Key facts
- The UK's two largest slot farm companies, Merkur and Admiral, hold bingo licences for venues that appear to offer slot machines almost exclusively, per Guardian analysis.
- Gambling Commission records suggest more than 200 arcades are licensed as bingo venues despite appearing geared to slot machine play, the Guardian reported.
- At a Merkur Slots shop in Stockport, Wendy Hughes, who had terminal cancer, lost £2,000 over two spells lasting 16 hours; Merkur was fined £100,000.
- The Guardian said covert filming at one venue captured a staff member saying nobody used the bingo tablets and they appeared not to be working.
- Alex Ballinger, co-chair of the gambling reform all-party parliamentary group, urged the government to ensure licences cannot sidestep the new business rates rules.
- Joseph Cullis, president of the arcade operators' trade body Bacta, said the tax changes would force operators to reconsider investment and scale back plans.
Chancellor John Healey used his first budget to raise duty on slot machine takings from 20% to 25% and to end a business rates discount for adult gaming centres and vape shops in England, saying the government was ""raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street". Prime Minister Andy Burnham backed the policy in an Instagram post after the budget, part of his pitch on British high streets.
The Guardian reported that hundreds of high street slot machine venues could keep the discount because they hold bingo licences. Its analysis found that many shops owned by the UK's two largest slot farm companies, Merkur and Admiral, obtained bingo licences for venues that appear to offer slot machines almost exclusively. Gambling Commission records suggested more than 200 arcades are licensed as bingo venues despite appearing geared toward slot machine play, and the Guardian said some data is duplicated, making exact counts hard.
The Guardian visited four Merkur shops and one Admiral shop. All advertised bingo in their windows, but the report said bingo was available only on tablets stacked in one small corner, while the rest of each venue was given over to slot machines offering a £2 spin every 2.5 seconds for a £500 jackpot. In one case, covert filming captured a member of staff saying nobody used the bingo tablets and they appeared not to be working. These category B3 machines are associated with higher levels of gambling-related harm than most other products, according to several studies, the report said.
One venue was the Merkur Slots shop in Stockport, where Wendy Hughes, who had terminal cancer, lost £2,000 over two spells lasting 16 hours. Merkur was fined £100,000 after the Guardian revealed details of its exploitation of Hughes, who has since died. Her case is one the report uses to illustrate how bingo-licensed venues operate. The report added that operators could now convert their remaining adult gaming centre licences to bingo licences.
Labour MP Alex Ballinger, co-chair of the gambling reform all-party parliamentary group, welcomed the duty increase and urged vigilance. ""We must ensure these licences cannot be used to sidestep the new business rates rules,"" he said, adding that he was confident ministers would work with the regulator to close loopholes. Business rates expert Paul Turner-Mitchell of the real estate intelligence company Altus Group said the outcome could hinge on how the Treasury defines an adult gaming centre and how councils enforce the rules: ""A bingo licence alone does not settle its business rates treatment.""