PM Boris Johnson announced nationwide that England would be entering a four-week lockdown as of this Thursday in hopes to mitigate the growing numbers of coronavirus infections. Would this be the final curtain for the already struggling land-based casino sector?
What will the?second?lockdown look like??
The?announcement?delivered?by PM Boris?Johnson?On November 1st?comes?as no?surprise following weeks of?speculation?as the UK experienced?a?rapid increase?in cases of COVID-19.??
In?addition, ministers have?taken into account?concerns over risk that the NHS is on the path of becoming overwhelmed.??
England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, noted that the virus was spreading ‘extremely rapidly’. He?commented?during the news conference:?
If we did not act now, then the chances of the NHS being in extraordinary trouble in December will be very, very high.?
The new restrictions include, but are not limited to, the following:??
- Universities?and schools remain open?
- Pubs, bars, restaurants will close?
- Remote?work is encouraged??
- Avoiding?non-essential travel??
- Non-essential shops, and all leisure and entertainment venues will be shut, encompassing “theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, adult gaming centres and arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, concert halls, zoos and other animal attractions, botanical gardens”??
Effect on land-based casinos?
What reaction can we see from English land-based casinos in response to the announcement of a second lockdown?
Evidently, many land-based casinos continue to recover from the first lockdown and it is expected that the second?lockdown?could be the final curtain for many.??
One of the hardest hit?casinos was?London-based bookmaker,?William Hill, who?permanently closed?119 betting shops in the UK?back in?August after?a fall in?customer numbers?and?significant?profit losses.?This was later followed by a constant battle with the English?regional?tier?system, forcing the bookmaker to?temporarily?close?more than?100?branches?in?Tier Three regions such as Manchester,?Liverpool and Lancashire.?
Lancashire, one of the key cities for and-based betting, has faced closures of 49 Betfred branches,?5 from Paddy Power, and 38 from Ladbrokes-Coral.??
Such closures?ultimately have had?a devastating effect on?employees?as many are made redundant in?one of?the?most?pivotal?economic times?in?history.??
The question rests, will the land-based casinos in the UK recover???
In response to Liverpool?City?being?proclaimed?Tier 3?back in the?beginning?of October, resulting in the closure of 400 betting shops, the Chief Executive of the Betting and?Gaming?council (BGC) Michael Dugher?tells the Racing Post:?
It is hugely disappointing that as they are starting to get back on their feet again, those venues in Merseyside and Lancashire have had the rug pulled from under them by the prime minister.
PM?Boris Johnson stated that he aims for the lockdown to end by the 2nd?December, after which England will resume?its regional tired system. However,?Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, fears that?England’s?month-long?lockdown could be?extended.?
About SiGMA’s revamped website:
SiGMA Group is excited to announce the launch of its newly?revamped website. The website is currently available in 5 languages, English, Russian, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish with plans to add another 5 languages over the coming months – namely French, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Hindi.
