Casino group Genting Casinos has announced the closure of its brick-and-mortar venue in Coventry due to “commercial pressures facing the land-based casino sector”.
The venue opened in 2012 and employed around 50 people, though the company decided that it was “no longer commercially viable to sustain trading”.
The closure has already taken place, with a description on the venue’s website reading: “Genting Casino Coventry is now closed, but don't worry, you can still visit Resorts World Casino, Genting Casino Leicester or one of our other Midlands casinos.”
The brand still operates land-based venues in several cities in the Midlands, including Birmingham, Derby, Leicester and Wolverhampton.
“In recent years, casinos have absorbed substantial increases in employment costs, business rates, energy costs and regulatory compliance expenditure, alongside increases in gaming taxation,” said Genting in a statement explaining the closure.
“These cumulative pressures have significantly reduced margins across the sector and are making it increasingly difficult for highly regulated venues to remain commercially sustainable.
“This closure demonstrates the real-world consequences of a business environment in which costs continue to rise, while taxation places increasing pressure on commercial viability.”
The move to shut the venue is the latest closure announced by a major UK gambling company, with businesses facing uncertain futures as the government considers raising gambling taxes, including Machine Games Duty.
Last month, the CEO of the UK's main gambling industry lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council, warned that “up to 16,000 jobs” could be lost if taxes are raised, with nearly 1,500 betting shops” and “as many as 34 casinos” also at risk.
