Bacta CEO John White has issued a message of good luck and thanks to members and the wider industry, as the final preparations are made for reopening on Monday. In a note to Coinslot, the trade body chief expressed his optimism that there were opportunities to learn and grow from recent events, and also held a positive outlook for the future of the association itself.
“I sincerely wish everyone the very best for their Monday reopening, it certainly feels like it’s been a very long time coming,” he says. “It has been a very tough 14 months for us all but thank goodness the end is in sight for this lockdown and things are looking more positive than at any other time as infection rates are down and the vaccine roll-out continues.
“I also want to say a very big thank you to members, our staff and all those politicians who we have spoken and written to. It’s been a team effort to get to this point and everyone has gone above and beyond. I feel the way in which this industry has endured the pandemic represents a lasting testament to the resilience and creativity it has in abundance. There will be plenty of time to reflect on what has gone well and what has not gone so well, but for now let’s get open and do what we do best – giving our customers an experience to which they will keep wanting to come back and enjoy.
“I appreciate it will take many months yet before we get our supply chain as financially oiled as it was pre-pandemic. We will continue to fight for support as we also seek to rebuild and reshape bacta for the post-pandemic world.”
“As we come through this I am confident, to borrow a phrase, we will build back better and emerge in the coming years as the modern, forward- thinking, and responsible industry I know we are.
“We have plans to get on the front foot when it comes to marketing our sectors and expanding our political reach when it comes to advancing the causes dear to our hearts and dear to our businesses. The Gambling Review offers opportunities, and once through that process, I expect to see us accelerate the innovation we bring to our customers.
“I expect bacta to continue to grow. Despite everything, bacta has increased its membership during the pandemic as previous non-members recognised just how valuable membership can be. We want to build on that. Our commercial offerings have been hampered by Covid as much as other organisations. Post May 17th we will be full throttle in developing the EAG Show for 2022, our cashless app, Game Payment, and rolling out the bactaPortal.”
This article was originally published on www.coinslot.co.uk