Stanley casino complex plan could create 1,000 UK jobs

Liverpool-based Stanley Leisure paid £5m (€7.2m) for Leeds United’s subsidiary Leeds United Properties, whose only asset is the seven-acre site adjacent to the stadium.

Subject to reform of Britain’s gambling laws and the project receiving planning permission, the complex could be completed by the end of 2007.

It would feature a 150,000 square foot casino, as well as a hotel, restaurants, bars, leisure facilities and designer shops.

More than five million adults live within a one hour’s drive of the site, which is close to the M1, M62 and M621 motorways.

Stanley Leisure chief executive Bob Wiper said: “We plan to build an exciting casino complex to rival any other development in the UK, which will be a huge entertainment attraction of which the region can be proud.”

Mr Wiper said the company would operate in a “socially responsible manner” and was committed to meeting new requirements under the Gambling Bill.

Under the law, the British government plans to restrict Las Vegas-style slot machines offering unlimited prize money to regional casinos.

Stanley Leisure’s Star City casino in Birmingham is one of the few UK casinos big enough to qualify for regional casino status.

The group, which has 660 betting shops and 41 casinos, said the Leeds site would become its second biggest casino after Star City.

Today’s announcement comes just a week after Caesars Entertainment, the owner of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, unveiled plans to open an “entertainment resort” at a redeveloped Wembley leisure complex.

The proposed deregulation of gambling laws has already attracted interest in the UK from other major US leisure operators, including MGM Mirage.