Genting U.K., a subsidiary of Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM), is finding the COVID-19 situation extremely problematic. It was forced to shutter its casinos in Bristol, Margate and Torquay, as well as reduce its staffing levels at operations in Birmingham, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, but is about to add another property to the mix. GenM is being forced to close its Genting Casino Southport in England because of continued issues caused by the coronavirus, and 38 employees are going to need to find new jobs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused problems for casino operators across the globe, but some have been able to survive better than others. GenM isn’t one of those, with the U.K. repeatedly being bombarded by coronavirus issues that seem to be relentless. The original coronavirus has morphed into at least two other variations and they continue to pound away at the U.K. economy. One already forced area casinos to go back on lockdown, exacerbating an already precarious situation.
GenM said in a press release about the closure last week, “We can confirm that we have started a consultation process with all of our staff at Genting Casino Southport, with 38 employees being put at risk of redundancy. As we all know, the coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges right across the leisure industry and whilst we have worked tirelessly over the past ten months to sustain the business as best as possible, permanent club closures have, unfortunately, been simply unavoidable.”
According to GenM, the company has a total of 43 casino licenses in the U.K. and has operated 42 casinos until the global pandemic turned everything upside down. It also operates two hotels in the country, as well as online gambling platforms gentingcasino.com and gentingbet.com.
The future of the gambling industry in the U.K. is uncertain. In addition to the global pandemic, the country’s gambling operators are facing more control by regulators and a crackdown on the types of offerings they can provide, which will eat away at potential earnings, and jobs, even more than it already has. As Brexit looms and the U.K. attempts to figure out how it will look after stepping away from the European Union, there are a lot of questions that still have to be answered before a clear picture emerges for gambling operators.
In the meantime, GenM is going to try to help those that it has been forced to lay off or furlough. It added in its announcement about the Southport closure, “We know what difficult news this will be for all of our hard-working colleagues in Southport and will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.”
