Bacta to showcase UK industry’s impact to Gambling Commission leaders with high street and coastal visits

The British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta) is set to host a series of visits by senior officials from the Gambling Commission, including Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes and Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Gardner, to showcase the industry's contributions to high street and coastal economies.

The program will commence on Wednesday with Gardner's visit to the Admiral Adult Gaming Centre (AGC) located on Shirley High Street in Southampton. On the following day, a delegation led by Rhodes, along with the Commission’s Chief Technology Officer Alistair Quigley and Betting Specialist Manager Jon Shaw, will visit the historic Mumbles Pier in Swansea, south Wales.

Bacta National President John Bollom, whose family has managed Mumbles Pier since 1937, will attend both events. Bollom expressed his enthusiasm for the visits, highlighting the opportunity to demonstrate the diverse challenges faced by operators and the industry’s commitment to safer gambling. He also emphasized the importance of implementing reforms recommended in the recent White Paper.

“I am delighted that Andrew Rhodes, Sarah Gardner and colleagues from the Commission have accepted our invitation to visit two businesses based in two quite different locations,” Bollom stated. “As well as helping to sustain high street economies throughout the country Bacta members also make important contributions to UK tourism."

Elizabeth Speed of Novomatic, who chairs Bacta's Social Responsibility Committee, and Neil Finch, Regional Operations Manager at Admiral, will discuss the challenges confronting high street operators and the critical need for swift implementation of industry reforms.

Bollom added: “Mumbles Pier has been a defining feature of the landscape for more than a century and one of the points that I will be making is that a privately owned pier without an amusement arcade is simply not sustainable. The FEC Arcade on Mumbles Pier features over 100 machines comprising the latest video games, sports themed games, 2p pushers and so on. 

"If you take that revenue out of the business it would undermine the ability to fund the only attraction that brings visitors to the area beyond the summer season and in the process generate valuable employment opportunities for local people.”