In a recent Manchester City Council meeting, council members were visibly pleased that Manchester was recently selected by the UK Gambling Commission to be their top recommendation to host a super casino, as drawn up by the terms of the 2005 UK Gambling Act. Meeting to discuss the reverberations of the news, the senior council members voted to continue lobbying parliament to permit more than one super casino in the UK.

Whether the decision to do so was a gesture to the other UK cities who lost out on their bid for the super casino, or a strategic decision of sorts to alleviate the expected flood of visitors to Manchester, it is highly unlikely that continued lobbying will warrant legislative changes. Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, will need to sign off on the recommendations by the UK Gambling Commission, which at this point in time, only include recommendations for the single super casino, eight large casinos and eight small casinos.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of the Manchester City Council, confirmed at the latest meeting there would be a competition for selecting the precise local of the site and a suitable casino operator. It has been preeminently scheduled for this upcoming summertime, which is good news for Stanley Leisure, who recently divulged they are prepared to make a bidding of their own in Manchester (Read our previous news article on Stanley Leisure in Manchester). As of now, the super casino is expected to go up in east Manchester near the Sports City Arena.

Also discussed at the council meeting were taking steps to form and launch a body charged with overseeing responsible gambling affairs and providing support and preventive services to problem gamblers and family members of addicted punters. Manchester will certainly stand to economically benefit from the super casino, as it will not only become an international destination, it will create over 2,700 badly needed jobs.