U.K. Approves 29 New Casinos

 

The commission has approved 29 applications for new venues, including Las Vegas-style super casinos in London.
Casino operators now face the "second test" for their 29 applications -- gaining approval from local authorities, who will often refuse a license if they cannot prove there is local demand, experts told Onlinecasinocrawler.com.

The U.K. government is already planning to let 17 new casinos, including one Las Vegas-style super casino, open under new legislation to open up and regulate the gambling industry, starting in 2007.

A new Gaming Act, which took effect in April of this year. Casino operators earlier this year completed 63 new casino applications under the old, 1968 legislation, meaning upwards of 109 new casinos may be built throughout England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the coming years.

The Perfect Storm

The U.K. economy expanded faster during the fourth consecutive quarter in the three months through September, meaning that consumers still have the discretionary income to go to entertainment venues, like casinos.

The U.K. Office for National Statistics said the economy grew 0.7 percent in the third quarter, as forecast, and unchanged from an initial estimate. But the annual growth rate was revised downward to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent due to rounding effects.
"If there's a slightly worrying aspect ... it's probably the fact that the consumer spending figures were a little bit weaker than anticipated," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank, based in London. "But I don't think that's an overall bad thing: weaker consumption, stronger investment -- it really is the perfect storm."

Confirmation the economy continues to grow strongly means Chancellor Gordon Brown is almost certain to revise up his 2006 growth forecast in his Pre-Budget Report early next month.

The Chancellor forecast full-year growth of 2.0-2.5 percent in March but most economists are now expecting growth of around 2.7 percent.

The Bank of England had already factored in this quarter's robust outturn when it raised interest rates to 5 percent earlier this month. It is forecasting similarly punchy growth for the fourth quarter.

Markets showed little reaction to the data, concentrating instead on a sharp fall in the dollar which took sterling to a 1-1/2 year high of $1.9334.

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