Casinos To Stay Closed As BGC fail To Get Government Green Light

Casinos in the UK have been told they cannot reopen this month following the latest announcement on other businesses reopening dates.

On Thursday Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden listed those businesses such as indoor gyms, swim pools both outdoor and indoor, nail parlours, tattooists, outdoor theatres and music can all reopen but not casinos.

The latest announcement puts the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) who have been pleading with government for casinos to reopen in a very awkward position.

In June the BGC announced that casinos would open on the 4^th July but that date came and went without any green light from ministers, then the BGC said it was vital that casinos should open in July and that possibility has now gone, so where does it leave the casino industry and their trade body?

One casino manager who works in London but did not want to be named told the iGaming Post, “with this latest raft of openings but not casinos, it will mean huge redundancies for certain, Genting have already closed some clubs and laid off poker dealers, it is only a matter of time when all casino operators now announce job losses.”

To many within the industry it is baffling why pubs and restaurants can open but not casinos, one gaming consultant said, “There is no reason except a political one, the BGC has no influence at all in representing the casino industry at government level with ministers. The other is purely a sign by government that by opening casinos before other sectors could show favouritism and negative press.”

It is not just casino operators that will now suffer but their workers and those suppliers and manufacturers who work with the industry.

There is now a small number of businesses that are still closed; theatres, night clubs, children’s soft play areas, indoor ice skating and casinos.

Time is now ticking for the casino industry, it will not be July now but will it even be August?