Image credit: Source: UK Gambling Commission enforcement notice. Never imply stock depicts the actual event.
The UK Gambling Commission suspended the combined remote operating licence of Targetlocal Ltd, the Welsh bookmaker trading as Ken Howell's Sports Betting, on 21 September 2026, after enquiries into its kenhowells.com site uncovered anti-money laundering failings. The licence, number 000422-R-336567-002, covers online casino, sports betting and virtual event betting.
The Commission is now reviewing the licence under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, the same power it used against BresBet and Bet St George in August. The suspension stays in place until the Commission is satisfied the business is compliant, with no fixed deadline given for that review.
Customers keep access to their accounts and can still withdraw funds; the business remains contactable through its website. The Commission has told Targetlocal to treat consumers fairly and keep them informed of any developments that affect them while the suspension runs. The action does not touch Targetlocal's separate non-remote general betting standard licence, so its retail and on-course betting operation continues.
The Commission has not detailed what its enquiries found, following the pattern of its £609,104 settlement with QuinnBet last month, where the specific failures were spelled out. Targetlocal's online offering is comparatively new: the operator moved its betting and gaming business onto the EveryMatrix platform about a year ago, according to Gaming Intelligence. The suspension lands just as that relaunch was starting to bed in, and follows the regulator's wider illegal-market disruption push and a second settlement inside seven months for Betfred, part of a run of section 116 and AML enforcement actions this year.
The suspension falls only on the year-old website, not the old business
Targetlocal built its name as a bookmaker before it built a betting site, and the Commission's order reflects that split: the remote licence tied to the new EveryMatrix build is frozen, while the standard licence behind the older, non-remote business keeps running untouched. For an operator mid-migration online, that is the sharpest possible reminder that a licensing regime treats a legacy business and its digital extension as two separate bets, and only one of them needs to fail an AML check to stop.
Related: UK Gambling Commission Sets GBP26m Illegal Market Strategy | UKGC Suspends BresBet and Bet St George Licences | QuinnBet Fined £609,104 by UKGC Over AML Failures | Betfred's Two UKGC Settlements in Seven Months