Small firms set to fold under new gambling laws

The Henley Centre, a marketing consultancy, said that government plans to allow Las Vegas-style casinos across the UK will harm small pubs and clubs, mainly in struggling seaside or rural resorts.

The report said that the growth in casino and internet gambling triggered by the Bill will see an extra £1 billion spent by punters by 2010.

However, this extra spending is set to mainly benefit large casino complexes. Employment expected to grow by 20,000 over the next six years, but with the surge in closures, with only actual gain will be 2,000 extra workers.

The research suggested that the government’s main motive for opening up the gambling market was to raise revenue, with an extra £400 million set to be generated in tax by 2010.

The findings will be a blow to many pubs and clubs who rely on slot machines and other small gambling operations for much-needed revenue.

With many resorts struggling to attract British visitors and tourists following the terrorist attacks and the Iraq war, the competition posed by large casinos will push many small firms into insolvency.

Ray Stone, director of the Henley Centre, said that for the first time we can see a fully evaluated picture of the government proposed new Bill.

“The industry is forecast to grow regardless of the Bill largely due to remote betting and gaming and fixed odds betting machines, whereas the Bill will add an extra dimension which allows the growth of casinos with unlimited prize slot machines and in some cases unlimited numbers of these machines.

“The national figures hide a variety of local impacts which although they could be positive in terms of new gambling venues, they could also be negative in terms of closures of bingo clubs and pubs and their associated implications.

“It is vital that the government takes into account the full social and economic impact of deregulation covering big business, small business, local issues, employment, problem gambling, and, of course, tax,” he said.