The permanent closure of the Genting Casino on the Promenade in Southport has been confirmed.
The firm blamed “the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic” for the decision.
Closing the doors sadly means that 38 members of staff will be made redundant.
Genting has already closed sites in Bristol, Margate and Torquay in recent months, saying the Coronavirus crisis meant it was “simply unavoidable”.
Stand Up For Southport revealed on 8 January how the future of Southport Genting was under threat.
A Genting spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close Genting Casino Southport as a result of the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic to the business over the last year.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty and our staff for all their hard work.”
The casino was based inside the Waterfront Complex which houses Bliss Hotel and the Hungry Horse restaurant.
It moved there from the Grand Casino site on Lord Street, which has been empty ever since, before moving into purpose-built premises on the Promenade as part of the Waterfront development. It incorporated the Fahrenheit Bar & Grill.
In the past few months Genting has closed casinos in Margate, Torquay and Bristol due to heavy losses from the virus outbreak.
The firm has also undertaken serious job reductions at other sites, including in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Blackpool and Birmingham.
A Genting Casino spokesperson said: “As we all know, the Coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges right across the leisure industry and whilst we have worked tirelessly over the past 10 months to sustain the business as best as possible, permanent club closures have, unfortunately, been simply unavoidable.
“To date we have had to close three of our casinos as a direct result of the pandemic and we are now proposing that Southport becomes the fourth.
“We know what difficult news this will be for all of our hard-working colleagues in Southport and will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.”
Operating for more than 50 years, Genting Casino is a thriving part of the international Genting group of companies with interest all around the globe.
The Genting Group is one of Malaysia’s largest corporations with more than 35,000 employees across the world and 37 venues in the UK.
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