the requirements of the business to be a leader in the area of corporate social responsibility.

He reports: ’Arguably our most important CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategic pillar is safer gambling.

’We believe the key to establishing a safer environment for customers to enjoy the services we provide is by working constructively with both national regulators, including the UK Gambling Commission, and our industry peers.

’We have taken a leading role in cross-industry bodies including the Senet Group and the Remote Gaming Association (RGA), through which we agreed a prewatershed ’whistle-to-whistle’ ban on broadcast advertising around sport in the UK, effective from August 2019.

’Through such dialogue, we have developed a comprehensive plan called "Changing for the Bettor", with the aim to lead the industry in minimising the potential for harm while maximising our collective understanding of the issues associated with problem gambling.’

Business News reported last autumn that GVC was prepared to be at the vanguard of these issues, at an exclusive roundtable following the KPMG e-gaming summit.

The high-level panel discussion at the Comis Hotel included Lawrence Hanlin, director, regulatory assurance, at GVC.

Mr Hanlin told Business News that the group is committed to raising standards from the very top of the organisation. He hoped other gaming companies would be inspired by the lead being set by GVC.

He said: ’Raising standards is, for me, about going back to basics.

’The GVC Group is continually raising standards so we actually interact and support our customers more than we may have in the past.

’Learning lessons from regulatory failures in the sector allows us to see what we can learn and do better.’

He added that Mr Alexander was fully behind the moves.

The group posted an £18.9 million pre-tax loss in 2018, an improvement on the £22.6 million the prior year.

GVC said profits were dragged down by £322.5 million of amortisation charges linked to its £4 billion acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral in March last year.

However, group underlying profit before tax came in at £434.6 million, up from £151 million.

GVC also reiterated that a Government move to cut the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to £2 will result in the closure of around 1,000 Ladbrokes Coral shops.

The firm said this will hit earnings by £135 million in 2019, adding that it is trying to transition to a ’smaller, right-sized and more sustainable estate’ as smoothly as possible.

But boss Mr Alexander said that the firm is ’well-placed’ to absorb the impact of the new regulations.

He added: ’2018 was a transformational year for the group with the completion of the Ladbrokes Coral acquisition in March making the group the largest online-led sports-betting and gaming operator in the world.

’Excellent operational execution, effective marketing and a good World Cup helped both the legacy GVC and the acquired Ladbrokes Coral businesses perform ahead of expectations and materially ahead of the market, delivering market share gains in all our major territories.’

However, UK retail net gaming revenue was 3% down on a like-for-like basis and 5% on a total basis.

GVC is now turning its attention to taking advantage of deregulation in the US, which has allowed states to legalise sports betting.

To this end, it recently signed a deal for a joint venture with American casino group MGM Resorts.

Mr Alexander told the Racing Post: ’I think we are in good shape.

’We are winning at the moment and we expect to continue winning in 2019.

’We are quite bullish about the UK. I think people doom-monger about the UK because it’s used basically to cover incompetence and under-performance. That’s my view on it.

’So don’t listen to the doom and gloom. We are in a high-growth sector, it’s still a fun sector to be in and we’re winning.’