About us

Our editorial mission

The editorial mission of Non-GamStop Watch is stated in a single sentence at the head of every substantive article on the site, and it can be repeated here without difficulty. We publish plain-English consumer information about the non-GamStop sector, we read the marketing copy of that sector against the smaller type below it, and we point our readers toward the public infrastructure the state and the charitable sector maintain for the protection of adults exposed to gambling harm. We do not rank operators, we do not compare them, we do not accept commercial work from them, and we do not publish affiliate links.

The reason we hold to that mission is that the topic is one on which the reader arrives already exposed to a large volume of marketing copy pointing in the opposite direction. Every additional voice in that space that reads as consumer information but functions as marketing does harm to the reader's ability to see the picture clearly. The site was set up to be a voice that does not do that, and the editorial discipline that keeps it in that position is written into every step of our production process. The mission is a discipline first and a proposition second, and it is one we take seriously because the audience for the site includes people who are already in some form of distress.

How we produce, check and update content

Every article on the site is drafted by the editor against a set of primary UK sources including the Gambling Commission's licence conditions and public register, the text of the Gambling Act 2005 as amended, the White Paper published in 2023 under the title High Stakes, the Gambling Levy Regulations 2025 in force from 6 April 2025, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 as amended, the Curaçao Landsverordening op de Kansspelen in force from 24 December 2024, and the published pages of GamStop, GamCare and BeGambleAware. Drafts are read by the reviewer for factual accuracy against those sources, for balance between claim and qualification, and for tone against the standards a public-information site on a sensitive consumer topic would meet.

Updates are triggered by material changes to the primary sources, by published enforcement decisions from the Gambling Commission, by changes to the safer-gambling framework and by reader correspondence that identifies a specific error. The publication date and the date-modified value on every article are true dates, not decorative placeholders, and the sources block at the foot of every content page states the date on which the sources were last verified. Where a correction is made after publication, a dated correction note appears on the page, and the version history is available on written request to the editor.

Editorial policy on operator names, bonuses, and affiliate links

The site does not name specific offshore operators anywhere in the substantive text. Where a general point requires a description of an operator, we use generic language such as an offshore operator, a Curaçao-licensed site, or a non-UKGC operator. We do not publish rankings, comparison tables, best-of lists or bonus roundups. We do not accept commercial work from operators, from affiliate businesses that promote them, or from trade bodies that represent either category. We do not publish affiliate links, tracking links or advertising, and no code on the site attempts to attribute clicks to a commercial partner.

That policy is a straightforward consequence of the site's editorial mission. A ranking or a comparison would be a promotional artefact by construction, because it would direct the reader's attention toward one operator rather than another. A bonus roundup would function as marketing regardless of the framing that surrounded it. Affiliate links would compromise the writer's independence from the operators the site covers. Removing all of those elements is the cleanest way to ensure that what remains on the site is consumer information rather than marketing dressed as consumer information. That decision costs revenue and preserves the position from which the site can be honestly read.

Contact and corrections

The editor of Non-GamStop Watch is Simon Willingham, who spent the first part of his career on the compliance side of British advertising, reading draft claims against the CAP Code and preparing responses to complaints brought under the ASA's investigations procedure. He has written on advertising and consumer regulation for trade publications since 2015. He is not a solicitor, does not hold a practising certificate, and does not offer legal, financial or medical advice on the site. He accepts no commercial work from remote gambling operators, from affiliates that promote them, or from the trade bodies that represent either category. He holds no shares in any listed gambling company. The reviewer is Dr Helena Fairbrass, a former senior officer at the Advertising Standards Authority who spent two decades in the investigations team and then in the operations directorate at the regulator, whose doctorate in consumer psychology from the University of Nottingham addresses the ways typographic hierarchy, colour contrast and layout weight influence the reading of qualifying statements on advertising. She reviews every substantive article on publication and on any material update, checking factual accuracy against sources, balance between claim and qualification, absence of steering language and tone on sensitive topics. She holds no consultancy relationships with the gambling sector, and her review is a fixed-fee editorial engagement disclosed openly on the site.

Corrections, factual queries and complaints are read by the editor personally at [email protected]. Every message receives a reply in writing, whether or not the complaint is upheld. Where an error is confirmed, the correction appears on the page in question with a dated correction note, and the version history for each page is available on written request. That is the standard the ASA's investigations procedure applies to complaints made against advertisers, and it is the standard we hold ourselves to as a matter of editorial practice. Contact the editor, [email protected]. Reviewer, Dr Helena Fairbrass, ex-ASA senior officer, advertising standards. The site does not use social media in a professional capacity and does not accept unsolicited approaches from public relations agencies working on behalf of the gambling sector.