UK casino operators present a united front
Stakeholders from UK’s casino industry called for an amendment to the Gambling Act at a parliamentary seminar.
UK.- Casino operators presented a united front during the Future of Casinos conference in Westminster, calling for an amendment to gaming machine regulation.
Stakeholders attended the third seminar hosted by the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group. The seminar included speeches performed by four executives from the industry, which gave the attendants a better perspective of the perceptions regarding gaming machine regulation within the sector.
The first speaker was Mark Jones, managing director for Grosvenor Casinos, who explained that casino attendances increased by 3.6 million over a five-year period since 2010, however, more than three quarters of that increase occurred in London and 80 percent of that growth has come from just two casinos: Aspers in Stratford and the Hippodrome in Leicester Square.
Jones criticised the three-tier structure that governs machines in casinos under the Gambling Act 2005, whilst the terms of the Gaming Act 1968 restricted casinos to a maximum of 20 gaming machines. “Tourists, overseas travellers and investors cannot believe we have a three-tiered system and do not know what to expect when they come for a night out. There are very often nowhere near enough machines compared to what they are expecting.”
As per the Gambling Act, small casinos are allowed up to 80 machines and large casinos may offer up to 150 machines. Hippodrome Casino CEO Simon Thomas, commented: “Casinos in all major European countries earn significantly more from slot machines than casinos in the UK. The largest European casino countries earn 90 percent of their revenue from slots. In France, it makes up 80 percent, it’s 40 percent in Spain, 70 percent in Germany and 55 percent in the Netherlands, whereas it’s 15 percent in the UK. The UK Gambling Commission has no issues with increasing the number of slot machines. In 2006, the number of machines was raised from 10 to 20 and there were no issues politically or in the media.”
On its part, Richard Noble, COO of the Aspers Group, called the Gambling Act a “market failure,” because only four of the 16 new casino licensees that resulted from the implementation of the Act are still operating. Noble also called for changes to allow for more machines in casinos, noting that they would bring increased tax income to the Treasury.
The fourth speaker was Roger Marris, CEO of The Ritz Club, who proposed an idea to change the casino tax regime bringing it in line with other jurisdictions. “In Barcelona, they have a lower duty rate for international players and a higher duty rate for nationals,” he expressed. “The high end really caters to a global audience and we want to expand the international audience we are trying to reach.”
