Casinos.co.uk: Casino News Archive
Wednesday 27th February 2008
Regional casinos 'too much of a gamble'
Even though the government has approved the building of 16 small regional casinos across the UK, most of them may never be built as operators have doubts about their profitability, the Financial times reports.
Andy Burnham, the current culture secretary, approved the plans for 16 second and third-tier casinos in UK towns and cities, but finally put to bed the idea of a supercasino in Manchester.
The eight medium and eight small casinos would be obliged to contain "non-gambling areas" and close for at least six hours per day.
But after high taxes have already been imposed in the gaming industry, plus a package of new measures are set to be introduced, casino operators may wonder whether it is worth running them.
Casinos would not be allowed, for example, to offer free drinks or accept credit cards at the table.
"The gambling industry is suffering from a high level of taxation," Brigid Simmonds of the Business in Sport and Leisure consultancy told the newspaper. "With the consumer drop-off and the smoking ban as well, you have to wonder what the appetite is for building new casinos under the current tax regime."
Gala is already reviewing the future of three of its casinos and Ladbrokes has announced that it will not bid for any of the 16 casino licences.
Source:Direct News
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