Simon Thomas is the Executive Chairman and majority shareholder of Hippodrome Casino Limited, the extensive leisure and casino complex in Leicester Square. It is London's premier entertainment venue, employing 850 people and attracting more than 32,000 customers a week.

When I first stepped inside the Hippodrome in London’s iconic Leicester Square, I felt two things at once: awe at its scale, and the cold recognition that if we got this wrong, it would finish me.

The building was a sleeping giant, one of London’s great venues fallen into neglect: part legend, part liability. I wanted to wake it up, restore its place in the capital’s story and prove that a casino could be something more: both a complete entertainment experience and a civic asset.

Gambling and entertainment are my blood. I’m the seventh generation of a showman family. My forebears ran fairs and amusement arcades across the country. My father, Jimmy, was one of the industry’s true pioneers and built Beacon Bingo and Showboat, taking the business from caravan parks to landmark venues. When we sold the group in 2006, it wasn’t a retreat: it was merely a pause before the next gamble.

We took on the Hippodrome lease in 2009. It wasn’t just in a bit of a state, it was in a whole lot of a state, but still magnificent under the dust. We poured £50 million into restoring it. We linked Cranbourn Mansions – an apartment block attached to the theatre – to create new spaces, rebuilt everything from the plumbing to the plasterwork, and worked through the bureaucracy that comes with a Grade II listed landmark.

I nearly lost the project when the financial crisis hit, and I had to write directly to Bob Diamond, then head of Barclays, to save the funding. To his credit, he listened. That letter kept the lights on, and I’ve got my wife Fiona to thank for that: she was listening to Diamond on the news saying investment in new business was his priority and suggested I contact him.

We opened on 13 July 2012. Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, cut the ribbon. Within a month we were breaking projections. It felt like a victory for persistence more than luck.

From day one, my vision was to build more than a casino. I wanted a place that represented London at its best: safe, civilised, social, where anyone could find their night. The Hippodrome had always been about spectacle, from its circus beginnings, through Houdini to Swan Lake, Ivor Novello premieres, Dame Julie Andrews, the legendary Talk of the Town and Garland’s will-she-won’t-she appearances, to Peter Stringfellow’s “greatest disco in the world”.

I wanted to restore that theatrical heartbeat but also continue the tradition of delivering something new to the West End, something bold, innovative, daring, cheeky. Something completely new, which was a casino that embraced the Government’s new gambling laws to the very hilt. Casinos could be fun, broad market, part of the wider night-time economy.

Against so very many odds, it opened. But from that first day we’ve been shifting the furniture. It’s unrecognisable now from what Johnson launched then. Areas didn’t work, others caused log jams, technology grew as did our ambition to use it. We built Heliot Steak House above the gaming floor, and a decade later created Chop Chop by Four Seasons for late-night Chinese dining. We now have 10 bars that belong in the West End, not on its fringes. Poker became a cornerstone, with the PokerStars Live room now the country’s most famous.

The first transformational partnership came with Magic Mike Live. We took a risk turning the existing cabaret theatre into a 326-seat show space and it paid off. It became a phenomenon, a genuine cultural crossover that brought thousands of people through our doors who’d never have imagined setting foot in a casino. The show has been running six years and counting. Forget Vegas for a moment, it proved that gaming, hospitality and live performance can share the same stage without compromise in Britain.

Then came Covid. Leicester Square went silent overnight. For a few days I thought that was it; then, once I realised we’d survive, I did the opposite of what instinct said: I invested. We used the closure to build and modernise, adding a rooftop terrace, knocking through new routes, and carving out space for new ventures like Chop Chop. When London came back, I was determined we would come back stronger.

What defines the Hippodrome now is reinvention. In 2025, when the government finally modernised Britain’s outdated casino laws, we were ready. I’d spent years working with my casino sector peers pressing for reforms that would allow us to compete with the rest of the world, more slot machines and (for the first time) in-venue betting. Those changes happened because operators worked together and because we could show government what a modern, well-run casino actually looks like. And what an asset to an area we can be.

Within weeks of the law changing we launched Paddy’s Sportsbook, the UK’s first sportsbook inside a casino and a joint venture with Paddy Power. It’s an extraordinary space: 56 screens, a twelve-screen jumbotron, table service and a live-sports energy like nothing else in the sports viewing arena. And you can bet too! That’s what good regulation should enable, better experiences in safe environments.

Alongside the business, I’ve always believed that if you operate in the heart of London, you take responsibility for it. I chair the Westminster Independent Advisory Group for the Metropolitan Police, helping to link the force with the local community. I work closely with City Hall, Westminster Council, the Heart of London Business Alliance and our Chinatown neighbours. And many, many others.

If there is one thing I would tell anyone trading in the West End it’s to be part of the community and embrace your neighbours. And the great thing is that we rub along very well indeed, because I don’t skimp on sharing my vision and ambition. I’ve nothing to hide.

Together, we’ve fought for a safer, cleaner, better-lit West End. We even helped to bring in My Local Bobby, a private security team that has reduced street crime and anti-social behaviour around the Square.

That sense of duty also runs through our people. The Hippodrome now employs around 850 staff, making us one of London’s largest entertainment employers. Through the Hippodrome Charitable Trust, we support local good causes and cultural festivals, especially in the Chinese community. We’ve won more than 40 industry awards since opening, but the real prize is knowing that the building feels alive again.

My father, Jimmy, passed away in 2022, aged 88. He’d seen the place at its worst and lived to see it reborn. I think he was proud that the Thomas family finally kept its promise to the building. He used to say the Hippodrome was a theatre that never stopped performing. I’ve tried to keep that spirit alive, to make sure it remains part of London’s nightly show.