The Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission, Neil McArthur has urged betting companies to work in unison and to help improve fairness and safety in the UK industry.
McArthur was speaking at the second staging of the Raising Standards Conference, held at the ICC in Birmingham. Attended by 170 leaders from over 100 companies, the event is designed to encourage gambling industry executives to take steps to improve their reputation.
In his address to attendees, McArthur outlined his vision of Britain as the safest and fairest gambling jurisdiction in the world, but said that it needed all UK companies to work together.
In particular, he emphasised the need for collaboration in three key areas of focus that were of concern to the public and where he feels the industry could do more: spotting problem gambling, communicating with customers at risk to ensure they get advice and support, and working to rebuild the trust of the public by changing their advertising strategies.
The race to the top
McArthur emphasised that this change of focus was urgent and should affect every aspect of how betting companies operated:
This is a call to action to join the race to the top. A race to put your customers, their enjoyment and their safety at the top of the agenda for your management meetings, your board meetings and meetings with your investors.”
Other conference speakers including Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and representatives from the Advertising Standards Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, and Twitter. The event was the latest attempt by the Commission to attempt to persuade the industry to change its approach to problem gambling and to improve its image at a time when betting companies are in the firing line over their practices.
