Slot machine firms target UK’s poorest areas and channel funds to billionaires

Of 1,452 ‘adult gaming centres’ analysed, one-third were in the poorest 10% of British neighbourhoods Photograph: David Colbran/Alamy

Slot machine companies are targeting Britain’s poorest neighbourhoods and channelling the proceeds to billionaire-owned overseas corporations and a Wall Street fund that uses an offshore lending structure, the Guardian can reveal.

The number of slot machine shops has risen by 7% since 2022, as companies -friendly planning and licensing laws to flood Britain’s high streets with new “adult gaming centres” (AGCs), most of which are open 24 hours a day.