Bacta names sponsors for end-of-year events

The British trade association has named sponsors for a trio of events in London.

UK.- The British amusement arcade and gaming hall association Bacta has named the supporting sponsors for a trio of events coming up next month. November will see Bacta host its Annual Convention on November 23, along with a parliamentary reception, at which it will name the winners of the first Bacta awards. It will also host its first Social Responsibility Exchange.

The Social Responsibility Exchange will provide members with the opportunity to share social responsibility best practice tactics and strategies. The event will be introduced by Elizabeth Speech, who chairs the association’s Social Responsibility Committee. Other speakers include representatives from YGAM and GamCare.

Bacta’s Social Responsibility Exchange will be held at London’s County Hall on November 22. The sponsor for the event will be Claratus Commercial Finance, which specialises in the gaming, amusement and leisure sectors.

Bacta’s Annual Convention, its main gathering of members, will be held the next day. It will be sponsored by gaming machine supplier Novomatic. Topics for discussion at the convention this year will include the future of pubs and clubs and the UK government’s long-delayed white paper on gambling reform.

Finally, the Parliamentary Reception at the Houses of Parliament on the same day will be sponsored by Blueprint Operations. It will see the announcement of the Bacta Awards, which intends to celebrate operators in the amusements and low-stakes gaming sector.

The awards have five categories and will seek to recognise operators and venues that have made an impact in different areas in the last 12 months. The categories are High Street Hero, Seaside Saviour, Supply Chain Champion, Green Giants and Rising Star.

The judges will include Bacta CEO John White and president Greg Wood. They’ll be looking for creativity, upholding BACTA’s values, commitment to customer wellbeing and being a team player as the criteria for judging. The winners will be announced at BACTA’s parliamentary reception on Wednesday, November 24.

Members of parliament will be invited to attend the event along with members of the press and all shortlisted nominees. The body has asked entrants to advise it if they don’t want their MP to be invited on their behalf if they’re shortlisted.

Bacta Awards categories in full

• High Street Hero: This award aims to celebrate outstanding staff members working in AGCs, high street bingo or inland FECs that have gone beyond the call of duty either at work or, particularly, through their community engagement.
• Seaside Saviour: This award celebrates the outstanding staff members working in FECs specifically at seaside locations.
• Supply Chain Champion: This award celebrates the outstanding staff working in the supply chain who play a vital role in helping to deliver entertainment to communities across the country. 
• Jimmy Thomas Rising Star Award: This award aims to find the best and brightest young members (under 30) in the industry, shining a light on the future leaders of the sector.
• Green Giants: This award aims to find the individual or business that has shown an outstanding commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and promoting sustainability in the workplace.

Entries will be judged in line with the following criteria:

• Creativity: How the nominee has adopted a creative approach to their job (for example, looking at creative new solutions to everyday challenges in the workplace)
• Upholding Bacta’s values: How has this nominee upheld Bacta’s core values (ethical, sustainable, modern, professional, partnering and open and transparent) in the workplace?
• Commitment to customer wellbeing: How has this nominee gone above and beyond to ensure that customer wellbeing is at the heart of their work (for example helping a customer who may be showing signs of problem gambling)?
• Team player: How has this nominee supported their colleagues in the place of work (for example offering to cover extra shifts, being a friendly and helpful face in the workplace)?
• Community spirit: How has this nominee worked to support their wider community through getting involved in activities such as mentoring, volunteering and fundraising for local causes?