Recent analysis by the Guardian has revealed huge slot machine companies are targeting the UK areas deemed to be the poorest – which has led to Politicians asking for councils to be given more power to stop new sites opening.
UK Slot Machine Shops Have Risen 7% Since 2022, With Many Open 24 Hours
The UK slot machine industry has been in the increase since 2022 – with a reported 7% rise in new shops opening – with these increases going side-by-side the upturn players on UK online casinos.
Most of these shops, which are referred to as ‘adult gaming centres’, have popped up on the UK’s busiest high streets and many open 24 hours – meaning slot machine lovers can access them around the clock in certain regions.
However, what has concerned some gambling helpline and addiction groups, plus UK politicians that include Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – is these new slot machine shops are being opened in some of the poorest and most-deprived areas.
With these government officials suggesting local councils should be given much more power to be able to stop these new sites launching.
Especially as it’s recently been reported the UK has amended their Gambling Act to restrict casino gaming machines.
There were 1,452 Adult Gaming Centres were reviewed, and it came to light a third of these were situated in the poorest 10% areas in Britain – with this number increasing to more than half when looking at the 20% most deprived areas in the UK.
These figures also showed that slot market leaders Admiral and Merkur increased their high street presence – by most of the time targeting
Seaside Towns, Including Great Yarmouth Amongst Being Targeted By Slot Firms
Some of the poorest regions in the UK are the many seaside towns that are famed for having amusement arcades – and these are other places the leading slot machine companies are adding more sites.
One of these areas is Great Yarmouth, including the Wellington Pier, with the Norfolk seaside town coming out top. While other places like Middlesbrough and Hull were listed at the fourth and fifth most deprived regions – having a total of 28 Adult Gaming Centres.
These figures contrasted up to 14 local authorities that have a population of around 1.7 million people – not having a single AGC in them.
The national clinical adviser on gambling harms at NHS England, Prof Henrietta Bowden-Jones, said:
“Slot machine venues, particularly those open 24/7, deploy addictive products to keep vulnerable people playing for hours on end, against their own interests.
“The Guardian’s findings indicate that the result of this is simply to channel funds from the pockets of the poorest into the pockets of the richest. This comes as the NHS is supporting record numbers who have had their lives destroyed by gambling, with 15 clinics now up and running across England.”
The Two Biggest Slot Firms Targeting The UK are Austrian and German Led
These slot machines often offer single spins of £2, with inciting jackpots of up to £500 – but when figures were released over the last year – it was reported up to £530m was taken from gamblers.
Admiral Slots, who have 346 venues, is the UK’s largest operator – which is a UK arm of Novomatic and under the global corporation owned by Austrian billionaire Johann Graf – with a reported net worth of $10.2bn.
While their biggest rival Merkur, who have 262 shops, is owned by the wealthy German Gauselmann family, with Paul Gauselmann worth $2.6bn – which means much of the money taken by these two slots market leaders in the UK also ends up out of the country.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham chipped in saying.
“It’s time we were honest about what [AGCs] really are.” He warned that AGCs were “targeting some of the most vulnerable in our communities”.
“It’s unacceptable that councils have so little power to regulate them despite repeated concerns from charities and local residents.
“We must reclassify these venues in law, give local authorities stronger licensing powers, and hold operators accountable.”
Burnham added “I’ve written to ministers to raise her case and lobby for basic changes that could make a huge difference in protecting everyone from the dangers of these places,”
Andy is an experienced betting and gambling journalist with over 20 years industry experience. He brings an excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling but is mainly regarded as horse racing expert within the betting industry.
