In the present climate of economic instability some industries have suffered slightly and many industries still face considerable challenges ahead which could lead to internal restructure, redundancies and even business closures.
Research carried out by the office for National Statistics showed that in June 2008 the unemployment rate has increased by 60,000 over the quarter and by 15,000 over the year to reach 1.67 million. The number of job vacancies was down 47,400 over the previous quarter and down 23,200 over the year with a total of 634,900 job vacancies over a 3 month period. Largest falls occurred within distribution, hotels and restaurants (down 17,700) and finance and business services (down 16,200). The redundancy level for a three-month period, to June 2008, was 126,000, up 14,000 over the quarter and up 6,000 over the year.
Even throughout these times it has recently been reported that the online gaming market, within the UK, is still set to grow over the next few years. This is as a result of the growth of the Internet and a change to the UK gambling laws becoming more favourable (source: Onlinegaming4u). Even in worrying times we still like to have a flutter and can easily log on, access the many online gaming sites available and place our bets!
The Gambling Act 2005 introduced sweeping reform to UK gambling, including allowing casinos to advertise, within certain guidelines, which it is thought will have a significant impact on the popularity of online gambling. The casino review site (Onlinegaming4u) suggested that less stringent restrictions on advertising gambling coupled with the increasing availability of fast, reliable broadband connections will mean an increase in customer numbers for the gaming industry, which will increase competition between casinos whilst providing steady industry-wide growth over the coming years.
I recently read an article by Dave England, a spokesperson from Online Gaming who stated – “Since the latest gambling legislation was introduced, the industry in the UK has seen a dramatic rise in value and traffic. Online casinos based in the UK are performing well, and the competition between them is hotting up, resulting in better offers and sign-up bonuses for customers.”
“With broadband Internet access becoming almost universally available over the last few years, online gambling in the UK has enjoyed steady growth, and we predict this will continue for the foreseeable future. The only difficulty now for consumers lies in choosing the best online casinos, and finding the best welcome bonuses available.”
The availability of broadband Internet in the UK over the last five years has grown dramatically, and has led to an increasing Internet customer base. It is projected that as consumer awareness of online gaming naturally increases, the industry will enjoy strong, stable growth in terms of both sales and traffic.
Recruiting into the gaming industry has continued to stay strong with a good number of available positions, especially in Sales, Marketing and Product development. At Antal we cover various gaming markets such as online gaming, casino’s, bingo to racing venues. Please contact me to discuss this further.
SBurkey@antal.com UK Sales and Marketing Manager
