About Us: Who We Are and How We Review UK Online Casinos
We’re an independent UK online casino review site. James Awland started it in 2015, and a small editorial team runs it today. The rule we work to: we only recommend casinos we’d use ourselves.
Meet James, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
I’m James. I studied Mathematical Sciences at King’s College London. That’s where I got curious about odds and probabilities, and the curiosity stuck. It turned into a question I couldn’t stop asking: which UK online casinos are really worth a player’s time and money?
I launched bestcasino.co.uk in 2015 to answer that question honestly. Over a decade later, that’s still the job. I read the T&Cs, check the UKGC register, play the games, and then write up what I’d want a friend to tell me before signing up.
Our Editorial Team
Reviewing UK online casinos properly is too much ground for one person. Since 2015, the site has grown into a small editorial team where different people handle different sides of each review. Here is a small part of their daily tasks:
- Project Management – keeping reviews, updates, and new pages on schedule.
- Product Development – SEO, content strategy, and site structure.
- Sales – operator relationships and commercial partnerships, kept separate from editorial.
- Compliance – UKGC and ASA/CAP rule checks on every page before it goes live.
- Tech – site performance, template updates, shortcode and data systems.
- Design – page layouts, images, and visual consistency.
- Research – operator fact-checks, licence verification, and data gathering.
- Content Writing – reviews, guides, and blog posts.
We’ll add individual bios as team members opt in to being named publicly. For now, James is the public editor of everything on the site. Before a page goes live, and whenever it is updated, our research team verifies the data on it. The compliance team then reviews any content on UK regulation, and James signs the page off.
How We Review UK Online Casinos
We don’t write reviews from press releases, and every casino goes through the same process. That means opening the casino website, trying the games, reading the full terms, contacting support and comparing what the casino promises with what it delivers. We revisit every review, and scores move when the facts change.
A casino is only scored once it holds an active licence on the UK Gambling Commission public register and is integrated with GAMSTOP. We then rate it from 1 to 5 on nine criteria: Game Selection, Promotions, Deposit Options, Live Dealer Games, Customer Support, Withdrawal Options, Software Quality, Mobile Play and Safety & Licensing. The marks are combined into the rating shown on every review.
The full methodology is on our how we rate casinos page.
Editorial Independence and Affiliate Disclosure
Like most UK online casino review sites, we earn a commission when readers sign up to an operator through our links. That’s how the site is funded. The editors handle reviews and rankings, using the criteria in our methodology. The commercial team manages operator partnerships and affiliate relationships. Each side keeps to its own work.
Every operator we cover holds a UKGC licence. From there, its score comes down to how it performs against those criteria. Where a casino doesn’t meet our standards, the review reflects that. Where we include affiliate links, we’ll say so. For full terms, see our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Responsible Gambling
Gambling is entertainment, not a way to make money or clear debt. There’s always risk involved, and for some people it becomes a problem. Every page on this site links to responsible gambling tools because that message matters more than any bonus comparison. We link to BeGambleAware, GamStop, GamCare, and the National Gambling Helpline (0808 8020 133) throughout the site. If any of those organisations can help, please use them.
Play Responsibly
Gambling is entertainment, not a way to make money or fix money problems. Decide how much time and money you can spare before you start, and stop when you get there. If you lose, do not chase it.
If gambling is starting to affect your life, free and confidential help is available:
National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133 (free, 24/7)
- GamCare Free support and counselling for anyone affected by gambling | gamcare.org.uk
- GambleAware Advice and tools to help you keep gambling safe | BeGambleAware.org
- Gamblers Anonymous Meetings for people who want to stop gambling, run by others who have been through it | gamblersanonymous.org.uk
- GAMSTOP Free self-exclusion from every UK-licensed online gambling site | gamstop.co.uk
Our responsible gambling guide explains the tools available to UK players and where to turn for help.
For a deeper guide on the tools available, what UK rules require of operators, and where to get help, see our responsible gambling page.
Get in Touch
Questions, corrections, or feedback? We read every message and reply personally where we can.
- Email: info@bestcasino.co.uk
- X: @bestukcasino
If you’ve spotted out-of-date information on a review (a bonus that’s changed, a payment method that’s been dropped, a slot that’s been pulled), email us. Those corrections go to the top of the fix list.