Dear Members,
There can only be one topic of conversation in this edition of White’s Week – the election!
I find myself saying for the third time in a year ‘I didn’t see that coming’. Only a few days ago a significant Conservative majority was on the cards and now on Friday morning, like many, I am digging through the ashes of a campaign that has resulted in a hung Parliament.
There will be plenty of time for political nerds, me included, to pour over who did what, when, where and why, but for now the immediate question has to be what are the implications for the industry?
We know that Theresa May is going to try to form the next Government with support from the DUP. There will some reshuffling of Ministerial posts and then they will try to get their hands back on the tiller and start actually governing again hopeful that a Summer Recess will metaphorically reduce the heat. Karen Bradley has retained her role as culture secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet, continuing the position she was appointed to last July. At the same time the small matter of the Brexit negotiations have to start and there is no doubt both in respect of those negotiations and in domestic policy our Prime Minister has been severely damaged. Whether she sinks or not remains to be seen.
For the Review of machine stakes and prizes this almost certainly means that we will not see a consultation document until the Autumn and what it will contain will be subject to review by whomever ends up at DCMS, and that we won’t know for a few days. Whatever happens, we will keep up the lobbying work to make sure as many MPs are reminded of the issue and their parties’ manifesto commitments. We will also be getting in touch with all those MPs members contacted during the campaign. A big thanks to everyone that took the time to do so. We made nearly 200 constituency contacts over the past few weeks and I know there were plenty more about which we don’t know. This showed a united industry doing the right thing and will be something we can leverage over the coming months.
But life goes on …..
Of course the election was only one part of bacta’s work over the past month or so. Most of the Region’s held their AGMs during the Spring. There was good turnout at all of them and the Regions themselves began to discuss how they can provide better value to members. Any thoughts on that would be welcome. Many think two meetings a year is probably enough. Also adding other aspects like training or guest speakers would bring added value. Some Regions have agreed to hold joint meetings. These are all good thoughts and reflect the energy for change from our new President, Gabi Stergides.
Gabi also wants to engage the younger members of our industry and has invited over 70 to attend the next meeting of National Council to see how bacta works and to hear the debates that take place. Hopefully this will reinforce their relevance and encourage sustainable engagement across all age groups and genders in our business. Diversity of views makes for better decision making.
Issues with the £1 coin continue to reach my ear but we still can’t put our finger on precisely what the problem is with some mechs that have high rejection rates. The industry is getting there but it has been more painful that it needs to have been and the Mint is insistent it is not the coin. Others beg to disagree. Please keep me informed of your experiences.
This was one of the issues raised at the first Pub Summit we hosted a couple of weeks ago. Pub companies and their trade bodies met with bacta and its Division 2 members to discuss a wide range of issues including the damage FOBTs were causing, through to the marketing of pinball, pool tables and juke boxes and, importantly, payment methods. We intend to hold these quarterly.
The other important issue for us continues to be how we develop and engage with the Social Responsibility agenda. We are discussing internally the sorts of initiatives we can begin to trial over the coming year whilst at the same time ensuring that the pressure we experience from the Gambling Commission in this area is balanced and reasonable. One thing we are committed to currently is the Responsible Gambling Week, 12-18 October, and we will be writing to you shortly about that.
On a lighter note, Friday last week was the bacta summer ball in Birmingham which was an enormous success, great fun and lots of money was raised in aid of Rays of Sunshine. We are not sure of the total as yet, but it was significant. Special thanks to James Miller, Tony Glanville and Parveen, all of whom shine at these events. Thanks too to Nigel Davies and Vanda Osinska for all their hard work behind the scenes!
As always please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns you wish to raise with me.
Kind regards
John