Six years on from the UK’s Gambling Act 2005 and even more since ‘super’ casinos were being promoted as the way to put the Great back in Britain by bringing the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas to various impoverished sites around the country, there are still no new ‘large’ casinos operating. Forget ‘super’ – the eight ‘large’ casinos permitted under the Gambling Act, in Leeds, Hull, Middlesbrough, Southampton, Solihull, Great Yarmouth, Milton Keynes and London’s Newham, are allowed a mere 150 gaming machines with jackpots of no more than £4,000.

The bidding process for the large casino licences is now in various stages at the eight councils. Hull awarded its licence to its one bidder; Newham chose one of three, and legal action is now being considered over its choice by the two losing bidders. As the leader of Leeds Council, Andrew Carter, said: “These casino licences were meant to deliver the greatest benefit to an area in terms of jobs and economic regeneration...” In Newham the selection of Aspers at the new Stratford City site arguably is not making the most of the opportunity for more regeneration – Stratford City is the location of a massive new shopping complex as well as the London Olympics.

City & Eastern, the development company behind the Great Eastern Quays Casino, one of the three bidders for the Newham large casino licence, said the decision to award the licence to Aspers at the Westfield Shopping Centre is a “wasted opportunity to regenerate run down areas of the borough”. C&E is the lead developer behind the consortium that includes landowner Notting Hill Housing Group, casino operator Group Partouche, Antony Spencer’s Stadium Developments, the developer behind the Arsenal Stadium development, and ARC an Asian based gaming and resort development specialist. Newham Council defends its decision making process as being robust and fair.

It is reasonable to suspect that losing bidders at the other ‘large’ and ‘small’ casino locations around the country will challenge council choices in due course. The Act makes it clear that competing bids should be awarded to the application which would, in the Authority’s opinion, be likely if granted to result in the greatest benefit to the Authority’s area. Many believe that the axing of the plans for ‘super casinos’ in Britain was a missed opportunity for regeneration where direct and indirect employment could have boosted local economies.

In all probability the sixteen ‘large’ and ‘small’ casino licences are too little and too late to have any real impact. The mega casino resorts in Singapore and Macau have a growing clientele from neighbouring Asian countries where an affluent middle class is increasing. In the west, places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City are finding it harder to attract and keep their casino clients. In Britain there has been no significant rise in casino patronage and operators are shutting unprofitable locations. With no exciting jackpots to be won it is hard to see the new casinos in Britain creating a lucrative return on investment and they could cause further job losses at smaller operations. (E-04.26.11)

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