UK Gambling Firms’ Heads Skip Questioning by Politicians

4.09.2019, 18:10

It’s still difficult to establish whether the top brass officials of gambling firms had expressed defiance when most of them made a decision not to attend a meeting with the British MPs. The adversity between the UK gambling operators and lawmakers is set to continue with the former showing what a legislature termed as “cowardly in the extreme.”

It’s an odd situation that after heads of three major players in the UK gambling industry had sent their RSVP, the top brass officers won’t now be available for a meeting. All the betting firms were scheduled to have a gathering with the Members of Parliament on Wednesday. It almost looks like a coincidence of how three betting operators’ leaders have found other responsibilities that won’t allow them to appear on Wednesday summon.

William Hill, GVC Holdings, and Flutter Entertainment top officials had all confirmed their attendance only to find other engagement when the meeting was nearing. Flutter Entertainment runs Paddy Power and Betfair while GVC Holdings is operating Ladbroke Coral.

Gambling Firms Opting Out

The Guardian was able to establish that GVC Holding was the first to opt-out of the gathering. The firm’s CEO Kenny Alexander decided not to be a part of the meeting despite obtaining an email that was forwarded to MP Carolyn Harris. The MP had organized a get-together after a gambler had complained about Ladbroke’s complacency in solving gambling problems. The betting firm cited other “business commitments” as the reason for their pullout.

William Hill was the next firm to find excuses to cancel its planned attendance to the reunion summit. The company CEO insisted that he had a lot of responsibility that couldn’t give him space to be there in person. He has since delegated the role to Phil Walker who serves as the company’s managing director of online betting in the UK and Ireland. Peter Jackson who runs operations at Flutter Entertainment wasn’t left behind with the officer indicating a “last-minute” commitment as the reason for his withdrawal almost seven days later. Company’s CEO Dan Taylor was the replacement of Jackson.

The gambling firms’ bosses’ actions have infuriated Harris, who viewed their behavior as an act of evading responsibility. Harris further accused the companies of playing a role to “feed addiction” before collecting massive “profits from the vulnerable” gamblers. This decision is in contrast with video game developers who met with MPs to discuss loot boxes not so long ago.

The meeting will kick-off as planned with the bosses of Skybet and Bet365 set to be part of the hearing. However, Betfred boss Fred Done failed to accept the invitation to the forum. The venue of the reunion talks will be the Westminster.