Maybury boss urges government to reverse the closure of casinos
The operations manager of the Maybury Casino on the out skirts of Edinburgh is urging Ni cola Sturgeon to stop the closure of such venues under lockdown rules – a move he says will have a major impact not just financially, but also on the mental health of staff and customers.
Mark McCluskey has expressed major frustration at the Scottish government’s decision for casinos and bingo clubs to close in level two or above, under the proposed new five-tier lockdown rule system. It comes after John O’reilly, chief executive of the May bury venue’ s parent company Rank Group, wrote to the First Minister urging her to reconsider the move, saying that other wise the firm was “highly likely” to see its entire Scottish estate shut down from November 2.
MSPS debated the new fivetier lock down strategy in Holyrood yesterday.
Mr Mccluskey echoed Mr O’reilly’s belief the decisions surrounding the latest categorisation were “any thing but evidence-based ”, with pubs, bars, cinemas, amusement arcade sand rest aurants being able to trade. Rank has in its casinos invested in plexiglass to ensure customers can play safely, and in its bingo venues implemented one way-systems and seating plans to ensure twometre plus spacing.
Mr McCluskey said :“It’ s ultimately very frustrating, and there’ s not really any evidence to support decisions to close casinos in Scotland - we do feel we are far and away the most secure Covid-environment in hospitality," he said.
He added the firm operated a strict“no ID, no entry” policy as well as other measures.