EAG360 Chairman Nick Harding has invited Chancellor John Healey and his Cabinet colleagues to January’s exhibition, in order to meet with the people whose businesses he appears so keen to undermine.
EAG360 Chairman Nick Harding has issued a VIP red carpet invitation to Chancellor John Healey and his cabinet colleagues to join him at EAG360 and meet with the industry that he appears so determined to damage.
In the aftermath of Healey’s October 28th budget speech, which included an uplift in the rate of MGD to a punitive 25 percent as well as the removal of Business Rates Relief for AGCs, Harding, who boasts a four-decade career in the industry pledged to leverage the power of EAG360 and stand “shoulder-to-shoulder with the businesses the show serves.”
Discussing the next steps, Nick Harding who has worked across sectors from betting to bingo, single site to seaside attractions and arcades to adult gaming centres, noted: “When I was asked by trade media about my response to the Budget, I described the measures as being ignorant, vindictive and not supported by operational realities: on reflection I would add malicious, poisonous and prejudicial.”
He added: “Having managed well over 300 similar style enterprises I feel very engaged trying to protect the businesses that EAG360 serves and the people that run them.
“EAG360 is the single most powerful representation of our business encompassing operators of and suppliers to traditional seaside amusements, piers, high street gaming venues, casinos, bingo clubs, visitor attractions, pubs, social members clubs and the new genre of competitive socialising which is redefining the leisure experience and in which Great Britain is the international market leader.
“All of the sectors represented by our supporting trade bodies including Bacta, the Bingo Association, the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions and The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain will be significantly damaged by the increase in MGD resulting in business closures, job losses, and a potential reduction in tax revenues to the Treasury.
“If John Healey, the Prime Minister or any of the other 21 Cabinet Ministers or indeed their advisers have it in them to take-up the offer to attend EAG360 as my guest they will find an industry dominated by inter-generational family businesses and powered by hard work, dedication, compassion and creativity.”
Acknowledging the chances of sharing an EAG360 coffee with a Minister as being ‘extremely slim’ he confirmed: “Because January’s three co-located shows – Amuse Expo, CompSocUK and the London Gaming Show- are such a powerful representation of the industry that the government apparently cares so little about, we will be taking the opportunity to film some short segments and interviews from the show floor to package and share with John Healey and the Prime Minister. It’s critical that they gain an appreciation of the type of businesses that their uplift in MGD jeopardises.”
See things from the other side
Nick Harding said… “If John Healey, the Prime Minister or any of the other 21 Cabinet Ministers or indeed their advisers have it in them to take-up the offer to attend EAG360 as my guest they will find an industry dominated by inter-generational family businesses and powered by hard work, dedication, compassion and creativity…
Originally published on Coinslot on November 9, 2026. Republished with permission.