The Betting and Gaming Council has warned that new immigration plans could severely impact the UK land-based casino industry.
The new Standards body has warned that the new immigration points based system could have a negative impact on casinos, tourism and the night-time economy including the ability for UK casinos to hire skilled croupiers.
Under the new system, due to be introduced on January 1, 2021, croupiers, 70 per cent in the UK are from overseas, will not qualify as having the specific skills, qualifications, salaries or professions.
BGC chief executive Michael Dugher, said: “Using arbitrary skills or salary requirements will damage highly successful parts of the UK economy.
“The government has announced exemptions for certain workers and skills and we urge the Government to work with the casino and wider hospitality industry to ensure that we can continue to thrive.”
The Federation of Small Businesses has warned that the proposed measures will hit hospitality and tourism businesses hard.
BGC states that casinos employ over 14,000 people, indirectly support another 4,000 jobs across the UK and contribute over £300 million in tax revenue every year.
Dugher added: “Casinos are a hugely important part of our country’s leisure industry attracting thousands of wealthy tourists to the UK from around the world. In order to remain competitive our casinos need the best croupiers with great arithmetic agility.
“While we are determined to grow the number of UK croupiers through the NVQ in Gaming Operations available at many colleges and through the world class Nottingham Casino Academy, we need the ability to employ the best from around the world.”
The UK casino sector was directly responsible for £463m of gross value added and £757m when you include indirect and induced GVA.