The programme opens on Wednesday 14 August with Sarah Gardner visiting the Admiral Adult Gaming Centre in Shirley High Street, Southampton. The following day a senior delegation led by Andrew Rhodes and comprising the Gambling Commission’s Chief Technology Officer, Alistair Quigley and Betting Specialist Manager Jon Shaw will be hosted at the iconic Mumbles Pier in Swansea, south Wales.

Bacta President John Bollom whose family has owned and run Mumbles Pier since 1937 will be attending both events alongside Executive Director (Government Relations) George McGregor. 

John Bollom noted: “I am delighted that Andrew Rhodes, Sarah Gardner and colleagues from the Commission have accepted our invitation to visit two businesses based in two quite different locations. 

“Novomatic’s Elizabeth Speed who serves on the Bacta National Council and Chairs the association’s Social Responsibility Committee and Neil Finch the Regional Operations Manager at Admiral will be explaining the challenges faced by high street operators, the industry-wide commitment to safer gambling and the urgent need for the earliest possible implementation of the reforms recommended in the White Paper.

He added: “As well as helping to sustain high street economies throughout the country Bacta members also make important contributions to UK tourism.  Mumbles Pier has been a defining feature of the landscape for more than a century and one of the points that I will be making is that a privately owned pier without an amusement arcade is simply not sustainable. 

“The FEC Arcade on Mumbles Pier features over 100 machines comprising the latest video games, sports themed games, 2p pushers and so on. If you take that revenue out of the business it would undermine the ability to fund the only attraction that brings visitors to the area beyond the summer season and in the process generate valuable employment opportunities for local people.”