Brady: Council gamble could cost Birmingham

Birmingham managing director Karren Brady his hit out at the city council after they rejected a bid backed by the club for a casino.

The authority opted instead to support a bid for a casino licence at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), which is outside the city.

After hearing of the city’s decision to vote for a bid supported by Solihull Council at the NEC Brady said: “I am hugely disappointed.

“In their blind pursuit to save the NEC, the council might have cost Birmingham the chance of having the super-casino and all the regeneration that would have brought.”

City had hoped to move to a new stadium down the road from St Andrews but that came to an end when the bid to land a casino licence to help finance the switch was booted into touch by the local city council.

The Blues had hoped their bid would be put forward by the city council to the British government, which decides in which cities super-casinos can operate.

But the city council cabinet, after considering a report from independent consultants KPMG, which summarised the two bids, decided the NEC’s bid would be the “most advantageous for the city as a landowner”.

Council leader Mike Whitby said: “We believe that in recommending the NEC bid we have created the best opportunity of winning the bid for a regional super-casino for the city region.

“We therefore took the decision to support Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s bid to become a licensing uthority.

“We will be working closely with our partners in Solihull and other local authorities to ensure the NEC bid is the best for Birmingham and the best for the region. We are confident in the benefits it will bring to our city and the wider city region.

“Through the regeneration benefits a successful NEC bid will bring, we hope to construct a City of Birmingham Stadium and a sports village that will boost Birmingham’s national and international reputation.”