by: Glenn Haussman.
The surprising move gives the northern British town the right to build a 5,000-square-meter (54,000 square feet) complex featuring up to 1,250 slot machines.
It will be the country’s largest gaming facility.
According to the Manchester City Council, the casino will be a boon for the region’s economy, creating 2,700 jobs and a more than US $520 million investment in the area.
"Manchester represents a good place to test social impact," said Stephen Crow, Chairman of the Casino Advisory Panel tasked with selecting the location of this casino. "Manchester ... is an area in need of regeneration at least as much as any of the others we observed."
In all there were seven cities vying for the right to build this casino including Blackpool, Glasgow and London. But the poor region of Manchester -- some of the weakest financially in all of the -- prevailed.
``Manchester is a superb location,'' Warwick Bartlett, a partner at Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, told Bloomberg News who said the casino will “regenerate the northwest” part of the country. “It has a large population to draw from, and it's got an international airport.''
It’s expected several companies will now vie for the right to operate the supercasino, including Kerzner International, which owns the Atlantis Casino Resort on Paradise Island, . The company recently lost a bid to operate a casino in and is looking for a major new project. Other companies looking to get the bid include Ladbrokes Plc and Hilton Hotels Corp.
Harrah’s Entertainment is also making a run for the deal, issuing a statement this morning. “My colleagues at Harrah’s Entertainment and I appreciate the Casino Advisory Panel’s hard work and dedication to the difficult process of selecting the location for the country’s only regional casino,” said Andrew Tottenham, managing director of European Development for Harrah’s. “We look forward to learning the details of the public tendering process necessary to objectively select the casino operator to ensure the local community of Manchester will realize the maximum benefit of this planned development. We feel strongly that Harrah’s Entertainment offers the most complete package for the as we have a proven, worldwide track record of responsibly operating, successful casino integrated resort complexes.”
© Copyright 2007 Gambling Central's material. It may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
$500 Welcome bonus, fabulous table and card games, great jackpots!
|
[ Back ]
|
![[ Enlarge Image ]](images/public/blog/original_manchester.jpg){kind=link}