Back in the 1990’s it was trendy to be English. In music we had Britpop and artists such as Blur, Oasis and the Spice Girls meant that we were the centre of a cool new generation, the likes of which this country had not experienced since the hedonist days of the Beatles! Britain had a newfound optimism, we were a country on the rise, after all, we were cool Britannia!
At the time of our social and financial boom, the Tony Blair led government announced plans to allow ‘Super Casinos’. These Las Vegas inspired venues that would be built in many places in the UK would allow both locals and visitors to enjoy Nevada style gaming in major UK cities and towns. However, Gordon Brown who would become Tony Blair’s successor was not so keen on the idea and as soon as he became the new leader of the Labour party, he promised a review of the Super Casino plan.
The government plan initially stated up to 40 Super Casinos would be built. This was then revised to 8 and then finally to just 1 that would be built in Manchester. However, in 2008, due to extreme public complaints this was also scrapped and the government decided to drop the plans for Super Casinos altogether.
Was This the End of the Mega Casinos Idea?
Well strangely no! Although the government plan was dropped, large casinos did indeed start getting built. Last year, a large casino in England’s second city, Birmingham opened its doors to a 2000 capacity, £150 million development. The Resorts World Birmingham is simply huge! it boasts 18 bars and restaurants as well as housing 50 retail shops. If this isn’t enough, there is also an 11-screen Imax cinema as well as a spa and a hotel on site.
The 2005 Gambling Act did allow for large casinos to be built and this was separate from the Super Casinos plan from the Labour Party. So whilst the Labour plan was scrapped, private companies could still apply and it was the jurisdiction of the local authority rather than central government to accept or deny a request for a new casino. So although it may not have been in the main news, things were changing.
Licenses were awarded for 16 casinos, 8 of them large casinos and 8 of the smaller type. Out of the eight being awarded, so far only three have opened their doors to customers. Aspers opened in 2011 at Westfield Stratford City in Newham London. Aspers also opened another in Milton Keynes in 2013 (Casino MK) and the one previously mentioned in Birmingham, Genting’s resort.
One of the biggest concerns regarding local authorities licensing new casinos is the chance of the local authority becoming reliant on this source of income. It is alleged that the Milton Keynes council received £1 million up front for permission to build and receives an annual amount of nearly £700,000 to keep the casino open. Is this bad news for the local area or an innovative way to raise money for cash starved councils? Only time will tell.