Rishi must help exhausted arcades & gaming industry – Spring Statement

Ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement on Wednesday 23 March, John White CEO of bacta, which represents amusement arcades and High Street adult gaming centres across the UK, said: “Costs are going through the roof for both businesses and consumers. For many industry operators and their supply chains in our industry that means they are being put under further substantial financial pressure as they still seek continue to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Balance sheets are therefore facing exhaustion. We need the Government to get back to the fundamentals and help the almost 35,000 people employed by this gaming £2 billion industry. We welcome the reported plans to cut fuel duty, but the Chancellor could massively help seaside arcades and gaming centres across the UK by reducing VAT and Machines Games Duty for the industry to 12.5%, which would be in line with the rest of the hospitality industry and mean arcades and gaming centres aren’t left out in the cold.”