Speaking to The Times, Dominic Mansour, Chief Executive of Buzz Bingo, has desperately pleaded with Rachel Reeves to take heed of the latest set of warnings flooding in from land-based gambling.
The head of Buzz Bingo has become the latest gaming executive to threaten wide-scale closures and job losses if the UK Chancellor hikes gambling tax in her 26 November budget.
He warned that a “very large” number of the operators’ 79 bingo halls will be forced to close if Reeves heeds calls to increase remote gambling tax to 50%.
“A very large number of them would have to close and a very large number of staff would have to be let go,” said Mansour.
Mansour also launched an impassioned defence of the UK’s regulated gaming industry as he reflected on tense lobbying that has marred the build-up to the budget.
Just last week, Dame Meg Hillier, Chair of the Treasury Committee, released a report recommending a higher tax on remote gambling than other verticals, whilst accusing companies of funnelling customers into “the most addictive, harmful corners of the industry”.
“That’s illegal. We’re not allowed to do that,” argued Mansour.
“I don’t want to disparage any of our competitors in the slightest, but bingo is very different. Bingo is a social game, it’s something that supports local communities.”
“There are actually some of us who run these legitimate businesses who care that the people who are potentially vulnerable to having gambling problems are correctly protected. That’s why the Gambling Commission and we as an industry voluntarily have put tools in place.
Retail on the ropes
At the very same committee, Dame Siobhain McDonagh was also intensely critical in her attack on the retail betting sector. Saying that she was of the belief that betting shops have descended from places where people would socialise to hubs for people with drug and alcohol problems that have caused concern in local constituencies.
Mansour’s concerns echo those of Betfred’s Chief Executive, Joanne Whitaker, who said in October that the company would be forced to close its full estate of almost 1,300 betting shops if taxes rise.
William Hill’s parent company, evoke, has also stated that up to 1,500 jobs are at risk as it would be forced to consider closing between 120 to 200 William Hill betting shops in the face of tax changes.
Mansour also noted that even a tax increase “in the medium range” would stymie investment and divert £50m that the company has set aside for improvements to its bingo halls.
He explained: “The money that would go to the Treasury will be money that we no longer invest in the business because we simply wouldn’t have the cash. That is money that therefore doesn’t go to painters, decorators, carpet fitters, builders.”
Facing intense scrutiny to steer a cash-strapped economy, voices such as the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and over 100 Labour backbenchers have pressured Reeves to adopt a proposal from the Institute for Public Policy Research for a 50% tax rate on online and retail slots.
The think tank argues that this figure better represents the greater perceived harm from the verticals compared to others like betting on horse racing, and would raise an additional £1.88bn in revenue for the government.
Advocates also believe that the current tax rate of 21% for remote gaming falls below comparative markets elsewhere.
Although Buzz Bingo may be primarily known for its in-person bingo offering, the company also offers online gambling and houses gaming machines in its venues. As such, a tax hike on both would present a significant financial burden.
