SG Gaming has extended its agreement with independent bookmaker JenningsBet with a new four-year deal which lengthens the 14-year partnership between the two companies until July 2018. As part of the extension, the entire JenningsBet estate will receive SG Gaming’s Infinity terminals, which offers JenningsBet customers an enhanced playing experience through its 21.5” HD screen, an upgraded sound system, and …
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ABB: Gambling law should be ‘based on facts, not scaremongering’
The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) has warned that any changes to betting shop regulations to tackle problem gambling should be ‘based on facts, not scaremongering’. In response to the government’s new plans to impose greater restrictions on gaming machines, gambling advertising and LBO planning laws, the ABB has accused the government of failing to listen to the one million …
Read More »Has gambling advertising reached its watershed?
Today Helen Grant MP described gambling advertising as ‘pervasive’ while announcing a set of measures clamping down on the betting industry, put together as much for enhanced player protection as they have with one eye on next’s year’s General Election. While it obviously isn’t a good sign for the gambling industry (or indeed the TV companies), the government has actually …
Read More »Shake up in planning laws for betting shops
Gambling firms who want to open up new betting shops on the high street may find they are stopped from doing so under new plans to give local authorities more control over the make-up of their high streets. Bookies who want to open new shops will have to submit a planning application and local councils will be able to refuse …
Read More »Strong quarter for Ladbrokes
One of the UK’s oldest and largest retail bookmakers has warned of potential shop closures and job losses in 2015, because of regulatory uncertainty and a 5% hike in Machine Games Duty (MGD). Speaking as Ladbrokes released its Q1 Interim Management Statement, Chief Executive Richard Glynn, said: “The unexpected recent tax increases and ongoing uncertainty surrounding regulation are unwelcome. We …
Read More »Ministerial statement: Betting shops and gambling
Minister for gambling Helen Grant MP has made this statement to Parliament: “The 2005 Gambling Act was introduced by the then Government with the aim of liberalising the gambling market in Great Britain. Nearly seven years on from the Act’s implementation, the gambling industry has developed in innovative ways, with new products now marketed and made available on a greater …
Read More »Government to announce new betting restrictions
The UK government is expected to introduce new mandatory measures for bookmakers today as it looks to stave off pressure from Labour on the gambling industry. Among the changes will be a tightening up on advertising, a shift in the planning laws to put betting shops in their own category and the enshrinement of the recent ABB machine code into …
Read More »Union warns against knee-jerk LBO closures
Trade union Community is concerned ahead of an expected announcement by the government that will provide new powers to local councils to curb the opening of high street betting shops and that the stakes on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals might be changed. The news follows Friday’s announcement of 420 potential job cuts at high street bookmaker William Hill. Responding to …
Read More »LBO staff take 1m signatures to Downing Street
Betting shop staff are to present a petition signed by 1m people to Downing Street today in a bid to get the government to push back its current relentless changes to the regulation of bookmakers. Campaigns against FOBTs, so called ‘clustering’ of shops and the accusations that the industry is targeting poor areas has left the government feeling vulnerable to …
Read More »Commission begins review of conditions and codes
The UK Gambling Commission has started a review into strengthening the social responsibility and player protection/harm minimisation elements of its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, and its Guidance to Licensing Authorities. This review was referenced at page 8 of the LCCP responses document published on 31 March. The review, which is being led by Gambling Commission Commissioner Rachel Lampard, takes …
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