Manchester the surprise choice for UK super-casino

By David Browne
LONDON (eTN) — The northern England city of Manchester has been given the green light for developing Britain's first Las Vegas style super-casino. The announcement is a major boost for tourism in the region and came as a complete surprise to the city. The front runner in the bids, as far as bookmakers were concerned, was the coastal resort of Blackpool, with the Greenwich Dome in London as a second and highly controversial second choice. Manchester was a 16 to one outsider amongst those who take bets on such things.

The degree of shock at Manchester's selection is illustrated by the reaction of the Manchester Evening News, which had its lunchtime first edition set up with a banner headline proclaiming Blackpool the winner. Printing was held up while the front page was changed and a new story written.
"It was a massive shock. We had a ‘Blackpool Hits Casino Jackpot' front page on standby ready for the announcement at 11 o'clock," said editor Paul Horrocks. "Then Manchester popped up on the satellite TV and we couldn't believe it. The whole newsroom went quiet for about ten or 15 seconds and then everyone was saying ‘they must have got it wrong'," said Horrocks.
But they were not wrong. The Casino Advisory Panel which advises the UK Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, issued its final report and recommended the super-casino license should go to Manchester.

City Council officials dashed out to shops near their offices to buy bottles of champagne to celebrate their win in hastily arranged press photo calls and television interviews. City Council leader Richard Leese said the news was fantastic for Manchester. "Manchester has an unrivalled track record in the delivery of major regeneration schemes so we are confident we have the expertise to deliver a world-calss venue, creating thousands of new jobs for local people."

The Casino Panel also recommends eight large casinos and eight small casinos should be developed in other cities and resorts around Great Britain. The holiday resort of Great Yarmouth and the port city of Southampton are among the winners of the large casino licenses. Bath, Scarborough, Swansea, and Torbay are among the locations selected for small casinos.

"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," says the Casino Panel's report. "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."
It is expected that the Manchester casino will have a minimum total customer area of 5,000 square meters, and up to 1,250 unlimited jackpot gaming machines. Large casinos will have a minimum total customer area of 1,500 square meters, and up to 150 gaming machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000. Small casinos will have a minimum total customer area of 750 square meters, and be permitted up to 80 £4,000 jackpot gaming machines, The one super-casino and eight large casinos will be permitted to offer bingo, and all three categories will be permitted to offer the full range betting of games including the standard roulette and blackjack tables.

The Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, said members of parliament would have the final say in designating Manchester as England's equivalent of Las Vegas. Manchester's proposal is to make the super-casino part of SportCity, a massive sport and entertainment complex being built on a site close to the City of Manchester Stadium in the east of the city. The site will also have an arena, swimming pool, restaurants, a nightclub and a hotel.

February 1, 2007   Posted in: England