The Bacta MSO team comprising Simon Bradbury, Justine Hillson, David Miller and the recently appointed John Salsbury will be available to provide insight and guidance to Bacta members completing their Quarterly Regulatory Returns thanks to a collaborative exercise undertaken in partnership with the Gambling Commission.

The Bacta team, which was led by Executive Director Robert Gibb, spent a day at the Commission’s head office in Birmingham where it was taken through the E-portal Regulatory Returns process by its compliance specialists.

Robert Gibb believes the exercise was invaluable and will bring tangible benefits to members some of whom may be anxious about the new requirements. He stated: “This is all about being able to support our members more effectively.  Obviously it’s a legal requirement to complete the returns which can often prove difficult for smaller businesses who are already working extremely long hours and in challenging circumstances.

“The MSOs are based in the field and are on-hand to help Bacta members in any way they can. They fulfil an invaluable function across many different areas of the business not least with the requirements of operating businesses in what is a highly regulated sector and where failure to be compliant can have severe consequences.”

Robert Gibb believes that partnering with the Commission in such a way brings benefits to both Bacta and the regulator. “The initiative started with a discussion at a round table hosted by the Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes” he confirmed. “To his great credit the suggestion was then taken on-board by the Commission and resulted in Tuesday’s trip to Birmingham.”

He added: “It wasn’t a one way discussion. We were asked a whole range of questions about the process and how we felt that our members would react and respond to the new system. Reflecting on the day I thought it was really productive and something which I hope  we will be able to repeat again in the near future.”