Staff start training at Yorkshire's first '˜super casino'

THE biggest casino in the north of England has appointed its first wave of employees and enrolled them into '˜casino school' ahead of its opening next year.
Alex Hambleton (left) and Teide Heaton at a croupier training school opposite the new Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds. Picture: Simon DewhurstAlex Hambleton (left) and Teide Heaton at a croupier training school opposite the new Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds. Picture: Simon Dewhurst
Alex Hambleton (left) and Teide Heaton at a croupier training school opposite the new Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds. Picture: Simon Dewhurst

More than 1,000 people applied for jobs Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds and 35 employees have been appointed and enrolled in a six-week training programmes.

All the new recruits are from the Leeds area, with half falling into the NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) category.

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New casino employees enrolled onto the National Gaming Academy courses – which are being run by staff from Blackpool and The Fylde College and taking place opposite the new ‘super casino’ – will finish with a Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Gambling Operations.

The intensive, 180-hour course covers three main games: roulette, blackjack, and poker, as well as gambling legislation, social responsibility, customer service, health and safety, and odds-based mathematics.

Patrick Noakes, venue director at Victoria Gate Casino, said: “We are building a best-of-class venue that covers not just gaming, but dining and entertainment, big game sports action as well as corporate hospitality.

“As such, we want to build the leading leisure team in the city and give them the very best training – they are learning a real craft, so wherever possible we want to back that up with a professional qualification.

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With a capacity of 1,400, Victoria Gate Casino, which will create a total of 205 full-time jobs, will be one of the biggest entertainment venues in the city.

The first and only ‘super casino’ in the north, occupies 50,000 sq ft and sits alongside John Lewis at the top of the city’s new Victoria Gate development.

As well as gaming it will have wall-to-wall screens for watching sport, a restaurant, function space and two bars.

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