London, England, May 2016– The Officers of the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group are very excited at the prospect of hearing from four key leaders of the British casino industry at the third of their Future of Gambling Seminar Series, The Future of Casinos to be held on Monday 23rd May 2016. The speakers will be Simon Thomas, CEO, Hippodrome Casino, Richard Noble, COO, Aspers Casino, Mark Jones, Managing Director, Grosvenor Casinos and Roger Marris, CEO, The Ritz Club Casino. Steve Donoughue, gambling consultant and Secretariat of the All Party Betting & Gaming Group said:
The British casino sector is arguably suffering from market failure due to the Gambling Act 2005. There are no more new licenses to be had, while there are some 2005 Act licences that will probably never become operational. There are tens of licences from the 1968 regime that are dormant but because they can only be operated in the local authority for which they were granted tend to be dormant for a valid commercial reasons and thus unsellable. Out of all the gambling industry sectors, the casino industry has the most claim for government intervention.
For the first time the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group is allowing the invited guests from the industry to attend its meetings and join with the Captains of their industry in the debating what the future of gambling in Britain is. If you wish to attend one of the seminars please contact the Secretariat of the APBGG, Steve Donoughue at [email protected]. Richard Noble, COO of the Aspers Casino Group and key speaker stated:
We at Aspers Group are very keen to engage with Parliamentarians and the wider policy community. We think that what we offer at Aspers is world class and of benefit to our customers and the local communities which we serve. We provide employment for the local Communities, financial support to the local Councils and revenue to the Treasury through our taxes. We think we can do more, but we need the help of government to clear the legislative blockages to allow us to do so. We thank the All Party Group for giving us the opportunity to put forward our case.
The mission statement of the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group is ‘To act as a forum for the discussion of issues concerning betting and gaming in the UK’. This seminar series is aimed specifically at providing the platform for an educated and informed exchange of views and issues.
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Steve Donoughue at 0207 502 2067 or email at [email protected].
Information about the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group can be found at www.apbgg.org and http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/betting-and-gaming.htm
The schedule for the Seminar Series is:
The Future of Online Gambling
Tuesday 19th April 2016, 1.30pm-3.30pm, Macmillan Suite, Portcullis House
• Clive Hawkswood, CEO, Remote Gambling Association (RGA)
• Anthony Werkman, Director of Marketing & Operations, Betway
• Richard Flint, CEO, Sky Betting & Gaming
The Future of Betting Shops
Tuesday 26th April 2016, 4pm-6pm, Dining Room A, Palace of Westminster
• Malcolm George, CEO, Association of British Bookmakers (ABB)
• Andrew Lyman, Director of Group Regulatory Affairs, William Hill
• John Heaton, Chairman, Scotbet
The Future of Casinos
Monday 23rd May 2016, 3.30pm-5.30pm, Macmillan Suite, Portcullis House
• Simon Thomas, CEO, Hippodrome Casino
• Richard Noble, COO, Aspers Casino
• Henry Birch, CEO, Rank Group
The Future of Gaming Machines
Tuesday 7th June 2016, 4pm-6pm, Churchill Room, Palace of Westminster
• John White, CEO, British Amusement and Catering Trades Association (BACTA)
• Simon Dorsen, Senior Director for Europe, IGT
• TBC
The Future of Research, Education & Treatment into Problem Gambling
Tuesday 5th July 2016, 4pm-6pm, Churchill Room, Palace of Westminster
• Marc Etches, CEO, Responsible Gambling Trust
• Lee Willows, CEO, YGAM (Young Gamblers Education Trust)
• Elaine Smethurst, Managing Director, Gordon Moody Association
• Wanda Goldwag, Chair, Senet Group
This is not an official publication of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. Groups are informal groups of Members of Both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed in this document are those of the Group alone.
