Stanley Leisure Gains Attendance Boost

Britain's largest casino operator, Stanley Leisure, has seen a boost to attendance figures at its provincial casinos due to the recent changes to UK gaming laws.

According to Stanley's chief executive, Bob Wiper, certain "early freedoms" that the government has granted ahead of the Gambling Act being fully implemented in 2007 – such as the removal of the 24 hour membership rule – have led to more customers under 40 in casinos, as well as "a lot more women".

However, reporting interim results for the 26 weeks to 30 October 2005, Wiper also said that, while there had been a considerable increase in new customers, they were spending less.

Group turnover for the six month period fell from £151.9m to £136.8m while pre-tax profit from continuing operations dropped from £12.3m to £5m.

Stanley Leisure also announced on 25 January that it has acquired the privately-owned MLG Investments – which owns three casino sites located in Southend and Bristol – for £29.8m.

Following these acquisitions, Stanley now operates a total of 44 casinos throughout the UK with four in London. During the period, Stanley also completed the sale of its betting shop portfolio to William Hill.