Mystery surrounds future of former casino in Northampton as building sits empty and boarded up despite owner saying it will reopen this year

The former Aspers Casino site in Commercial Street, Northampton remains closed more than eight months after the venue shut its doors, with no update from the current owner, who had previously promised it would reopen later this year.

Aspers Casino, which had operated in the town for 18 years, closed in October 2024 after the company said it had struggled to return to pre-Covid trading levels. Shortly afterwards, the site was sold twice: first briefly to Dominic Farhad Rossookh of Nines Casino, and then in December 2024 to 1st and Last Gaming Events.

A spokesman for 1st and Last Gaming Events told the Chronicle & Echo in May: “I will be reopening the venue later in the year.”

However, the building has recently been boarded up entirely. The company has not responded to recent requests for comment.

Companies House records show Tasib Hussain, appointed as a director of 1st and Last Gaming Events on December 3 2024, is still listed as active, with his correspondence address given as the casino building itself, suggesting the company continues to own the site.

The wider Aspers group, including the Milton Keynes operation, went into administration on April 8, 2025. Andrew James Johnson, Matthew Boyd Callaghan, and Shamil Malde of FTI Consulting LLP were appointed as joint administrators for Aspers UK Holdings Limited, Aspers Group Limited, Aspers Finance Limited, and Aspers (Milton Keynes) Limited.

FTI said: “Since 1997, Aspers has been a market-leading casino operator and the first to have been awarded a large casino license in the UK. However, the business was materially impacted by Covid, and, following a shift in customer habits, has struggled to return to pre-Covid trading levels, resulting in the need for ongoing stakeholder support, which has been exacerbated by underperforming units. Over the past few months, the directors and key stakeholders have worked to try and safeguard the future of the business.”

The joint administrators successfully sold the Stratford Casino to Genting Casinos UK Limited, which continues to trade. They were unable to sell the Milton Keynes site, which closed immediately on administration.

Former Northampton staff described the closures and changes in ownership as “devastating,” with some pursuing legal action over unpaid redundancy pay. One long-serving employee said: “Mentally, it really threw me through a loop like it did all of us. We’ve not got over it. We were like a family, we’d all been there so long. It was like getting your home torn out from underneath you.”