Bet365, one of the world’s biggest online bookmakers, has warned there is no benefit to remaining in the UK and that it is losing out to competitors based offshore in lower tax regimes.

With ministers growing increasingly alarmed at the prospect of UK-based bookmakers fleeing these shores, Alan Coates, chief executive of the Stoke-based company which employs 900 people, said it had no current plans to relocate its sports betting business.