The UK subsidiary of Genting Malaysia Bhd seems to be finding the coronavirus pandemic situation quite problematic.
So far, the Covid-10 crisis has forced Genting UK to close three of its casino venues – the ones in Bristol, Torquay and Margate – and to reduce its workforce at its operations in London, Blackpool, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Now, the local subsidiary of Genting Malaysia is being forced to permanently close another property, its Genting Casino Southport, and is currently in a consultation phase with the 38 employees who used to work there.
According to a report that was published last week, Genting Malaysia said that it was unable to avoid the closure because coronavirus shutdowns affected its business resulting in no operations at all. At the time of the report, the company confirmed that it had started a consultation process with all of the staff members of its Genting Casino Southport.
A spokesperson of Genting Malaysia said that the coronavirus pandemic had posed unprecedented challenges for the entertainment and leisure sector. Unfortunately, even though the company had worked over the past 10 months to keep its business viral and sustainable, it had been unable to avoid permanent closures of some of its clubs in the UK.
Coronavirus Crisis Adds to Uncertainty Faced by UK Gambling Industry
The coronavirus pandemic outbreak has cause problems for casino companies across the world but some had better luck surviving the massive financial blow than others. Unfortunately, Genting Malaysia’s UK division has not been one of them, with the UK having been suffering from multiple coronavirus issues.
Recently, the country’s Government has revealed that the original coronavirus infection has mutated into at least two other variations that continue to spread and have a massive negative effect on the UK economy, and the local gambling sector in particular. As a result of the new Covid-19 variations, UK casinos have been forced to go back on lockdown again.
As revealed by Genting Malaysia, it holds a total of 43 casino operating licences in the UK. The company has operated 42 casino venues until the beginning of the global coronavirus crisis after the pandemic broke out and messed up everything in the sector. Apart from its land-based casino venues, Genting Malaysia also operates two hotels in the UK. It also runs the online gambling sites gentingbet.com and gentingcasino.com.
Genting Malaysia also revealed that it would try helping the staff members who its UK division was forced to dispose of or furlough.
What is even worse, is the fact that the future of the UK gambling industry remains uncertain. On one hand, companies that offer their gambling services in the country have been hit by the global coronavirus crisis. On the other hand, gambling operators are also facing stricter regulation by the Government and local gambling watchdogs, with the tougher rules expected to considerably affect the companies’ potential earnings. Some analysts have also shared concern that the Brexit would also make things harder for the UK gambling industry, raising a lot of questions and creating some uncertainty for gambling operators there.
- Author
Olivia Cole
