Key points:
- Gustafsson will look to bring more investment to the UK
- BGC looking to emphasise impact of gaming sector to UK economy
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has offered its congratulations to Poppy Gustafsson, after she was appointed as the new UK Investment Minister yesterday.
Gustafsson is the Co-Founder of British tech firm Darktrace, a cyber security company, which she left in September.
According to the UK Government’s release about her appointment, she will be tasked with promoting the UK to investors and businesses around the world, to bring more investment to the nation.
The new Minister for Investment was hired into the role ahead of the inaugural International Investment Summit, as she looks to help drive economic growth in the UK.
The BGC emphasised the investments made by its members, contributing £7.1bn ($9.3bn) to the economy, generating £4.2bn in tax, and supporting 110,000 jobs, while also underlining some of the businesses that have been founded by its members, such as Flutter, bet365, Entain, etc.
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said: “On behalf of our members, the 110,000 people whose jobs rely on the regulated betting and gaming industry, and the 22.5 million people who enjoy a bet each month, I’d like to congratulate Poppy Gustafsson OBE on her appointment as Minister for Investment.
“Poppy is an accomplished entrepreneur and brings a wealth of much needed business and financial experience to this new role. I’m also delighted to see that she will be a joint minister across the Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury, where I know her private sector expertise will make a huge contribution.
On the BGC, this week has been a busy one for the association.
At the start of the week, it announced it had elected Simon Clare to be its appointee to the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), replacing Mike O’Kane in the role.
This was followed by the industry board unveiling its inaugural International Best Practice Guide, a day before it entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the American Gaming Association and the European Casino Association (ECA), to address shared priorities within the global gaming industry.
