The UK government has finally given casinos in England the go-ahead to start serving patrons again after being overlooked when betting shops and bingo halls were approved for reopening.
Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister finally announced that casinos in England will be allowed to reopen their doors for business starting 1st August. Brick-and-mortar casinos in England have been waiting for this news for ages, after staying under mandatory lockdown for over 4 months. Boris Johnson announced on Friday, the 17th of July as he was disclosing the plans for further easing of the lockdown regulations that had been implemented in the wake of the pandemic.
Land-based casinos in England have been closed since March and even though betting shops and bingo halls were allowed to resume operations on 15th June and 4th July respectively, they weren’t approved for reopening. Besides, the casinos were not the only businesses that were given reopening approval by the UK government on Friday. Other businesses that will start operating once again from 1st August include leisure centers, bowling alleys, facial treatments in beauty salons, ice-skating rinks, and music halls and theatres.
The BGC Welcomes the Good News
The Prime Minister’s announcement was lauded by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the industry association gaming in the UK which had calling out the government after casinos were left out of the 4th of July reopening plans. Through its CEO, Michael Dugher, the BGC voiced its delight in a statement;
“After four long months of lockdown, it’s fantastic to see casinos will reopen safely for business again on 1 August. I am delighted that they can now play their part in supporting the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector.”
In the statement, BGC’s CEO also pointed out that all its member casinos are already prepared, given that they had already employed strict COVID-19 guidelines weeks ago in readiness for getting back to business. Dugher also thanked Oliver Dowden, the DCMS Secretary of State and Minister Nigel Hiddleston, and all the cross-party members of parliament who supported the BGC’s bid for reopening.
Dugher Calls on Other UK Governments to Follow Suit
While Boris Johnson’s announcement means that most of the 12,000 staff working in retail casino facilities in England will return to work, there’s still no clear information about the reopening date of casinos in Scotland and Wales. Thus, in his statement, the BGC CEO also urged the Scottish and Welsh governments to announce their plans for land-based casino venues given that 2,000 of the 14,000 workers employed in the UK’s retail casino industry are still out of work.
Meanwhile, it appears that there’s already a negative consequence for the delays in the reopening of casinos in England and the UK at large. Genting, one of the major operators of casinos in the region with 32 gaming facilities recently disclosed that would be shutting down 3 of its premises for good. As a result, this will render over 1,600 of its staff members jobless.
In a statement that followed the lay-off notice, Genting cited that the redundancy caused by the Coronavirus upheaval and uncertain reopening dates pushed the company to make the tough decision. The company however reiterated that it would resort to whatever means necessary to make sure that the number of laid-off workers is as small as possible. Genting’s casino properties whose employees are on the chopping block are the Margate, Bristol, and Torquay premises.
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