Bacta Pulse survey shows impact of the ‘Badenoch Bounce Back’ and an uptick in support for the Conservative Party

A dramatic ‘Badenoch Bounce Back’ has revived Conservative support among Bacta members, pushing Reform UK into second place and leaving Labour trailing. The survey exposes deep industry unease over political instability and mounting frustratio...

Nicole Garrett:  “A visit to a bingo club is first and foremost a social activity in a safe and inclusive environment.”

Nicole Garrett took over the reins of the Bingo Association on Monday. One day later she was listening to the Social Market Foundation propose an existential threat to the leisure activity on Britain’s high street. Welcome to the world of gamb...

Think tank calls for hike in MGD for Cat B slots in AGCs, arcades and bingo halls

The Social Market Foundation has called for an increase in MGD on Cat B slots just three months after the Treasury hiked taxes on the industry, in a move criticised by trade bodies as “putting venues and jobs at risk.” However, the widely ackn...

Eastbourne MP steps up campaign to protect pier

Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde has renewed calls for action to safeguard Eastbourne Pier, warning that historic pleasure piers face growing financial pressures following concerns over the future of the landmark.

The heat is on: Southend “thrives” during the June heatwave with tourism businesses reaping the staycation benefit

“Thriving” was how Southend-on-Sea described its response to the recent heatwave, with tourism businesses across the resort enjoying the benefits of high temperatures and even higher footfall as daytrippers headed to the seaside in their thous...

Astro City in Southend named UK’s top arcade by Daily Mirror

Astro City in Southend has been named the UK’s best arcade in a new top ten published by the Daily Mirror, which based its ranking on size, machine counts and game variety, with the list also christening Great Yarmouth “the ultimate hotspot fo...

National Bingo Week 2026 celebrates bingo at its best with more than 20 MP visits

National Bingo Week 2026 saw more than 20 MPs visit their local bingo halls across the country to speak to staff and even call the numbers, with clubs able to demonstrate first-hand the sector’s huge contribution to local communities.

Peter Hannibal: “Enacting the SMF proposals would be the worst example of economic self harm – and the high street will be the injured party…”

The Gambling Business Group sets out the scene of carnage that tax proposals offered up by the Social Market Foundation would create if implemented. And it’s a proposition where everyone loses.

Is a radical tax model for gaming machines a massive own goal?

The Social Market Foundation’s tax proposals unveiled this week provided an interesting insight to the mindset of both the organisation itself and the political church it’s trying to preach to.  

Joseph Cullis: SMF’s tax proposal would shut venues, cost jobs and turn the lights out on seaside towns

The Social Market Foundation’s proposal to double Machine Games Duty on Category B machines is not a serious plan for raising revenue. It is a plan for closing venues.

“Doubling Machine Games Duty would not protect those communities. It would force venue closures, cost jobs and weaken high streets…”

The BGC argues that the Social Market Foundation proposals will serve to achieve everything it ideologically wants to achieve: put UK high street players in harm’s way and vulnerable players to the whims of the unprotected illegal market.

“Shoddy”, “sloppy and selective”: Regulus reveals the flaws of the SMF’s “disastrously counter-productive” report

Clearly whipped up by its band of ideological numpties, the Social Market Foundation believes that a report with lots of percentage symbols and red meat messaging to its base will do the trick. It didn’t account for a forensic analysis within ...

EAG rebrand champions ‘The Smile Economy’ as organisers lay the foundation stones for growth and development

EAG has completed a rebrand, the first undertaken since it emerged from ATEI. Centred on the concept of ‘The Smile Economy’, the new-look EAG 360 introduces a clear brand hierarchy and structure, creates scope for growth through the addition o...

Peter Hannibal: “You cannot tax businesses on the high street into growth. You cannot over-regulate businesses into growth…

Peter Hannibal, Chief Executive of the Gambling Business Group, is acutely alert to the uncertainty that the current political upheaval brings. “I think the land based gambling industry will be watching proceedings with the same sense of alarm...

Regal machine intelligence confirms 18.67% jump in Gameplay as England kick- off  World Cup Campaign

Real time business intel provided by Regal Gaming Technologies has revealed there was an 18.7 percent year-on-year uplift in machine gameplay during England’s World Cup opener against Croatia. The data maps player activity before, during, and ...

Bacta scenario-plans for new PM and new policy landscape

Bacta is preparing for multiple political outcomes following Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation, and is warning members that any policy decisions will be impacted during the transition. The association says its focus will be to continue making the...

#VAT’s The Problem campaign opens promotion materials shop as petition races towards 250,000 

The #VATsTheProblem campaign has launched an online shop offering hospitality businesses a range of promotional materials designed to encourage customers to back calls for a reduced VAT rate for the sector.

Game Nation appoints NexGen Protection as part of broader safety and security agenda

Security cover is far more than having a high-profile physical presence in-venue. Contemporary security specialists embrace the training culture, insist on a suite of personal skills with staff serving as Ambassadors for the brand. Game Nation...

Brent Council refuses Willesden AGC plans after 200 sign petition

Brent Council has refused Star Commercial Property a licence to operate the former Lloyds bank unit on Willesden high street as a gaming centre, after 200 people signed a petition objecting to the proposal.

Mr Waugh goes to Westminster: gambling analyst delivers stinging verdict on GamCom’s survey to the House of Lords

Regulus Partners partner Dan Waugh visited Westminster last week to put the industry’s concerns around the much maligned GSGB directly to the House of Lords Liaison Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry, telling ...

Boomerang Digital deliver new wave of entertainment following cruise ship agreement with Paf Group

Jigsaw’s popularity continues to grow with Boomerang Digital concluding a major three-year agreement with Paf Group to install Jigsaw Bingo across 13 cruise ships operating in the Baltic Sea. The collaboration has resulted in the development o...

Deputy PM to meet with Eastbourne MP on the future of Eastbourne Pier

David Lammy has agreed to meet with the MP for Eastbourne to discuss emergency measures to safeguard the future of the town’s pier, following the collapse of owner Lions Pier Ltd.

CEGA calls for Gambling Commission investigation over black market inaction

The Coalition to End Gambling Ads has criticised the Gambling Commission over its handling of illegal gambling websites and called for an independent review of its licensing processes.

From Burnham would, to what Burnham could: how can the Prime Minister in waiting deliver change?

As rapid as the Great British coup has been, Andy Burnham’s impending anointment from King of the North to kingpin of the UK will have far reaching consequences, not least for the gambling industry. Just how far, only time will tell. But the b...

Land-based bingo participation remains resilient as in-person gambling slips, says GSGB

Retail bingo participation remained resilient throughout 2025, according to the latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain, holding steady as overall in-person gambling and land-based machine gaming participation declined.