Vegas-style casino coming to Manchester

As reported earlier Manchester is the surprise winner in the contest for Britain’s first Las Vegas-style casino. The city, ranked by bookmakers as outsiders, beat favourites Blackpool and London to win the lucrative license. The casino will be based near the City of Manchester stadium and will feature around 70 gaming tables and 1,250 high payout slot machines and create around 3,000 jobs. A hotel, swimming pool, restaurants and bars are also planned. The project is expected to be completed in around three years.

Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said ‘I think the bookies did have us as a rank outsider this morning but fortunately it was an independent panel making the decision, not the bookies. It is going to be a real boost to the regeneration of what is one of the most deprived areas of the country. And we’re now really looking forward to taking this forward.’

The decision, by the independent Casino Advisory Panel, has come has a huge shock to many in Blackpool, which had hoped a favourable decision would help regenerate the resort.

Doug Garrett, chief executive of Blackpool’s urban regeneration company ReBlackpool said ‘I’m very disappointed indeed at the outcome, Blackpool’s future was something built around our plan. We believe the case that we put forward was a compelling one. We certainly won’t be taking this as an end result. We still want to see change here.’