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Harding has issued a VIP red carpet invitation to UK PM Andy Burnham, Chancellor John Healey and his cabinet colleagues
EAG360 Chairman Nick Harding has issued a VIP red carpet invitation to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Chancellor John Healey and his cabinet colleagues to join him at EAG360 and meet with the industry that he appears so determined to damage.
In the aftermath of the October 28th Autumn Budget, which included an uplift in the rate of Machine Games Duty (MGD) to a punitive 25 percent as well as the removal of Business Rates Relief for Adult Gaming Centres, Harding, who boasts a four-decade career in the industry pledged to leverage the power of EAG360 and stand “alongside the businesses the show serves.”
Discussing the next steps, Nick Harding who has worked across sectors from betting to bingo, single site to seaside attractions and arcades to adult gaming centres, noted: “Having managed well over 300 similar style enterprises I feel very engaged trying to protect the businesses that EAG360 serves and the people that run them.
“EAG360 is the single most powerful representation of our business encompassing operators of and suppliers to traditional seaside amusements, piers, high street gaming venues, casinos, bingo clubs, visitor attractions, pubs, members social clubs and the new genre of competitive socialising which is redefining the leisure experience and in which Great Britain is the international market leader.
“All of the sectors represented by our supporting trade bodies including Bacta, the Bingo Association, the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions and The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain will be significantly damaged by the increase in MGD resulting in business closures, job losses, and a potential reduction in tax revenues to the Treasury.
“If John Healey, the Prime Minister or any of his colleagues in government take-up the invitation to attend EAG360 as my guest they will find an industry dominated by inter-generational family businesses and powered by hard work, dedication, compassion and creativity.
“EAG360’s three co-located shows – Amuse Expo, CompSocUK and the London Gaming Show- are a powerful representation of the industry that the UK government apparently cares so little about, we will be taking the opportunity to film some short segments and interviews from the show floor to package and share with John Healey and the Prime Minister. It’s critical that they gain an appreciation of the type of businesses that their uplift in MGD jeopardises.”
