Rank Group has announced a medium-term development plan for its Grosvenor casino arm, which will include three brand new casinos across the UK over the coming year.

A new G Casino-branded venue for Stockton-on-Tees is due to open in September, while an additional two - South Manchester and New Brighton, Merseyside - will launch in 2012. Meanwhile, three Rank-operated casinos have undergone conversions to the G Casino brand, with Walsall and Plymouth unveiled earlier this year following a combined £2.4m overhaul.

The third - Cardiff - is due to be launched this month following a similar conversion to the G Casino, as well as benefiting from an expansion. Rank has confirmed that Grosvenor Connoisseur Casino in Kensington, London, will shut in late 2011, but is still attracted to the capital and is seeking a new premises.

The group is bidding to expand its land-based casino portfolio in the UK to 45 by 2015 - an increase from the existing 35. A total of 30 will be operated as G Casinos. It comes as Rank announced a 4.6 per cent increase in group revenue before adjustments for the six months ending 30 June, with customer visits up 1.5 per cent to 11.5 million.

Rank chair Ian Burke said: "We have a portfolio of some of the strongest brands in UK gaming and the ability to reach our customers through our estate of well-invested venues, our high quality websites and increasingly via mobile channels."