Manchester Scoop Super Casino Jackpot

Manchester has been named by the Casino Advisory Panel as the city that will have the first “super casino” in the UK, in an announcement that shocked virtually everyone. The vast majority of commentators had the race down to just two likely winners – London and Blackpool – and Manchester were so unprepared to be awarded the decision that they had to send out for champagne to celebrate with after the announcement had been made.

The super casino is expected to have a customer area of at least 5,000 square metres, and will be permitted up to 1,250 Category A gaming machines, which offer unlimited jackpots. It will also be able to offer table games, betting facilities, and a host of non-gambling attractions such as restaurants and bars.

In the official release which made the decision of the Casino Advisory Panel public, Chair of the Panel, Professor Stephen Crow, said: “All of the seven shortlisted proposals that we examined further had their merits in their own way, could be a good test of social impact of a casino, are in need of, and could benefit from regeneration, and showed evidence of willingness to license a casino. However our duty for the regional casino was to choose only one area that best met our criteria and – after much consideration – the Panel was won over by how well the Manchester proposal in particular delivered against the full range of requirements set out in the criteria against which the judgments were made.

“The Panel’s full remit was to recommend to the Secretary of State the best locations for the one regional, eight large and eight small casinos in the light of the criteria set by her. Arriving at the recommendations for all seventeen casinos required the consideration of a wealth of evidence, and we are grateful to the very large number of people who contributed to the process.

“All the proposals shortlisted for the regional casino presented their own particular and compelling strengths. We were, however, particularly impressed by Manchester's proposal, which in our view offers great promise. We found that the proposal had a unique formula to offer which served to set it apart from the others presented to us in terms of the full range of our specific remitted criteria of best test of social impact, regeneration need and benefits and willingness to license. Manchester represents a good place to test social impact, and the council's consultations with other local authorities and relevant bodies gave us confidence on that. Manchester has a catchment area for a casino second only to that of London, and it is an area in need of regeneration at least as much as any of the others we observed – indeed, the city has the greatest need in terms of multiple deprivation of all the proposals that were before us. We are impressed that the council's plan has been developed, and is proposed to be taken forward, in close consultation with the communities that would benefit from it, and note in addition that Manchester is one of England’s eight “Core Cities” which Government policy sees as drivers of national and regional economic growth. In our view, the proposal presents the most complete package in terms of meeting our remitted criteria.

“Further evidence of why we are recommending Manchester, along with our reasons for the selection of the other sixteen large and small casinos, and our views on all of the proposals shortlisted for the regional, and large and small casinos, are set out in more detail in our final report on our website.

“We have, at every stage, paid particular attention to ensuring the process we have undertaken has been open, and fair, and we have to that end posted details of evidence we have considered – along with relevant meeting minutes and reports – on our website for all to see and consider. We have issued press statements at key milestones. We have been open throughout the process about potential conflicts of interest and put in place measures to ensure that our final recommendations would be free from interest, bias or prejudice. And it is in this spirit of transparency that we are issuing alongside this press release a thorough account of our processes, considerations and reasons as part of our final report.”

Whilst Manchester is the biggest winner of this announcement with a recommended regional casino licence, other licences for “large” casinos have been recommended for Great Yarmouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton. These large casinos are expected to have a customer area of at least 1,500 square metres and will be permitted up to 150 Category B gaming machines which offer jackpots of up to £4,000.

Licences for “small” casinos (having a customer area of at least 750 square metres and permission for up to 80 Category B gaming machines) have been recommended for Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.