With betting shops and casinos shut and live sport – a major source of revenue for shops – cancelled, the BGC fought to safeguard the 64,000 industry jobs at risk.

In March, in a major blow for the sector, the Treasury announced plans to give all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England a 100 per cent business rates holiday for 12 months, but specifically ruled out support for casinos and betting shops.

The decision was overturned after BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher pressed Chancellor Rushi Sunak to rethink, warning that thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of tax revenue were in danger.

With Britain still in the grip of the pandemic, the BGC is continuing to lobby civil servants and Ministers in Westminster, Cardiff and Edinburgh to ensure that casinos and betting shops can open safely with strict Covid-19 safeguards in place to protect customers and staff. The fight to ensure their long-term survival continues.