Casino operators of the UK attended the Future of Casinos seminar
The leading UK casino providers took part in the seminar the Future of Casinos in Westminster, England. They expressed the similar desire to see some improvements of the Gambling Act that runs casinos in the UK.
The key points raised at the Seminar
The Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group held this seminar for the third time. The representatives of the four gambling providers gave their speeches, and then there was a question and answer session. The speakers touched the following key points:
- UK casino providers are dissatisfied with the three-tier structure that regulates machines in casinos;
- The Gambling Act 1968 restricts the casinos to a maximum of 20 gaming machines;
- European casinos get higher revenues from slots in comparison with the UK gambling establishments;
- The necessity to amend the tax system of the casino to bring it in line with other jurisdictions.
Grosvenor Casinos Managing Director Mark Jones spoke about the increase of the attendance of the casinos during the previous five years by 3.6 million, and the Londoners comprise more than three-quarters. 80% come from Aspers in Stratford and the Hippodrome in Leicester Square. He also added his dissatisfaction about the Gambling Act of 2005 that controls casino machines in the three-tier format. Simon Thomas, Hippodrome CEO said that the main European casinos have 90% of their revenues from slots: e.g., 80% in France, 70% in Germany, 55% in the Netherlands, 40% in Spain, while it is only 15% in the UK.
Roger Marris The Ritz Club CEO expressed the need of some changes in the casino tax system to bring it in line with other controls. He made an example of Barcelona, which has a lower duty rate for international gamblers and a higher one for local players.
The Q & A session
During the question and answer session Simon Thomas, Hippodrome CEO, responding to the Gambling Insider question how UK casinos plan to attract millennials, said that they are not allowed to provide an electronic random number generator.
