The company's Managing Director said there are no plans for redundancies

UK: Grosvenor Casinos business "gradually picking up," MD urges to reopen Leicester branch

Grosvenor MD said customer numbers were steadily building as the public got used to going out post-lockdown and they had created “ultra-safe” environments, with ID tracking, one way systems, flexi-glass screens and tough cleaning regimes. 
2020-08-28
Reading time 2:31 min
MD Jonathon Swaine said the operator is slowly reducing the USD 1.99 M a week lost during lockdown. 70% of Grosvenor business is open, as most facilities reopened two weeks ago, four in Scotland opened last Monday and two in Wales will open this Saturday.

Grosvenor Casinos Managing Director Jonathon Swaine said they were slowly reducing the £1.5 million (USD 1.99 million) a week lost during lockdown, and said there are no plans for job losses.

Swaine said the business was gradually picking up following months of closed gambling facilities across the UK due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BusinessLive reports. As well as the lost revenues, the closure of Grosvenor’s 51 casinos in England, Scotland and Wales cost the UK Exchequer a further £1.5 million a week in lost gaming taxes. Furloughing 4,600 staff had placed another £1.5 million weekly burden on the taxpayer, according to Swaine.

Most of Grosvenor casinos reopened two weeks ago, after hold-ups caused by last-minute delays from the Government on easing restrictions. Four in Scotland opened last Monday and two in Wales will open this Saturday.

Now Grosvenor MD wants to reopen the Leicester branch, criticising the ongoing localised lockdown in the city after a peak in Covid-19 rates had tailed off. He said it was time the 112-strong staff based in the Highcross Street casino got back to work. Another six Grosvenor Casinos in Greater Manchester and one in Huddersfield also remain closed because of local lockdowns in those areas.

Despite the millions in lost revenue and delayed reopenings, Swaine said: “I think the Government has been in a very, very difficult position and, perhaps having had some false starts, were hyper-keen not to be too exposed when it came to lifting restrictions. I do sympathise with the Cabinet Office because this situation is unprecedented. But I think the case of Leicester is disingenuous – when a casino has to stay shut while massage parlours, nail bars and tattoo studios are open.

“The infection rate in the city is moving in the right direction so it’s illogical and frustrating that we have not been able to reopen,” he continued. “It’s been frustrating for us in Leicester and for our shareholders, but we have 112 colleagues in the city and they do not know what the future will be, particularly as we are nine weeks away from the end of furlough.”

“We could be in a tough position when the furlough safety net ends because we would be losing a lot of money each week and would have to take decisions about the Leicester team.” He said the company has “a strong balance sheet” and 70 percent of its businesses is now open, “but each business has got to be able to stand on its own.”

Grosvenor Casinos is part of the £730 million turnover Rank Group which also operates more than 70 Mecca bingo halls, pretty much all of which are now open. Swaine said customer numbers were steadily building as the public got used to going out post-lockdown and, he said, they had created “ultra-safe” environments, with ID tracking, one way systems, flexi-glass screens and tough cleaning regimes. 

Grosvenor MD believes what they had done went further than many leisure settings. In the casinos, for instance, there are strict rules on the way chips are handled while cards are quarantined for 72 hours after use. In a bid to encourage more returning customers he said around a dozen bingo halls and a dozen casinos would be extending discounts on food and soft drinks sales through September after the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme ends on Monday. Mecca Bingo is also laying on special sessions for over-55s who might be more reluctant than most to leave their homes.

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