After the closure of its land based casinos back in March due to the lockdown, Managing Director of Grosvenor Casinos, Johnathon Swaine said they are slowly seeing an upturn in the £1.5 million per week losses seen during the lockdown period.
No Plans To Cut Jobs
Mr Swaine said business was slowly ‘picking up’ after months of closure and at this point have no plans to cut jobs. Grosvenor own 51 casinos throughout England, Scotland and Wales with the closures costing the Treasury £1.5m a week in lost taxes and a further £1.5m for 4,600 furloughed staff.Land based Casinos were due to reopen their doors on the 1st August 2020, but on the eve of the reopening date PM Boris Johnson made a dramatic U-turn and pushed back the date to the 15th August. Despite the fact all casinos had adhered to strict health and safety measures put in place by the government to protect staff and customers, including social distancing, hand sanitisers, Perspex screens and a track and trace system they still pushed the opening date back.
Some Branches Remain Closed
The Leicester branch has remained closed after a local lockdown was imposed on the city but Mr Swaine said it was time the 112 staff could get back to work after the ‘peak’ in covid cases had diminished. Branches in Manchester and Huddersfield remain closed due to more localised lockdowns. Speaking of Leicester, Mr Swaine said it was frustrating having to remain closed when tattoo parlours and massage parlours remained open?Grosvenor Casinos is part of the Rank group who also operate Mecca Bingo, he was pleased to announce more than 70 bingo venues had now reopened with customer numbers now building after lockdown. The environments are extremely safe for customers and staff alike.Mr Swaine went on to say, they will continue the ‘eat out to help out’ scheme in to September in 12 casinos and 12 bingo halls to encourage customers to return and hold special bingo sessions for over 55’s who may feel more uncertain about leaving home.