Initial Attendees Announced for UK's First Gambling Event in March, Hosted by Gambling Commission
In September 2023, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the gambling overseer of the UK, declared the birth of an "Industry Group" to offer a platform for the gambling sector. The identities of the individuals involved in this Industry Group, slated for its inaugural gathering in March, have surfaced now.
Nine bigwigs from the gambling world chosen
As per an article in industry publication iGaming Business, around 40 professionals from the gambling industry applied to join this Industry Group [English version]. Ultimately, a restriction was needed.
Former six-year CEO of the British Horseracing Authority, Nick Rust, has been designated to lead the panel. The remaining nine slots have been filled by the following individuals:
- Ashley Padgett, Head of Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering at Flutter
- Leo Walker, Customer Operations Director of Entain
- Mark Pearson, Media Director of Betfred
- David Williams, Director of Public Affairs at The Rank Group
- Tony Boulton, Director of Public and Political Relations at Merkur UK
- Kirsty Caldwell, Founder and Director of Betsmart Consulting
- Charles Cohen, Founder and CEO of Department of Trust
- Nigel Roddis, CEO of Britbet
- Helen Walton, Founder and CEO of g.games
Nick Rust will head the group for a three-year term. As of yet, it's undisclosed whether the other Industry Group members' composition will stay consistent throughout this period.
UKGC Industry Group's mission
In September 2023, Marcus Boyle, Chair of the UKGC, had explained the group's purpose:
We've consistently taken the industry's viewpoints into account to help us progress, but this new group will offer another chance to collaborate with representatives from the domains we supervise. – Marcus Boyle, Chair of the UKGC, Source: UKGC
The UKGC had already collaborated extensively with the recent Gambling White Paper and expressed a desire to boost the industry's input in regulation more significantly. Now, with the Industry Group, there's an opportunity to drive this agenda further.
Debut meeting scheduled for March 21, 2024
The Industry Group's debut meeting is scheduled for March 21, 2024. However, no concrete agenda for this meeting has been publicly disclosed yet.
It's plausible, however, that the findings of the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) research series or the new online slot stake limits could be topics of discussion in the Industry Group.
After the formation of the UKGC Industry Group, there's been interest in similar initiatives in other regions. Particularly in Germany, online casinos are keen to establish a similar collaborative body.
Germany's online casinos could learn from the UK's Industry Group, potentially leading to the creation of a platform for meaningful dialogue between regulators and the online gambling sector in Germany.
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