Genting UK closes Coventry casino as rising costs squeeze land-based gambling

Genting Casinos has closed its Coventry venue, saying the site was no longer commercially viable. For high-risk operators, the point is blunt: when employment costs, business rates, energy bills, compliance spend and gambling taxes all move against a land-based estate at once, closures stop being theoretical.

1. Genting Casinos shut its Coventry casino at the Skydome in Croft Road, which opened in 2012 and employed 51 staff. The operator said it was “no longer commercially viable to sustain trading.”
2. The company linked the closure to rising operating costs across the UK land-based casino sector, specifically higher employment expenses, business rates, energy bills, regulatory compliance costs and gambling taxes. In other words, the margin stack is getting thinner from every direction at once.
3. The announcement landed alongside industry concern that the UK Government could raise Machine Gaming Duty (MGD) in Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget on October 28. The proposals under discussion would take the lower MGD rate from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, the standard rate from 20 to 40 per cent, and the higher rate from 25 to 50 per cent.
4. The MGD debate has been fuelled in part by the Social Market Foundation, and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also backed higher MGD rates as a way to raise public finances. Genting warned that any increase could lead to further venue closures, job losses and reduced investment.
5. The sector is already dealing with other tax changes. In last year’s Autumn Budget, Rachel Reeves increased Remote Gaming Duty from 21 to 40 per cent from April 2026 and said General Betting Duty will rise from 15 to 25 per cent from April 2027.

For operators with retail exposure, the Coventry closure is a useful reminder that tax policy does not stay in the abstract for long. It shows up as a venue-level decision, then a staffing issue, then a footprint question, which is usually when the spreadsheets start getting serious.