The Bacta team led by National President John Bollom and Executive Director George McGregor has created an action plan of activities covering all scenarios in preparation for the outcome of the July 4 General Election.

Following the disappointment of having the Gambling White Paper derailed by the snap General Election which was called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the end of May, Bacta moved quickly to rally the membership and urge them to lobby their Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) to support the land-based gambling reforms and ‘finish the job’ in the next Parliament.

Outlining the next steps George McGregor said: “I would like to start by congratulating Bacta members for contacting their PPCs and ensuring they understand why the changes proposed in the White Paper are pivotal to the long-term sustainability of the UK’s family entertainment and adult gaming centres alongside the entire supply chain.

“With the gambling review in limbo we built and launched a dedicated general election website which simplified the process to invite parliamentary candidates to venues and I know that members used the microsite alongside the insight that we were able to provide. 

“We have action plans in place for all scenarios and are poised to hit the ground running next week with a compelling case of evidence-based arguments to support the changes that are required for the land-based industry to be competitive and to continue contributing to UK plc.”

He added: “I agree with the commentary in last week’s Coinslot regarding the importance of members using the General Election to open a dialogue with their elected representatives as soon as the results are known. The make-up of the House will be transformed and there’s no better time to start building relationships with the 2024 intake of MPs.”