coinslot 2381 digital

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August 15 – August 21, 2014 • No. 2381 • www.coinslot.co.uk029 DOND Win Fall Flap Advert_test 04/08/2014 21:07

COMMENT

Industry news 4Seaside amusements 10Bowling & Cineplexes 11B2B Listings 16Latest Machine Charts 18Classified ads and opps 19Comment & Analysis 22Newsweek 24

COINSLOT

....It is an opportunityfor the tourismindustry that shouldnot be missed....

Snapshot: access to gambling byPART OF THE NEW CONSOLI-DATED CODES OF PRACTICEDOCUMENT CONCERNS WHATFEC AND BINGO OPERATORSNEED TO BE ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR WHEN IT COMES TOCHILDREN GAINING ACCESSTO MACHINES.The conditions below apply toall non-remote bingo and familyentertainment centre licences -

1. The Commission consid-ers acceptable forms of identi-fication to include: anyidentification carrying the PASSlogo (for example Citizencardor Validate); a driving licence(including a provisional licence)with photocard; or a passport.

2. Licensees should require aperson who appears to relevantstaff to be under the age of 21to be asked to produce proof ofage, either at the point of entry

to the gambling area or as soonas it comes to the attention ofstaff that they wish to accessgambling facilities.

3. Licensees should haveprocedures for dealing withcases where an adult knowinglyor recklessly allows a child or

Commission publishcodes of practice tom

hile it comes in at a lengthy42 pages, the Gambling Com-mission’s newly-published

Gambling Codes of Practice docu-ment should ensure that all land-based premises - and their remotecounterparts - which offer forms ofgambling in the UK are fully compli-ant with the terms and conditions ofthe Gambling Act.

The codes specify a number ofrequirements related to social respon-sibility issues and these may be of par-ticular interest where an authority hasconcern about such matters as pro-tection of the young and vulnerable.

This version of the consolidatedcodes reflects the revisions made toLCCP published in May 2014, whichcame into force on 4 August 2014.

The codes also apply to situationsin which gambling is being offeredwithout an operator’s licence fromthe Commission, such as the code ofpractice for equal chance gaming andthe code for gaming machines inclubs and premises with an alcohollicence.

The document, as expected,focuses heavily on protecting chil-

WSOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The GamblingCommission haspublished an updatedversion of theGambling Codes ofPractice - consolidatedfor all forms ofgambling. Thedocument contains theassociated codes ofpractice to assistlicensing authorities indetermining premisesapplications andinspecting premises,while giving operatorsclear guidelines of howto be compliant withthe parts of theGambling Act relevantto their premises.

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INDUSTRY

Bowled overESSENTIAL GUIDE

Domestic tourism onthe up

August 15 - August 21, 2014 • No. 2381 • www.coinslot.co.uk23

4

mbling by children - bingo and FECs

young person to gamble. Theseprocedures might includerefusing to allow the adult tocontinue to gamble, removingthem from the premises, andreporting the incident to thepolice or local authorities, ortaking action where forged

identification is produced.4. Procedures should be put

into effect for dealing withcases where a child or youngperson repeatedly attempts togamble on their premises,including oral warnings, report-ing the offence to the GamblingCommission and the police,and making available informa-tion on problem gambling to thechild or young person con-cerned.

5. Where it is likely that cus-tomers’ young or otherwise vul-nerable children will be leftunattended on or adjacent totheir premises, licenseesshould consider reminding cus-tomers of their parental respon-sibilities and assess whetherthere is a need to develop pro-cedures for minimising the riskto such children.

he Astra Gaming Group(the wholly owned UKsubsidiary of Austrian

Gaming Industries GmbH, (AGI)part of the Novomatic Group) haspublished its financial results forthe year to December 2013. Thecombined figures, which show agross profit of £44m against totalrevenue of £87m, include operat-ing profit of £1.8m. Profit beforetax for the year stood at £29m, upfrom £10m in 2012. The growthwas assisted during the year by asignificant dividend from groupundertakings.

Trading at the Group, whichcomprises Astra Games, Bell-FruitGames, Empire Games, Gamestec,Mazooma Interactive Games andRLMS Sales, has been describedby the board as ‘satisfactory’.However, it noted that profitabil-ity has come at a price due to poormargins and the restrictive natureof the market, especially in rela-tion to Gamestec’s operations inthe pub sector.

Group CEO Zane Mersich sum-marised the performance, saying:“We are pleased to be able todeliver a financial report thatshows a healthy profit against abackdrop of continued toughtrading and an industry businessmodel that is at best challenging.While the group is evidently in astrong position, it is vital that weremain mindful of the exigentconditions facing the industry asa whole and ensure that we con-stantly seek to improve all areasof our business.”

Among the key factors thatcontributed to a testing period oftrading in 2013 were closures andfalling revenues from the arcadeand bingo sectors. The pub seg-ment, also, came under pressure

during the period.Commenting on the outlook,

Mersich stated: “The expectationis that 2014 will deliver betterresults than those of the preced-ing year as the general state of theeconomy improves and we beginto see some clear sky between thepresent economic conditionsand those of the past few years.”

He concluded: “Adult gamingcentres and bingo halls will stillhave difficulty competing withthe much harder gaming offer-ings in the licensed betting officeand online sectors, with farhigher stakes and prizes; how-ever, they may begin to regainsome lost ground and smart oper-ators will look to invest in theirbusinesses in earnest. Thiscoming year may herald somesigns of the smaller but healthiermarket alluded to in previousreports.”

Astra Gaming Group postsprofits during industry’sdarkest hourFINANCIAL REPORT

It says something about a company’s resilience when it can turn a profit in the worst ofeconomic times. Such was the Astra Gaming Group’s report for the year ending2013 - which offers hope to the direction fiscal performance seems to be taking in theindustry. Talk of ‘clear sky’ in the commentary, but the UK’s gaming giant explains thatthere remain sectors where the clouds are just continuing to hang around.

ZANE MERSICH

11

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dren from gambling in all types ofpremises. To use the first of fourparagraphs of the AGC stipulationsas an example, the documentstates: “The Commission considersacceptable forms of identificationto include any identification carry-ing the PASS logo (for example Cit-izencard or Validate); a drivinglicence (including a provisionallicence) with photocard; or a pass-port.”

In similar fashion, the documentalso focuses on responsible gam-bling among adults and how tohelp ‘problem gamblers’.

In terms of customer interac-tion, for example, somethingwhich the government has beenkeen to encourage as regards theuse of FOBTs, the document states:“Licensees must put into effectpolicies and procedures for cus-tomer interaction where they haveconcerns that a customer’s behav-iour may indicate problem gam-bling. The policies must include:

“Identification of the appropri-ate level of management who mayinitiate customer interaction and

the procedures for doing so,“The types of behaviour that

will be logged/reported to theappropriate level of staff andwhich may trigger customer inter-action at an appropriate moment,

“The circumstances in whichconsideration should be given torefusing service to customersand/or barring them from theoperator’s gambling premises,

“Training for all staff on theirrespective responsibilities, in par-ticular so that they know who isdesignated to deal with problemgambling issues.”

As implied in the title, the docu-ment is incredibly thorough andon first inspection looks like it hasleft no stone unturned. It includes,for example, a simple-to-decipherchart explaining what the gamingentitlements are for clubs and alco-hol-licensed premises. While theGambling Act is by no means every-one’s cup of tea it seems that forthe first time since its implementa-tion in 2007 the ‘song sheet’ isfinally there in one place for every-one to sing from.

T

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4 Coinslot August 15 - August 21, 2014

Industry TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE

Email: [email protected]

ccording to VisitEng-land’s latest survey,Great Britain

enjoyed strong growth indomestic tourism overEaster, a statistic which hashopefully been reflected incashbox takings around thenation.

The results of the GreatBritish Tourism Survey,released by VisitEngland,

show that there were 5mdomestic holiday trips inGreat Britain in April, a 16 percent year-on-year increaseon April 2013 figures.Tourism spend for themonth was up 15 per centyear-on-year to over £1bn.

Strong April growthhelped push up year-to-date

figures, which had been hitby the wet weather andfloods experienced at thebeginning of the year.According to the survey,there were 12.5m domesticholiday trips in January-April2014, a 3 per cent increaseon the same period last year.Spend rose by 8 per cent

year-on-year to over £2.7bn.In England, domestic trips

increased by 10 per cent inApril 2014, helping bring Jan-uary-April figures back to apar with 2013. Domestictourism spend rose 5 percent in England in April, withJanuary-April spend up 6 percent.

VistEngland said earlyindications point to a strongsummer for domestictourism in England, with 90per cent of tourism busi-nesses expressing confi-dence for the summermonths and 70 per cent ofaccommodation providersreporting strong bookingsfor the school holidays. “It isfantastic to see a boost indomestic holiday trips andspend for April and busi-nesses feeling confident asthe summer holiday periodgets well underway,” said Vis-itEngland CEO James Berres-ford.

“This demonstrates theresilience of the tourismindustry following theimpact of the extremeweather earlier this year andthe success of the flood sup-port campaign. We have seenthe trend to holiday at homesoar in the past five years andit’s a trend we’re confidentwill continue.”

Pubcosunite tosupport TaxEqualityDay

Eight pub companieshave so far pledged to

support Tax Equality dayon 24 September, anational day of actionwhich involves loweringprices on food and drinkby 7.5 per cent for the dayto simulate a cut in VAT to5 per cent.

Participants include StAustell, JD Wetherspoon,Fuller’s, Punch Taverns,Charles Wells, Whiting andHammond and ShepherdNeame. Wadworth’s man-aged estate is the latest tojoin the campaign. At pres-ent, all food and drink inpubs is subject to 20 percent VAT, compared tosupermarkets which ben-efit from a zero VAT rate.

A spokesperson forJacques Borel’s VAT Club,which has spearheadedthe day, said “many more”pub companies are set toconfirm their supportthroughout August andSeptember.

He added that it isexpected at least 15,000outlets will take part in theday - the same number it isthought engaged in thefirst Tax Parity Day in Sep-tember 2014. The namechanged to Tax EqualityDay earlier this year fol-lowing suggestions bycampaign members tohelp improve trade andconsumer understandingof the cause.

He also announced thatLondon-based gastropuboperator RenaissancePubs, which operatesseven sites, is the latest tojoin the VAT Club.

SINGLE SITE

Domestic tourism recoversafter strong Easter

Great Britain enjoyedstrong growth indomestic tourismover Easter, helpingoffset some of thelosses experiencedduring the floods andwet weather earlier thisyear, according to thelatest figures publishedon August 8.

STAYCATIONS

Operator speaks out about B3 machine prices

GC operator Stuart Richards hasspoken out about what he

believes to be unfair pricing and thefact that the AGC sector has to waitup to six months after B3 gamescome out in licenced bettingoffices before they are made avail-able to high street gaming outlets.

Richards believes that now is asgood a time as any to put two openquestions to the manufacturers, dis-tributors, and the R&D depart-ments who make the games thatAGC owners operate on B3.

He stated: “Firstly, why do thebookies have access to the B3games sometimes as much assix to twelve months beforethey are released to the AGCindustry? Secondly, why are thegames that we install on our B3machines so vastly overpriced?”

Richards continued: “Pleasedon’t tell me that it is theresearch and development thatgoes into making games such

as Thai Flower, Jackpot Genie etc. Imake the comparison of the cur-rent crop of B3 games as like a visitto your local Chinese restaurant.They have 95 main dishes on theirmenus but 90 of them have thesame sauce. You can buy a com-pendium of three games for aroundthe £2,000 mark only to look at thegames on your other B3 machinesin your premises and find you mayhave virtually the same game withdifferent symbols and soundeffects.”

He concluded: “I am not surewho is ultimately responsible forthe bookies getting games monthsbefore AGCs and that is why I haveasked the question of manufactur-ers, distributors and games design-ers. Maybe we will get a reply fromthem. I hope so, as it is surely of greatinterest to all who operate B3machines and spend their everdecreasing budgets on ever increas-ing and sometimes inferior games.

CATEGORY B3

CRIME

A26-year-old man has been jailed for raid-ing a seaside amusement arcade in Kent

and assaulting a police officer.A judge sentenced Gary Grannells, of Not-

ting Hill, west London, to six years and eightmonths at Isleworth Crown Court.

Grannellshad previ-ously admit-ted handlingstolen goodsand twocounts ofassaulting apolice officer

causing actual bodily harm at a hearing inOctober 2013 and was convicted of burglaryin June this year.

He had denied burglary after the cash raidat Mr G’s arcade on The Promenade in Leys-down-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in June2013.

Man jailed forKent FEC raid

A

Experienced highstreet adult gamingcentre operatorStuart Richardshas spoken outabout what hebelieves to beunfair pricing withregards theCategory B3sector.

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INDUSTRY AMUSEMENTS LEISURE B2B COMMENT NEWSWEEK

REPORT The role of coin-op continues toprosper in the UK’s bowling centre andcineplexes. Essential Guide explores. 11

Nottingham scene adds weight to coin-op video revival

The Nottingham Post hasnoted something of a

comeback in arcade videogaming in the city. Ride baron Forman Street has atabletop machine offering aselection of 60 classicarcade titles, ranging fromfirm favourites such asPac-man, Space Invadersand Donkey Kong to excel-lent oddities like Qix andPooyan. There is a similarretro table in The Old Angelon Stoney Street as well asa hulking Tekken 3 cabinet.

Cookie Shake (Parlia-ment Street) has a hefty

Neo-Geo cabinet, currentlysporting the fine footygame Super Sidekicks at20p a credit. There is also aNintendo 64 console set-upon free play, which offersmulti-player Mario Kart andGoldenEye battles.

Further free gaming canbe found downstairs atUrban Outfitters (VictoriaCentre), which has a pair ofSega Megadrives playing aselection of classic car-tridges including Toejam &Earl, Street Fighter II andSonic.

The Bank on Beastmar-

ket Hill has Stern’s fast-paced Spider-man pinballtable, while the Tap’n’Tum-bler on Wollaton Street hasthe Family Guy pintable, aswell as a pristine uprightretro classics coin-ophosting Galaxian, 1942 andthe like.

Finally, Suede on Heath-coat Street is looking tosource a Teenage MutantHero Turtles arcade cabi-net and is offering freepizza for a month to anyonewho can help them find areasonably pricedmachine.

VIDEO GAMES

incolnshire CountyCouncil has admit-ted it is concerned

after the company whichruns the Fantasy Islandamusement park near Skeg-ness went into administra-tion.

The appointed adminis-trator said the park wouldoperate as usual while itreviewed Fantasy Island’sfinances and no job losseswere expected among per-manent or seasonal staffduring the summer season.

However, it gave no indi-cation of what the long-termfuture held for the popularamusement attraction.

Councillor Colin Daviesaid: “Fantasy Island hasbeen, for many years, a keytourist attraction on the Lin-colnshire coast so we are, ofcourse, concerned by

today’s news.“However, local tourism

is booming on the coast andacross Lincolnshire, so wewould be very surprised ifthe site did close - particu-larly at this time of year.

“The previous and pres-ent owners have investedpositively in the area overthe past few years andbecome an important partof the local community, aswell as being a significantemployer of local people.I’m sure many will beshocked by today’s newsand will be very sorry to seethem go.”

Fantasy Island, a 41-acresite in Ingoldmells nearSkegness, employs 52 per-manent and 120 seasonalstaff.

The amusement park isalso home to what is

described as “Europe’slargest seven-day market”and 340 static caravanpitches.

In a statement, Duff andPhelps Administrators said:“The administrators willevaluate the prospects ofthe various businessesbefore engaging with anyparties interested in acquir-ing the business, its land orany assets, although registra-tions of interest are wel-come.”

Paul Clark, joint adminis-trator, commented: “FantasyIsland is an importantleisure destination thatattracts up to 40,000 visitorsa day.

“As we head into one ofthe busiest months of theyear it is very much businessas usual and customersshould be assured that this

will not impact their expe-rience, whether they are vis-iting the rides, market or oneof the shows.

“It’s also important foremployees to know thattheir jobs will not beimpacted during these busysummer months and welook forward to workingwith the team.”

East Lindsey DistrictCouncil portfolio holder foreconomic developmentCraig Leyland said: “It’salways disappointing whena business finds itself infinancial difficulty. FantasyIsland is an important visi-tor attraction for Ingold-mells and the wider districtand we hope the adminis-trators are able to find a wayforward that secures thefuture of the site and jobslong term.”

Fantasy Island amusementpark enters administration

Fantasy Island,one of the eastcoast’s most popularamusementattractions, has runinto financialdifficulties but willcontinue to operatethrough the summerseason.

AMUSEMENT PARKS

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consultation has beenlaunched by the Gam-bling Commission regard-

ing social responsibility in thegambling sector. The consulta-tion comes at a key point for gam-bling regulation in Great Britain,as public awareness about gam-bling is heightens and advancesin technology and changes inconsumer preference are offer-ing new opportunities whichbroaden the chances for gam-bling-related issues.

The Commission explained:“Operators are coming to termsincreasingly with taking primeresponsibility for their products,which are fun for most but posereal risk of serious harm for some.

The new laws on online gamblingmean that effective and propor-tionate harm prevention meas-ures can be implemented acrossthe board without our licenseesbeing undercut by operatorsfrom less demanding jurisdic-tions.”

The consultation proposes anumber of specific changes tosocial responsibility provisions inthe light of experience (for exam-ple, participation in a nationalself-exclusion scheme for onlinegambling and the introduction ofcompulsory third party testingfor the majority of operators). Italso invites informed publicdebate on how far to constrain theleisure pursuits of the many to

prevent serious harm to the few.The Commission believes that

the consultation offers an oppor-tunity for everyone to have theirsay on these critical questions,and indeed, enables the regulatorto continue monitoring its raisond’etre: ensuring that gamblingremains crime-free, is fair andopen and protects children andvulnerable people.

The Commission stated: “Weare now consulting on proposalsthat reflect developments insocial responsibility practice andsignificantly improved under-standing of risk since 2007.”

Not all the proposals in thisconsultation are for specificchanges to the Commission’s tar-

geted aims at this stage, althoughmany are. Some are proposed tostimulate a wider debate on anumber of key issues.

This consultation is proposinga sharpening of long-standingprinciples, with a clearer expla-nation of why they are important.The Commission added: “But weare also seeking to inform andshape the current debate aboutthe place of gambling in Britaintoday, so the public, the industryand regulators can develop anddeliver an effective regulatoryframework.”

The response form is availableon the Commission’s websitewww.gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

ONLINE

The Bell-Fruit Group went livelast week with a new version

of its corporate website. Theportal -www.bellfruitgames.co.uk - hasbeen given a new redesign tooffer a sharper, cleaner andbrighter experience that is nowsecurely aligned with the brandvalues of parent companyNovomatic.

Visitors to the site will benefitfrom a more streamlined andstraightforward approach tofinding information on new andcurrent product styles acrossthe Bell-Fruit Group. They canalso learn more about the her-itage of the Bell-Fruit brand and

its corporate structure includinggroup brands Bell-Fruit Games,QPS Interactive, MazoomaInteractive Games and RLMS.

The aim of the redesign, saysBell-Fruit, is to provide cus-tomers and journalists with amore direct route to informationregarding new game develop-ments as well as easy access tothe company’s official pressstatements. Links to sister com-panies within the Astra GamingGroup and to parent companyNovomatic’s in-house magazinealso feature prominently.

BFG’s sales and marketingdirector John McLoughlin com-mented: “We are justifiablyproud of the new look and feel ofthe Bell-Fruit Group website.Central to the new design wasthe necessity to more accu-rately characterise the com-pany as a forward lookinginnovator, while also acknowl-edging an illustrious past thatspans more than 50 years. Assuch we now have a websitethat fulfils those criteria andtruly represents the Bell-Fruitbrand of today.”

CommissionlaunchesnewconsultationThe Gambling Commission has launched a consultation asking for views from the public and the industryon the levels and nature of social responsibility protections that gambling operators must provide.

LEGISLATION

Leeds-based rebuild and conversionspecialist Concept Games have cre-

ated a new “on site” service and conver-sion arm to their range of rebuildmachines and conversion kits byfitting their successful range ofTriennial revue kits in customersown premises.

Concept’s David Garforthcommented: “Nowadays withAGC and FEC businesses beingtight up against budgets the cus-tomers don’t always have profi-cient engineers available to fitconversion kits and repairmachines and many of the besttaking machines are in need ofmaintenance that is specialised,we have recently convertedmachines for several customersas a ‘kit and fit’ on-site service whichwent so well that it has been decided toroll out this service to any customer whoneeds this service. Not only do we fit our

£100 and 20p £10 kits to machines butwill carry out repairs and refurbish at thesame time.”

This way, believes Garforth, the cus-tomer guarantees a swift easy trou-ble free change whilst breathingnew life into older less popularmachines.

He added: “The customers havereally liked seeing their machinetransformed in front of their eyes,set up and being played evenbefore we leave, and some of ourcustomers’ own Electrocoin basemachines are in really good con-dition, so they like keeping them.We clean, convert and repair ifnecessary and add some nicetouches to the cabinet.”

Garforth concluded: “Trans-porting a used machine can often

result in faults occurring but with theon-site service the machine is set up andoperators can experience the machineworking well before we leave the site.”

Concept ventures outwith Onsite 100CONVERSION

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Bell-FruitGrouplaunchesnewwebsite

John White, BACTA’s new CEO, completed the Pruden-tial Ride London - Surrey 100 last weekend, and has the

medal to prove it. The start at the Queen Elizabeth OlympicPark proved the perfect place for setting off, with the spec-tacular backdrop of the velodrome and stadium.

The remnants of Hurricane Bertha did its best to spoilthe BACTA chief’s first ever 100 mile cycle, but in the endhe pedalled through the high winds, torrential rain andflooded roads to cross the finish line in the Mall in an offi-cial time of five hours 13 minutes.

The Surrey 100 was reduced by the organisers to 86miles cutting out the infamous and treacherous climbs onsafety grounds. Most riders would have been delighted bythis decision, but not White - he was disappointed not tohave had the opportunity to do the entire course.

Commenting on the race, White said: “My favouritemoment of the race was the wind behind me doing asteady 23mph on London’s closed roads knowing a hotbath wasn’t too far away and the enormous sense ofachievement having crossed the finishing line and raisinga significant amount of money for my chosen charity,Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.”

White raised over £1,300 and thanks BACTA membersfor sponsoring him.

CHARITY

New BACTA chiefmakes instant markwith charity ride

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A Cornwall coastaltown has beennamed the mostexpensiveseaside resort inBritain, with anaverage price tag of£123 per night, in asurvey conducted byCheaprooms.co.uk.

REPORT

ccording to areport by Cheap-rooms.co.uk, St

Ives is the most expensiveseaside resort in Britain, asits hotel prices are doublethose of some of its coastalcompetitors, such asAberystwyth in Wales.

Welsh resort Tenby(£107) and Cowes in Isle ofWight (£94) finishedsecond and third in the top20 list, compiled using thecheapest price of a double

room in accommodationnear a beach rating threestars or higher in August.Dartmouth in Devon (£87)and Barmouth in Wales(£86) make up the top fivemost expensive seasidetowns in the UK, the surveyfound.

Two further Cornwall-based resorts rank in the top10 - Falmouth and Padstow -sharing sixth with Scot-land’s Oban at an averagerate of £84 a night.

Malcolm Bell, head of VisitCornwall, said in defence ofthe county: “Cornwall has aquality tourism productwith a wide range of accom-modation suitable for allbudgets. At the higher endof our offering visitors arewilling to pay a premiumprice for a quality product... why should this be any dif-ferent for accommodation?As an industry we should beproud of our quality prod-uct, not ashamed of its

worth. Cornwall is wellloved and has a loyal fanbase, and with such a broadoffering, there’s somethingfor every price bracket.”

Brighton ranks ‘just’ 17th,while a host of coin-opstrongholds such as Black-pool, Great Yarmouth, Scar-borough, Skegness,Weston-Super-Mare, Wey-mouth and the like fail totrouble the top 20 list duto offering cheaper accom-modation.

The price alongside thelocation is the based onthe cheapest availabledouble room near a beachin a hotel rated three starsor higher.

1. St Ives (Cornwall) £1232. Tenby (Wales) £1073. Cowes (Isle of Wight) £944. Dartmouth (Devon) £875. Barmouth (Wales) £866. Falmouth (Cornwall) £846. Oban (Scotland) £846. Padstow (Cornwall) £849. Swansea (Wales) £8310. Swanage (Dorset) £8111. Penzance (Cornwall) £8112. Bude (Cornwall) £7813. Worthing (Sussex) £7514. Whitby (Yorkshire) £7415. Brixham (Devon) £7316. Ayr (Scotland) £7217. Brighton (Sussex) £7117. Southend-on-Sea

(Essex) £7119. Margate (Kent) £7020. Aberystwyth

(Wales) £68

St Ives named mostexpensive UK seaside resort

Gamestecready toplay dirtyfor charity

Major UK machineoperator, Gamestec,

has gathered a team ofbrave individuals to takepart in Tough MudderNorth West on Septem-ber 13 in aid of the Raysof Sunshine charity. Theteam, led by commercialdirector Peter Davies, willtake on a 12-mile assaultcourse at CholmondeleyEstate in Cheshire that ispeppered with extremeobstacles designed byspecial forces personnel.They include the eye-watering ‘Arctic Enema’,‘Fire in your hole’, ‘Elec-tric Eel’ and ‘Everest’ aswell as mud crawls,barbed wire, tunnels andhills.

Looking ahead to thehalf marathon with awicked twist, Daviesnoted: “We’re excited andsomewhat apprehensiveto be taking part in thisevent which will be a realphysical and mental chal-lenge and enables us toraise money for an incred-ibly worthwhile cause.We have a great team,aptly titled ‘Muddy HellFire’, comprising friendsand colleagues from theindustry including LeeJefferson, Steve Price,Tony Glanville, LeeMurden, and Gary Hardy.The aim is to generate asmuch money for Rays ofSunshine as possiblewhile tackling one of themost formidable chal-lenges of its kind. We’reraring to go!”

Anyone wishing tomake a contributionshould visit www.justgiv-ing.com/MuddyHellFire

OPERATORS

Top 20mostexpensiveseasideresorts inthe UK

Recently-named the13th fastest growing

private company inBritain, Innovative Tech-nology has opened anew office in MiltonKeynes. As part of thisexpansion, the ban-knote validator manu-facturer, which hasheadquarters inOldham, is also planningon a recruitment drivein the new offices.

Recruitment manager CaroleHarker commented: “The new officein Milton Keynes will allow us tostrengthen the research and develop-ment team, working on blue chip

projects to ensure we continue to liveup to our name, producing innova-tive, technologically advanced prod-ucts for the cash handling industry.We will be at MK:One for the MK JobsShow on 20-21 September.”

InnovativeTechnology expandsinto Milton KeynesCASH HANDLING

Cambridge bowlingcentre evacuated

Hundreds of people wereevacuated from Cambridge

Leisure Park last week after an‘unidentified odour’ made cus-tomers feel unwell. The smell ofgas led to the evacuation ofboth Cambridge Cineworld andthe nearby bowlingalley.

National Grid con-firmed the smell was“an unnatural gas”and Cambridgeshirefire and rescue weresent to the incident.Anglian Water wassent to the scene toinvestigate further. Itis believed that the

smell could be coming fromthe drainage system.

A spokesperson from Cam-bridgeshire Fire and Rescuesaid: “People were complain-ing of feeling sick but noambulance was required.”

TENPIN

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All PlayersAppearance (Full Match) 2 pointsAppearance (Part Match) 1 pointGoal Scored 5 pointsKey Contribution to a Goal 3 points (An Assist)

Own Goal -3 pointsMissed Penalty -2 points (including penalty shoot-outs)

Sent Off -3 pointsBooked -1 point

Defenders & Goalkeepers onlyClean Sheet (Full Match) 4 pointsClean Sheet (Part Match) 2 pointsPenalty Save 5 Points (Goalkeepers Only – including penalty shoot outs)

Concede one goal in game 0 Points (Penalty Shoot-outs not included)

Each additional Goal Conceded -1 point (Penalty Shoot-outs not included)

£50m Spend£1,000 Top Prize

Two Cup CompetitionsNew mini leagues

Two Transfer Windows ‘Early Bird’ Rates

Early Bird Rates - two teams for £10 for entries received by 4th September 2014. £10 per team thereafter

For entry forms and details of 2013/14 season player points contact Marc Lawton 01204 396397 / [email protected]

Closing Date – 18th September 2014

THERE’S NO FANTASY ABOUT A £1,000 TOP PRIZE

Amusements TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE


astbourne BoroughCouncil has prom-ised to open the

resort’s fire-hit pier in“months rather than years”in order to protect thelivelihoods of its traders.

Council bosses met withmanagement and stake-holders last week to discussthe long and short termfuture of the Grade II-listedstructure and the effects onthose who have businesseson it.

David Tutt, leader of East-bourne Borough Council,said the pier’s managementexpect to have the surviv-ing two thirds reopen in“months rather thanyears”.

This was confirmed bypier manager ChristosStylianou, who said hehoped the undamaged partof the pier would be open tothe public from Septemberonwards.

Stylianou also revealedinsurers had verified that thedamage caused by the firewas covered by owner SixPiers’ insurance policies andwork could begin onrebuilding the decimatedamusement arcade building.

He praised his staff for

evacuating the pier, as wellas the emergency servicesfor preventing the blaze,which was thought to havestarted in the arcade, fromspreading to the landwardentrance and the night-club further down thedecking.

Stylianou told the East-bourne Herald: “It washeartbreaking watching asthe fire took hold and rav-

aged the main arcadebuilding. Even though theBlue Room has been totallydestroyed by fire, we haveto be grateful that the restof the splendid pier wassaved.

“The people of East-bourne have been unbe-lievable - the camaraderie,the pulling together - true‘Dunkirk spirit’. There aretoo many people, organisa-

tions and businesses to listindividually, but I wouldlike to express my thanksto all.

“All parties have beentremendous in helping uspick up the pieces, in help-ing seasonal staff findalternative employment,and in helping conces-sionaires carry on theirbusinesses.”

Anew survey has dis-covered that the

British seaside was thefavourite childhood desti-nation for over half (57 percent) of UK holidaymak-ers.

Even better for coastalamusements operators, italso revealed over a third(36 per cent) of Brits havereturned to their favouritechildhood holiday spot inthe last five years.

The survey, carried outby holiday review websiteTripAdvisor, found child-

hood memories immedi-ately invoke seasidesensations - with thesound of the sea (37 percent) and the feeling ofsand between our toes (19per cent) the two mostcited sensations peopleassociate with childhoodholidays.

An overwhelming 82 percent of Brits named a des-tination in the UK as theirchildhood favourite, withSouth West England hold-ing the fondest holidaymemories for a third (30per cent), followed by theSouth East (14 per cent)and Wales (14 per cent).

James Kay, TripAdvisorspokesperson, com-mented: “For many of us,our favourite memories asa child are often fromwhen we were on holiday,

so perhaps it is no sur-prise that so many of usrelive those holidays againas adults.”

The survey spoke to5,170 adult UK travellers,including 3,561 parents,between July 18 and July23 this year.

Encouragingly for UKtourism, of those whochose to revisit theirfavourite childhood desti-nation in the last fiveyears, 86 per cent said itlived up to their positiveexpectations.

The most popular

reason for Brits to go backto the spot of their favouriteholiday memory was toshare it with their spouse ofpartner.

Among parents, nearlyhalf have revisited theirfavourite childhood holidaydestination with their ownchildren.

Three quarters of par-ents doing so said theirchildren enjoyed the trip asmuch as they had done asa child, though interest-ingly over a third said thathad been for different rea-sons.

Half of parents said theyfelt family holidays aresafer now than they werewhen they were a child, andnearly three quarters feelthere are more activities forthe whole family to do thanwhen they were young.

Survey revealsseaside set forsummer boostTOURISM

Eastbourne Pier toreopen in “monthsnot years”

COMMEMORATION

Statue unveiled in honour ofindustry stalwart’s uncle

August 1 saw a statue of PteHerbert Columbine, VC,

unveiled by Lord Guthrie atWalton-on-the-Naze, Essex, aspart of the 100th anniversarycommemorations of WorldWar 1s. The late PrivateColumbine is the uncle ofindustry stalwart DaveColumbine.

The following day, thewhole town celebrated withmarching bands in glorioussunshine. Herbert Columbineis thought to be the only pri-vate with his own statue in theUK. He therefore stands for allthose that died of that rank.

Bert Columbine, as he wasknown, was posthumouslyawarded the Victoria Cross forhis bravery in World War One.Pte Columbine, of 9 SquadronMachine Gun Corps, died hold-ing his position against enemyfire in France. People fromWalton-on-the-Naze raised£60,000 for the memorial.

Artist John Doubleday,famous for his sculptures ofThe Beatles in Liverpool andCharlie Chaplin in LeicesterSquare, was commissioned tosculpt the 7ft bronze of PteColumbine, who was fromWalton.

Pte Columbine was 24when he died on 22 March1918, eight months before theend of the war. He took controlof a machine gun which hefired continuously from atrench in Hervilly Wood inFrance. He repelled heavilyarmed enemy soldiers andgave his colleagues the chanceto escape by continuing to fireuntil killed by a shell.

Dave Columbine con-cluded: “All the above is quiteironic really as the Columbinefamily motto is ‘Audaces for-tuna juvat’, roughly translatedas ‘Fortune favours the brave’.

EPIERS

2381-p10-Amusements_Coinslot NEW 12/08/2014 16:26 Page 1

Essential Guideto the GreatBritidsh Pub Next Week

AUGUST 15 - AUGUST 21, 2014

16B2B listingsand industrymarketplace

8eek’sine

rts

18This week’s

machinecharts

9stingsdustryplace

19Classified

sales, job andbusiness

opps

Coinslot AUGUST 15 - AUGUST 21, 2014

Coinslot: How does the sitingof coin-op machines benefitbowling operators?Philip Millward: In most tenpinbowling centres the broadlayout is dictated by the bestconfiguration of the bowlinglanes. Often the layout leads tolarge concourse spaces whichare ideal for amusement space,especially if the area is on thethoroughfare between themain entrance and service areassuch as reception, bars ordiners. So what would other-wise be dead space is turnedinto income generating space.The provision of a good amuse-ment operation also adds to theappeal of a bowling centre,increases dwell time, adds tothe customer experience andwith the growth of cranes, mer-chandise and redemptionmachines provides customerswith a memento of their visit ora reason to visit again to collectmore tickets and prizes.

CS:Are venues featuring abroad range of entertainment,such as Funscape, more likelyto succeed than smaller,more focussed FECs?PM: The key to success is tounderstand that every loca-tion is different and it is criti-cal for operators to install thecorrect range of features tosuit their target audience,demise and property costs.

Namco locations tend tooccupy larger expensiveproperties and therefore weneed to drive higher rev-enues by offering a broaderrange of facilities to appeal toa broader customer market.As well as satisfying the typi-cal FEC market we add, bowl-ing, bars, dodgems etc toextend our appeal to othersectors, such as corporatebusiness and children’s par-ties. These additional facili-ties are also more easilymarketed to attract in new ordestination customers ratherthan relying solely on the foot-fall generated by the facilitiesaround us.

CS: How does the mix ofmachines differ betweenbowling venues and the tradi-tional FEC?PM: Bowling centres selectfrom the same pool of equip-ment as traditional FEC but areoften limited by space restric-tions. Therefore there is moreof a focus on the high earningfeature games such as video,crane, and redemption, withless emphasis on children’srides, Cat D’s and pusherswhich dominate traditionalFEC’s.

CS: Do you believe there ispotential for the amusementindustry to grow its presence

in bowling and cineplexvenues?PM: Absolutely! Historically,bowling and cinema operatorshave seen amusement incomeas an ancillary product and assuch did not pay much atten-tion to the offer. These daysthere are many enlightenedoperators who are workingmore closely with theirmachine suppliers to developtheir offer, improve their serv-ice, introduce new lines all tothe benefit improving theirprofitability. In particularthere has been a big shift anduplift in attention and spacededicated to redemption andmerchandise games.

Making the space countNamco Operators Europe commercial director, Philip Millward, explains how Namco Funscape useamusement machines to maximise the potential of open space.

The oldestknown evi-dence ofbowling wasdiscoveredin 1930 byBritish an-thropologist Sir Flinders Petrie. Work-ing with archeologists, he uncoveredpins and balls believed to have be-longed to a boy in ancient Egyptaround 3200 BC.

Bowling on the NilePerhaps the most famous amuse-ment machine everseen on film is ZoltarSpeaks, an automaticfortune telling gamethat transforms ayoung boy into a fullygrown man overnight.It features in the TomHanks movie, Big, andthe machines are still being manu-factured to this day.

Big performer

Many of the industry’s most popularplush and redemption prizes owetheir success to the film industry,which in turn helps to boost thepopularity of the cinema. The nu-merous yellow Minions from theDespicable Me franchise have beenthe runaway hit of recent years, withcharacters from the Disney stableproving eternally popular.

KEYNOTE

Symbiosis

Essential Guide to... B2B

11

Bowling alleys & Cineplexes

2381-p11-15-Essential_Coinslot NEW 12/08/2014 16:48 Page 1


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B2B

Essential Guide to ... Bowling alleys & CinepSector Overview

VIEWPOINT

forewordalex lee

SWOT ANALYSIS

hese days, coin-op comes aspart and parcel of the modernUK ten pin bowling entertain-

ment offer and operators also knowthat a well-positioned prize vendor,kiddy ride or photo booth on site in acineplex can make some seriousmoney. With an impressive array of spe-cial offers, promotions and high-techguises, the UK ten pin bowling sectoris a popular party-style pastime for allthe family. The good news for the coin-op sector is that all types of amusement,novelty, soft gaming and video gamesdovetail perfectly with cineplexes andbowling centres alike.

There were 747 cinema sites in theUK in 2013, according to the CinemaExhibitors Association. The TenpinBowling Proprietors Association,meanwhile, has around 150 members,ranging from major national tenpinbowling centres to smaller family runbowling alleys. A sector which boastsclose to a thousand sites, therefore, hasto be taken seriously.

The likes of AMF Bowling, Bowlplex,Hollywood Bowl, Namco Station andTenpin have a growing number of ultra-modern facilities across the country,the vast majority of which have anaccompanying FEC integral to thevenue. The typical offer tends to con-sist of a decent cross-selection of coin-op entertainment such as pool, airhockey, driving games, simulators,shoot’em-ups and amusement piecessuch as novelty machines and pushers.

Methods of attracting - and keeping- customers include a continuousstream of special offers, often featur-ing meal deals and ‘lane time’, TVscreens showing live sport at the endof the lanes and activities such as ‘discobowling’ where the location deploysultraviolet lighting and music. Many ofthese franchises benefit from onlinepromotional campaigns, with moneyoff vouchers and special advancedeals.

The all-inclusive nature of bowlingshould not be lost on distributors look-

ing for a decent site to sell their waresto. Because of this, and increasingefforts to cater for disabled customers,the ‘level playing field’ of competition

has widespread, fun, appeal and withparty packages and special offersbecoming the norm, families are kepton-site longer and therefore are morelikely to dip into their pockets forsome coin-op pleasure while they’reat it. A typical ten pin bowling centre’soffer, therefore, is not dissimilar to thatof a seaside arcade or FEC, but withmore reasons for families to stay on-site longer and spend more money.

This fact is not lost on a number ofUK coin-op distributors and machinemanagement providers. These outfitshave supported the UK bowling andcineplex sector with their productsand services for several years and havedeservedly reaped the rewards.

While the coin-op entertainment onoffer at bowling centres and cine-plexes may be of secondary impor-tance to the core offer, thetime-specific and turn-based nature ofbowling means that there areinevitable gaps in the action before,during and after to insert those sparecoins into the available machines. Fur-thermore, the bowling sector has triedto keep the sport as cheap and asaccessible as possible, therefore thesecondary ‘loose change’ disposablespend comes into play, and what betterto fill time waiting for the next turn ornext lane to become available than ago on one of the coin-op machines?Many bowling centres are also socialhubs for teenagers - many of whomwill simply meet with the intention toplay on the machines and the pool andair hockey tables.

With a steady stream of new venuesopening and more established venuesbeing revamped, rebranded andrelaunched, coin-op has benefitedfrom bowling centres and cineplexesaccepting that they have to up theirgame in order to retain their relevanceto modern audiences. Whenever newsof a coming new venue breaks, theUK’s leading coin-op players are ready,willing and able to supply the highest-earning products and services.

Establishedleisure venuescomplementedby newmachines

The earning power of siting coin-op equipment in areas of high footfall, and captive audiences,such as bowling alleys and cineplexes, simply cannot be underestimated.

SWOT ANALYSISBOWLING ALLEYS &CINEPLEXES SECTORSTRENGTHS

• Enticing and creative specialoffers

• Accessibility for all the family• Element of ‘equal’ competition

in fun environment

WEAKNESSES

• Coin-op in such venues is rarelypromoted as heavily as the coreoffer, or food deals

• Fast-paced nature of gamemakes it a challenge to keeppeople on-site

• Bowling centres and cine-plexes are not generallyimpulse visit material

OPPORTUNITIES

• Venues are invariably vast andtherefore machine footprintsize is never an issue

• Competing franchises alwayson look-out for new premises

• Increase in uptake of redemp-tion-enabled equipment

THREATS

• Bowling centres and cine-plexes have suffered frompeaks and troughs in popularityfor the last 50 years

• Due to typical ‘out of town’location, food, drink and shop-ping generally on doorstepcompeting for discretionaryspend

T

Enticingvenues for allgenerations

With everyone expected toconstantly multi-task just to getthrough the day, bowling alleys andcinema complexes have had toevolve into full-on entertainmentvenues for all the family.

Both the tenpin bowling and out-of-towncinema sectors have reinvented and mod-

ernised themselves to such an extent over theyears that its accompanying hi-tech coin-opoffer seems a perfectly natural fit. With the out-of-town shopping and entertainment experi-ence constantly evolving, bowling alleys andcinema complexes have now become full-onentertainment venues for all the family.

In other words, we all have to accept - andembrace - the fact that the division of amuse-ment arcades, bowling alleys, FECs is blurringall the time and the attitude of ‘If it’s entertain-ing, then surely it’s relevant to any kind of enter-tainment venue?’ applies perfectly to themodern ten pin bowling sector. In other words,ten pin bowling venues never just offer ‘skittles’and nothing else - and this is testament to theefforts of the coin-op sector to find new prem-ises for siting equipment when our niche sectorhas suffered shrinkage for nigh on two decades.

Regardless of whether the coin-op offeringat the average bowling alley or cineplex is ofsecondary importance or not, the machinesfound at typical ten pin centres are as clever amix as the best of FECs. With this in mind, theproducts and services now available, such asthose from the companies showcased thisweek are expertly targeted at just the rightaudience due to market experience and a clearunderstanding of how best to deploy them.

Whether the uptake of the sport of ten pinbowling has improved because of the betterancillary entertainment built around is true orthe exact opposite is irrelevant, because for thetime being coin-op in the bowling arena is asstrong as you like.

All that families, groups of friends and, shud-der, corporate gatherings, want on a day ornight out is to be entertained. With bowlingalleys and cineplexes offering some of thelatest coin-op entertainment these days,what’s not to like?


ineplexes


B2B

13

PAYMENT SYSTEMS

An integratedcashlessfutureAs more and more sites takeup the option of using newcash free paymenttechnology, the likes ofEmbed can help bind togethercoin-op offerings with otherforms of entertainment.

ith cashless technology provingincreasingly popular, sector pioneersEmbed are safe in the knowledge that

many bowling and cinema operators couldmake good use of its creation. “The Embedproduct is a full management solution,” saidsales executive, Steven Wooley. “It delivers arange of well-rounded applications designedto manage all areas of any entertainment facil-ity. Our focus is on enhancing site revenuesthrough the use of value-added packages,target marketing, membership and loyaltyprograms for guests.”

All aspects of an operation can be incorpo-rated into the system, including the complexfeatures of a bowling operation. “In bowlingvenues, Embed is comparable to an on-sitepayment solution or gift card, used frompaying for shoe rental, bowling lanes, drinksfrom the bar as well as amusement play,” saidWooley. “Embed has a full interface with mostof the current bowling software and POS sys-tems so there is no large investment in newhardware - simply connect to the Embedsystem and put cards into guest hands.”

The drive towards paying for our enter-

tainment without using hard currency is hap-pening in every sector and bowling and a tripto the movies is no exception. “As customers,we have become well used to paying for goodsand services via a card type payment solution,”said Wooley. “It has become second nature andan accepted form of payment. Having a systemlike Embed allows you to drive promotionalsales, loyalty and ease of use.”

In some cases, just the introduction of cash-less itself is enough to drive further adoptionamong customers. “At a recent installation inthe UK, the customer had created a ‘Fast Track’queue in his bar area for payment by theEmbed Fun Card,” said Wooley. “With the FunCard there is no transaction wait time, so oper-ators and employees are finding this timesaved helps increase speed of service and cus-tomer satisfaction.”

The coin-op sector is already making useof this technology, so the introduction of thistechnology to blowing and cineplex venuesonly serves to draw the two closer together.“As a customer, speed of service and ease ofuse should always be considered,” said Wooley.“We offer a solution that works seamlessly.

Once a customer has purchased a card it canbe used throughout the facility. This simplic-ity makes the customer experience moreenjoyable than having to use a card in onearea, then paying by cash in another. Anyremaining balance left at the end of the visitcan be re-used at another time and also driv-ing repeat visits. The card can be used to crosspromote each business with offers and pack-ages, so it really is a win-win for everyoneinvolved.”

Further, Wooley believes that driving inte-gration by including amusements machinesas part of a bowling or cineplex offering is asmart business strategy. “The market for dis-posable income is very crowded, so manybusinesses are having to work smarter anddeliver a product or service to meet their cus-tomer needs. Bowling centres and cineplexvenues have struggled over the years and havehad to look at ways of reinventing themselvesand increase customer spend on site. Theintroduction of a good machine mix, a fairprice per play, the presentation of themachines and product mix helps entice cus-tomer impulse purchases.”

W



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B2B

Essential Guide to ... Bowling Alleys & CinepMarket Analysis ProductsOPERATIONS EMBED

A central currencyfor amusementefficiencyEmbed’s software is helping operations aroundthe world to run with more efficiency and securityas their debit card system makes the cashlessfuture a reality today.

Embed is a worldwide supplier of revenue management,stock management, POS and cashless systems for the

amusement, entertainment and leisure industry. As a leader inthe market, Embed delivers a suite of applications designed tomanage all areas of any entertainment facility. The companyhas a focus on enhancing site operations through improvingguest service, increasing staff efficiency, reducing overheadsand creating guest loyalty.

Over the past 15+ years, Embed has grown with the industryto deliver the product, solution and features that guests andoperators need to keep business moving forward, while cash-less has become one of the fastest growing markets aroundthe globe.

The company’s core business is the Embed Debit Cardsystem, which goes well beyond a payment method to includea full suite of products designed to handle all pay-to-playactivities, as well as the monitoring of customers activity andgames performance. The system is designed to allow theEmbed Card to become the ‘centre currency’ and concentrateall other monetary transactions to a reduced number of POSor Kiosks enabled to reload the card.

A full cashless operation creates more security for both theoperation and its guests. This has been proven by thousandsof sites, with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of guestsalready operating in a cashless environment around the world.With a cashless system, the amount loaded onto the card issecure because it is registered into a database. There is novalue stored on the card, so in case of loss or theft, the fullamount can be recovered as well as all the points or bonusesaccumulated. Cashless systems also offer the operator agreat opportunity to reduce their operating costs and enablesmany marketing functions. With all customers using cards fortheir activity within the site or across multiple sites of thesame chain, operators will have powerful tools to profile theircustomers and create marketing promotions and packagesbased on the realspending habits, gen-erating more returnvisits and higherspend during eachvisit.

Embed has beenworking tirelessly inthe UK market onsolutions that offer toshow a true return oninvestment for anybusiness. Among thesectors that arequickly seeing thevalue in this productare caravan and holi-day parks. Embedcontinues to workclosely with this sector as well as focussing across the widermarket on the value of its product.

Coin-op plays a supporting roleThe popularity of a trip to the

movies or the bowling alley hasendured for many years, with pinsfalling and silver screens shining ona regular basis up and down thecountry. However, even the excite-ment of strikes and stars won’tkeep a family on site forever andhistory has shown that operatorslooking to maximise their takingswould do well to install a selectionof quality amusement machines.

“Coin-op machines create anattraction within an attraction forbowling operators,” notes BandaiNamco’s commercial director, JohnBrennan. “It means that families canenjoy a longer stay at the locationand it gives them an extra reason tovisit. Of course, it also means anextra income steam.”

Bowling alleys can furtherenhance their offing by ensuringthat they provide games that arelikely to appeal to a range of bowl-ing customers. “It is always good tohave a mixture of video and sports

based machines, which attract allages,” noted Brennan. “Redemptionalso performs very well in bowlinglocations.”

The use of redemption is grow-ing both in and outside of bowlingvenues and provides just one exam-ple of why Brennan is confident thatthe potential exists for expansion. “Ithink that the amusement industryis already well established withinthe bowling sector,” he said, “how-

ever, there is always room forgrowth.”

In the world of cinema, amuse-ment machines can be even morelucrative, as they provide a counter-point to the static movie-goingexperience. “The cinema involvesbeing sat down for a long time,people often enjoy letting off steamafterwards,” said Brennan. “If thereis a high adrenaline movie, theneven better.”

Savvy operators can also useprize machines and redemptioncounters to make tie-in toys avail-able. “It is also a great opportunityfor operators to cleverly tie in kidsfilms with prize promotions,” saidBrennan and Bandai Namco ispreparing for its own big money tie-in, featuring characters from Aard-man Animations’s latest adventure.“For example, next year will see thelaunch of the Shaun the Sheepmovie,” said Brennan, “and BandaiNamco is the exclusive distributorof the range of plush.”

GAMING MIX

or many bowling operators, theunusually long summer hasbeen a mixed blessing. While

the sun shines and Britain enjoys balmyweather, potential customers tend toshy away from visiting indoor venuessuch as arcades and bowling alleys.

Despite that, with over half of thisyear in the books many bowling oper-ators remain positive about the statusof the industry. “I feel good about thebowling sector moving in to thesecond half of 2014,” said Tony Ioan-nou, director at Electric Bowl in Hali-fax.

Savvy operators are making best useof hot spells, deploying targeted dealsthat help to keep families filling out thelanes. “It’s an accepted fact that we’reat the mercy of the weather during thesummer months,” notes Ioannou, “butwe focus heavily on family bowlingdeals and packages to try and enticepeople in at this time.”

Making best use of modern technol-ogy is also key when it comes to ensur-ing that customers continue to seebowling as a positive summer activity.“One of the things we’ve tried this year

is to offer 20 percent off a family hourbowling session when booked on-line,”said Ioannou. “It’s proved popular, aspeople check out what’s available on-line and have the ability to search, makea decision and book and pay there andthen.”

Despite the summer challenges, astrong overall performance during theyear and the prospect of a bumperWinter has left Ioannou feeling confi-dent. “We’ve seen an upturn in the busi-ness in the last six-nine months,” herevealed, “and look forward to a strongtrading period in the run up to Christ-mas and the New Year.”

Playing a key part in this success arethe amusement machines that ElectricBowl keep on site. “Coin-op machinesand pool tables provide a vital revenuestream for bowling centres,” confirmedIoannou. It’s important to match themachines on offer to the clientele andreports from Electric Bowl reveal thatgames with an active component arethe most likely to turn a profit. “Themost consistent earners for us are AirHockey, Boxer and our Fancy CutterSWP machines,” noted Ioannou.

Business boomingon electric avenueWhile the summerremains a traditionallychallenging period forbowling centres,intelligent operatorswill make best use oftheir resources to stayahead of the game.

F


ineplexes


B2B

15

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September 17TH and 18TH 2014From 11:00am - 4:00pm

Join us at this exclusive event to experience the revenue generating possibilities and flexibility of the EMBED Cashless System for yourself! Registered attendees will receive a Lady’s Mile FUN CARD with credit that can be used in the arcade, bar, fish and chips shop or even the laundry!

Come see why Embed is the leading choice for the world’s top holiday parks and family entertainment centres! NAMCO will also be on site presenting their range of game machines, prizes and more! Registration and accomodation available online at www.ladysmile.co.uk.

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PhWwEm

[email protected]

PhWwEm

BANDAI NAMCO

Blockbuster successBandai Namco is well practiced in catering for every aspect of a top-tier bowling andcineplex amusement offering.

he bowling and cineplex sectorsare extremely important to BandaiNamco Amusement Europe and the

company is recognised as a market leaderin these fields. Bandai Namco has built upexpertise over many years, providinggames for bowling alleys and cinemas allover the country, including its own Fun-scape centres in 11 locations in the UK.

Bandai Namco clearly has an understand-ing of the specific needs of multi-functionallocations, not least thanks to its own opera-tional experience, but also the many yearsof product knowledge that informs itsresearch and development of games. Thisplaces the company in a somewhat unique

position to provide games that fit well intothe game mix.

Determining the right combination ofprize games, video, ticket redemption, sim-ulators and novelties is the first stop foroperators: this formula is the key to max-imising revenue and customer enjoyment -something which Bandai Namco believethey have been able to fine-tune this com-bination due to its operational expertiseand extensive product portfolio.

The company provides a multi-facetedapproach to game supply, consultingclosely with clients in order to producegame layout plans to suit each individuallocation. It also uses the experience of its

staff to work out, with the client, the bestpossible game mix to enhance the perform-ance of their game centres.

Bandai Namco’s reach in the gamingequipment world enables it to provide mostof what’s needed: market-leading prizes forthe redemption counter, prize vending andcranes, through to the latest theatre-stylesimulators. As such it positions itself as aone-stop-shop for bowling centres.

Family remains at the centre of itsapproach to bowling centre and cineplexsupply. There needs to be the right mix, sothat all ages are kept amused, from the small-est child, through to teenagers, parent andgrandparents. This gives the FEC within the

location abuzz and ensures

repeat business.At the moment, Alpine Racer and Dead

Heat Riders are performing extremely wellin these locations, as are Bandai Namco’sredmemption pieces: Triple Turn, Goal LineRush and Pac-Man Swirl.

“A successful FEC within a bowlingcentre or cineplex is a significant extraattraction to draw customers to the loca-tion,” said commercial director, John Bren-nan. “For expert help in designing, layingout and filling a bowling FEC, we areuniquely placed to help.”

T


Coinslot MAY 20 - MAY 26, 2011

JNCSALES

Vast ranges of AWPs, SWPs,Drivers, Simulators, Sit-downs and

amusement equipment

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MARKETPLACE

We buy and sell all gaming equipment with over 400 units in stock - From Pool-tables

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For the best prices please call us today

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COIN AND BANK NOTE EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

360Cash is an independent maintenance service provider on a wide range of cash handling equipment. We have fully trained engineers located throughout the UK who can provide service on a call-out basis. Alternatively our central repairs centre can offer a ‘back to bench’ repair service on a range of manufacturer’s cash handling equipment.

PROCOIN SCAN COIN GLORY

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Tel: 01270 211565Email: [email protected] www.360cash.co.uk

We also supply cash handling equipment

B2B Change Machines

Tel: 020 8391 7700 Fax: 020 8391 7760 Email: [email protected] www.suzohapp.co.uk

“Great range of Change Machines available”

Amusement and Gaming Equipment Finance with Rates

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B2B Listings

AFTER SALESTHE FAST TRACK TOSPARES, REPAIRS ANDSERVICE

Suzo-Happ continues to bolsterits aftersales capabilities, addingnew and more varied services inresponse to customer feeedback.

Suzo-Happ continues to grow itsservice and support business forUK operators,” said the com-

pany’s UK sales director, John Vallis.“Suzo’s Fast Track Repair (FTR) serviceis now three and a half years young andwe really cannot believe where the timehas gone.”

The company has continued to evolveand develop its UK Repair service overthe past couple of years, from monitorrepairs in 2011 right through to today,where it now offers two weekly Van Runservices. One on the M4 Corridor fromLondon to Swansea and another acrossthe Midlands.

In an attempt to build on its serviceeven further, Suzo-Happ spoke to a largenumber of single site and arcade opera-tors to find out what it could do to helpsupport these customers.

It is clear that there is a large demandfor customers not only to have access toover 20,000 spares and accessories, but

to also be able to get items repaired bythe same company. This saves themtime, money and removes the need tohold large stocks of parts on site.

“We only ever repair the items a cus-tomer sends in,” said Vallis. “This wayyou know the history of the part whichhas been repaired and don’t have toworry about where it came from origi-nally. After all, you wouldn’t expect to gointo a tyre shop with a puncture and theyjust swap a wheel out from another car!”

In addition to its Van Run service,Suzo-Happ offer free collection andreturn shipping by UPS couriers forgoods to be repaired and has increasedthe amounts and types of products it canrepair to include Coin Acceptors, NoteAcceptors, Power Supplies and VideoGame Boards to name but a few. Thecompany also provides telephone and

“

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

LEASEHOLD ONLINCOLNSHIREGAMING CENTRE

Aprofitable leasehold of an adultgaming centre is now on offer,

located in the centre of a Lincolnshiremarket town.

The business opportunity is welllocated, according to the seller, sited in aprime position in a high-street locale.

CATEGORY C/DRLMS OFFERS WINFALL

RLMS Salesare now

offering thehugely popularDeal or No DealWin Fallmachine, fromBell-FruitGames.

Building onthe success andcontinuedappeal of theDeal or No Deal franchise, Win Fall natu-rally draws the eye in its Eclipse cabinet,with its Elite chrome door. Utilising a 22”video screen, the game mirrors the inten-sity of the show, offering winning playersthe chance to keep their prize-money, orrisk the lot for a high win.

RLMS are offering Win Fall in both CatC and Cat D formats.

2381-p16-19-Listings_Coinslot NEW 12/08/2014 18:12 Page 1

17

B2B

MARKETPLACE

B2B Gaming MachinesB2B Gaming Machines

B2B Juke Box Specialists

[email protected]

Coinslot MAY 20 - MAY 26, 2011

8TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE


on-site support for the change machinesand coin/note counting equipment itmanufactures and distributes, ifrequired.

The company’s customer service andworkshop departments provide help andsupport to customers, giving them asingle point of contact for all aspects ofrepairs, deliveries and product support,further enhancing the customer experi-ence.

“Fast Track Repair really complimentsour core business of manufacturing anddistributing spares, accessories andcustom solutions for the amusement,gaming and vending markets,” saidVallis, “which really enables us to provideas much of a one-stop-shop service aspossible. We offer a high quality, costeffective repair service to all of our cus-tomers regardless of size or location.”

MERCHANDISINGWHITEHOUSESUPPLYING LIMITEDEDITION DISNEYRESINS

Leading prize suppliers WhitehouseLeisure are now offering, exclusively, a

new range of limited edition Disneyresins, building upon its already extensive

line of Disney licensed products. The range, offering thirty-six classic

Disney characters in all, features Mickeyand Mini Mouse, Donald Duck, the full

character line-up from Winnie the Pooh.Whitehouse’s acquisition of its Disney

licence in 2012 has seen the companyoffer a wide-range of franchised plush andredemption prizes themed from bothupcoming and classic Disney titles.

The new resin collection takes its placealongside a long list of other licensed fran-chised ranges, such as Family Guy, TheSimpsons, DC Comics, SpongebobSquarepants and many more.

CUE SPORTSREFLEX ROLLS-OUTNEW SNOOKER-BASEDHOTSHOTS MACHINE

UK games man-ufacturer

Reflex Gaminghas achieved fullretail approval forits latest ‘Hot-shots’ machine.

With stronggraphics drawingon its snooker-theme, the gamefeatures a multi-stake option, withspins every gameon 50p and £1 stakes, offering players thechance of additional wins and enhancedfeature games.

Released in June, and already popular,Hotshots is now available from a wideselection of AWP retailers.

CATEGORY CLEARNING NEWTRICKS

Astra Gamesare providing

operators with thechance to refreshtheir Cat C offeringby applying rangeof new kits to theMagic Games 100Ultra cabinet.

This machine,released in early2014, has beenperforming well inthe field, but thecompany arealready keen tosupport it with newadditions to itsgame selection.The titles on offerinclude four newgames, all of which are ready to roll on the£100 Cat C jackpot. Included amongAstra’s kit selection is Hot Chance, MegaJoker and Roaring Forties.



18

B2B Analysis

CATEGORYB3 (£2/£500 Max.)

CATEGORYD (10p/£5 Max.)

CATEGORYB4 (£2/£4000 Max)

AGCsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Slotto 500 Astra2 2 King of Slots Blueprint3 3 Triple 8 Barcrest4 4 Mega Bars Big Hit Project Coin5 5 Magic Lotto Ultra Novomatic6 6 Rainbow Riches Community Cash Barcrest7 7 Lady Luck Reflex8 8 TS22 Project9 9 Triple 7 Barcrest10 10 Rumple Wild Spins Astra

Based on data supplied by a representative number of UK sitesSupplied by RLMS Sales

Members clubsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Alice Queen of Hearts Reflex2 2 Jackpot 100 Barcrest3 3 DOND Live BFG4 4 Street Casino 2014 Storm5 5 Flamin’ 400 Reflex

Based on data from representative sites. Supplied by sector professional

FEC - familyThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Bullion Bars (3 Player) Astra2 2 Party Time Classic (3 Player) Astra3 3 Party Games (4 Player) Astra4 10 DOND (4 Player) Bellfruit5 5 Adders And Ladders(4 Player) Vivid6 6 Rainbow Riches (3 Player) Empire7 7 Goldrush Stampede (4 Player) Barcrest8 8 Party Time Arena (4 Player) Astra9 9 Party Time (3 Player) Astra10 4 Golden Games (3 Player) Mazooma

Based on data from four sites Amusement Equipment Co Ltd

FEC - adultThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Magic Games U/R Novomatic2 2 Rainbow Riches Party Barcrest3 5 Free Play 70 Project4 4 Pure Gold Project5 - Find The Lady 70 Project6 6 Party Time Arena (4 Player) Astra7 9 Win Wall Celebrity Astra8 8 Bar X Diamonds 7 Electrocoin9 9 Win Wall Celebrity Astra10 10 Party Time Player Astra

Taken from a representative number of sites around the UKSupplied by Amusement Equipment Co Ltd

CATEGORYC (£1/£100 Max.)

AGCsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Encore T7 (GP3) SG Gaming2 3 Magic Games 100 Ultra Novomatic3 9 Magic Games 3 (s/d) Novomatic4 8 Encore T7 (GP1) SG Gaming5 - Triple 7 (GP2) SG Gaming6 - Triple 7 (GP3) SG Gaming7 9 Magic Games 3 (s/d) Novomatic8 - Bullion Bars Arena Astra9 - Party Time Classic Astra10 5 Bullion Bars Streak Astra

Based on data from a minimum of 10 locations. Supplied by Praesepe

Single siteThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 DOND Winfall BFG2 2 Fiddle a Fortune REF3 - DOND Mida Touch BFG4 3 DOND Lucky Streak BFG5 4 DOND Powerplay BFG6 6 Worminator QPS7 8 DOND The Big One BFG8 5 Best of British REF9 7 DOND Time to Play BFG10 9 DOND Crazy Chair Gold BFG

Taken from a representative number of sites around the UKSupplied by national operator

MARKETPLACE

B2B Juke Box Specialists

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UK Box Office ChartThis LastWeek Week Name

1 - Guardians of the Galaxy2 1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes3 4 How to Train Your Dragon 24 2 Hercules5 3 The Purge: Anarchy6 - The Nut Job7 - Back to the Future (Re: 2014)8 5 Transformers: Age of Extinction9 - Step Up 5: All In10 6 Earth to Echo

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UK Jukebox ChartHighest Earning Tracks on Sound Leisure jukeboxesThis LastWeek Week

1 - Rude Magic!2 1 Budapest George Ezraz3 3 Ghost Ella Henderson4 2 Waves (Robin Schulz Remix) Mr Probz5 - Crazy Stupid Love Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah6 6 Sing Ed Sheeran7 9 Summer Calvin Harris8 8 Stay With Me Sam Smith9 10 It's My Birthday Will.I.Am & Cody Wise

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AlbumsThis Last

Week Week

1 1 X Ed Sheeran2 2 Blue Smoke - The Best Of Dolly Parton3 4 In The Lonely Hour Sam Smith4 6 Ghost Stories Coldplay5 5 Wanted on Voyage George Ezra6 - A Perfect Contradiction Paloma Faith7 - Halcyon Ellie Goulding8 10 Caustic Love Paolo Nuitini9 3 Eric Clapton & Friends - The Breeze Eric Clapton10 - Long Road Home Charlie Simpson

DownloadsThis Last

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1 - Am I Wrong Nico & Vinz 2 1 Rude Magic3 - Love Runs Out Onerepublic 4 2 Crazy Stupid Love Cheryl Cole ft Tinie Tempah5 5 Budapest George Ezra 6 4 Ghost Elle Henderson7 3 Faded Zhu 8 9 Problem Ariana Grande ft Iggy Azalea 9 8 Boom Clap Charli XCX10 - It's My Birthday Will.I.Am & Cody Wise

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Comment

Work has started on sound effects and basentenced following a

“

media watchalex lee

Skegness redevelopment con

commentalex lee

ext week’s featureon the Great BritishPub comes at a time

when the pub sector andthe single site sectorwhich is integral to the‘pub experience’ are work-ing harder than ever to sus-tain and even grow theirbusinesses. This is evi-denced by a number ofpubcos gatheringresources in order to cam-paign for a VAT cut. In fact,eight pubcos have so farpledged to support TaxEquality day on 24 Septem-ber. This will mark anational day of actionwhich involves loweringprices on food and drinkby 7.5 per cent for the dayto simulate a cut in VAT to5 per cent.

The above activity is on-going while the single sitemachine sector looks atcreative, potentially cash-box-boosting ways to har-ness both technology andmodern social activity inthe UK today.

In other news, the AstraGaming Group postedsome impressive figures inits end of year resultswhich amount to justrewards for synergisingold-fashioned hard workwith ultra-modern busi-ness practises comple-mented by some seriouslygood products.

Meanwhile, the UKtourism sector looks to bein the rudest state of health

for quite some time as thegovernment finallyrealises the value of a thriv-ing tourist offer on its ownshores.

The summer bringswith it notable industrycontradictions. While theschool holiday seasonremains the busiest andmost vital trading periodfor the FEC and amuse-ment arcade operators onthe coast, manufacturing-based news tends to slowright down, which isreflected in the content ofCoinslot throughout Julyand August.

I needn’t remind you allthat absolutely any coin-opindustry related story hasthe potential to be fea-tured within Coinslot,especially if it is of a posi-tive nature or news of aninteresting new trend orgrowth area. Furthermore,anyone - regardless of theirspecialism or industrysector - who has anythingthey believe may be news-worthy is more than wel-come to get in touch todiscuss.

The bottom line is thatwe can only provide youwith a content-rich publi-cation week-in, week-outwith your help. As I men-tioned to an establishedindustry stakeholder theother day, contrary to whatsome people may think,we never deliberately setout to upset anyone!

Plentyto talkabout

Work has finally started onthe new Sky Pier develop-

ment in Skegness at the GrandParade site which was devas-tated by fire in 2007, accordingto the Lincolnshire Echo.

The four-storey complex willinclude an ice rink, roller discoarea, bars and restaurants andan internet café. Formerly theGrand Hotel complex, the sitewas destroyed by fire in 2007. Itwas partly rebuilt but a gap wasleft in the town’s attractions onGrand Parade.

The area is so important tothe town’s tourism, East Lind-sey District Council was consid-ering a compulsory purchaseorder at one stage to get the sitedeveloped. Nigel Tett, chairmanof the Skegness East Coast andWolds Hospitality Associationsaid: “This is great news - it will

be even better news when it isfinished. We are always pleasedwhen a new attraction is addedto Skegness.”

Mayor George Saxon said:“This shows the town is vibrantagain. We have so many thingsto be pleased about with theaquarium coming to thePanda’s Palace site and anational hotel chain is comingto Skegness. This is all goodnews. It sends out a very clearmessage that Skegness is openfor business.”

Councillor Craig Leylandportfolio holder for economicregeneration at East LindseyDistrict Council said: “I’mpleased work has begun on theSkyPier development, whichonce completed will be animportant attraction for Skeg-ness, not only providing newfacilities for local people andvisitors, but also creating jobs.”

Meanwhile, research sug-gests that players hear soundeffects and background music

long after switching off theirgames consoles, according toThe Guardian.

When you switch off a videogame, sometimes it doesn’t goaway. Instead, it can linger inthe mind, overlaying the realworld. At least that’s accordingto new research from Notting-ham Trent University’s Interna-tional Gaming Research Unit.Recently published in the Jour-nal of Cyber Behaviour, Psy-chology and Learning, itsuggests that players oftenhear game sounds such asexplosions, screams and laserfire, long after they’ve left agame.

This is the latest study intowhat the university calls “gametransfer phenomena”, a rangeof cognitive quirks that canfollow extended gaming ses-sions. The new paper is the firsttime that specifically auditoryexperiences have beenanalysed.

For the study, the Notting-

N

Coinslot - essentialsummer reading

2381-p22-23-comment_Coinslot NEW 12/08/2014 16:43 Page 1

23Coinslot August 15 - August 21, 2014

has started on the new Sky Pier complex in Skegness, research suggests that players heareffects and background music long after playing video games and a man has beenced following a bingo hall robbery.

Kurt Janson, policy director atthe Tourism Alliance,shared his views on recentgovernment announcementswhich he believes can have apositive impact on seasidetowns and the UK tourismsector overall.

“politicskurt janson

quote unquote

”t continues apace

TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE


ham Trent team visited gamesforums and collected anecdotalevidence from 1,244 gamers aboutGTP experiences. Twelve per centof those spoke of re-experiencinggame audio outside of the gameenvironment.

“There were lots of examples ofplayers hearing the game music, inthe same way as you continue tohear music in your head whenyou’ve stopped listening,” saidpsychology researcher AngelicaOrtiz De Gortari, who is leading thestudy. “Some players heardvoices, some heard game sounds.Often it happens when you’retrying to fall asleep.”

One player reported hearingsounds from the first-personpuzzle game Portal when passingspecific buildings that remindedhim of the game’s world. De Gor-tari also discovered more disturb-ing examples: “There was a gamerwho, whenever it was dark, wouldhear the sound of the cracklingradio signal from Silent Hill, warn-ing him that monsters were

coming.”De Gortari believes that GTP is

about how the brain assignsmeaning to sensory inputs. “Thesesounds have a meaning, a purposein the video games and theirmeaning affects how players canrespond in real life. The researchtells us about how the brain formsassociations, and how easily theycan be confused. It shows a lack ofcontrol over auditory experi-ences.”

The phenomena tend to last afew hours or days, and followintense or very long gaming ses-sions. “We want to identify, clas-sify and explain theseexperiences,” said De Gortari.“But this research also tells usabout how the mind works, andhow it creates associations, howwe learn from associations - thismay be useful in the learning ofnew languages, for example.”

And finally, at Mold Crown Courtrecently, Nathan Westmorelandhad a burglary charge droppedafter he admitted stealing food and

damaging a sweet dispenser fol-lowing a ‘lock -in’ at the ApolloBingo hall in Rhyl, according tobingosupermarket.co.uk.

Westmoreland found himselfunable to leave the Apollo Bingohall after falling asleep inside theclub. It was only when cleanersarrived the following morning thathe was able to leave.

Whilst it was not the defendant’sfault that he was locked in thebuilding, he did eat a cucumber,some tomatoes and consumedsome alcohol from the fridge. Theburglary charge was droppedsimply because the judgeaccepted that he was in the build-ing for lawful purposes. However,this did not negate the fact that hedamaged the sweet dispenser andate the food and as a conse-quence, Westmoreland was jailedfor three months.

The defendant has numerousprevious convictions which werereferred to as ‘the main aggravat-ing feature’ and the reason for thecustodial sentence.

“The biometric industry is moving at lightning pace and thanks to thesmartphone manufacturers, fingerprint technology is leading the way andtaking this kind of verification method into the mainstream, particularly withthe 16-25 age group.”STEVE COOK, FACEBANK

There have recently beentwo tourism reviews

announced by the govern-ment which will spotlightthe tourism industry.

The first will be under-taken by the Select Commit-tee for Culture, Media andSport and will focus itsattention on the potential ofthe tourism industry and“ways in which this poten-tial can be developed for thebenefit of both localeconomies and the countryas a whole”.

This means the newinquiry will be more busi-nesses focused, concentrat-ing on the issues that impacttourism businesses and theability of the sector to sup-port regional economies.

It will identify impedi-ments holding back regen-eration of seasidedestinations, the impactthat having one of the high-est rates of tourism VAT andAir Passenger Duty is havingon the domestic andinbound tourism industries,as well as revisiting theperennial issue of visas.

This is great news for thetourism industry, as theseare core issues on which ithas been campaigning forthe last 10 years and the evi-dence base that has beendeveloped on each issueover this period is com-pelling.

The second review is theTriennial Review of VisitBri-

tain and VisitEngland. Thisreview, which all govern-ment bodies must undergo,focuses on whether thefunction that these organi-sations are charged with(promoting England domes-tically and the UK overseas)is still required and, if so,whether these bodies arethe best mechanism for ful-filling this.

With the strong growth inboth domestic and inboundtourism over the last fewyears, there is little prospectthat the review will find thatthese functions are nolonger required - but thereis an opportunity to showwhat more could beachieved.

And the timing couldn’tbe better. The outcome ofboth the inquiry and thereview will probably beearly next year, meaningthat tourism will be on theagenda while the parties arecampaigning for the generalelection.

The government willhave to respond to the rec-ommendations put forwardby the Select CommitteeInquiry while the TriennialReview will show that thenational bodies are well-placed to provide contin-ued benefits for the UK.

It is an opportunity forthe tourism industry thatshould not be missed.

WITH THANKS TO LEISUREOPPORTUNITIES

Governmenttourism reviewscan benefitseasidedestinations

“Being rather concerned about putting foodinto the mouths of employees’ families, I mightbe forgiven for expressing concerns over thejubilation with which the subject companies’chief execs celebrate their mergers.”

DAVID SNOOK, INTERGAME

“Researchers at Oxford University say that chil-dren who played video games for a short timeeach day were better adjusted than those whodid not play any video games at all.”

HANK SCHLESINGER, VENDING TIMES

“The Slot Experience Centre was an idea cre-ated by MGS to help Electronic GamingMachine manufacturers receive importantfeedback from slot players. In 2013, 877 profes-sional and general players voted on the 40models which were installed by the world'smajor EGM manufactures all of whom receivedvaluable feedback which was fed back into theirR&D teams. Our plan is to grow this popular fea-ture with more machines and more game stylesand to introduce new voting categories.”

DAVID SO, SLOT EXPERIENCE CENTRE, MACAUGAMING SHOW

ial

2381-p22-23-comment_Coinslot NEW 12/08/2014 16:44 Page 2


EXHIBITORS PREPAREFOR EAS 2014

ith the IAAPA'sEuropean Attrac-tions Show draw-

ing closer, exhibitors arereadying themselves towelcome over eight-thou-sand guests in Septemberat the Amsterdam tradeshow.

Sega, JNC, PMS, BandaiNamco and Embed areamongst a list of 410 indi-

vidual exhibitors due todisplay their latest innova-tions to buyers from morethan a hundred differentcountries.

EAS is scheduled totake place at the RAI Exhi-bition and ConventionCentre in Amsterdam from23-25 September, 2014.

RETURN IMMINENT FORPOLAND SHOW

ollowing its post-ponement last year,the Surexpo is mak-

ing its long awaited returnto the global stage. ThePolish internationalamusement and vendingshow bills itself as the only

trade event with direct tiesto the Polish amusementindustry, making it one ofthe most important CentralEuropean events of theyear.

Exhibitors and attendeesfrom across Europe will beon hand, with thousandsexpected to fill the Expo XXI

Centre in Warsaw. A rangeof lectures, discussions andtrade meetings are alsoplanned for Surexpo 2014,with representatives from

worldwide entertainmentmarkets on hand to sharetheir insight. The event isscheduled to take placefrom 15-16 October, 2014.

Calendar

TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE


AUGUST 201412-14Australasian Gaming ExpoSydney Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Aus-tralia www.austgamingexpo.com

SEPTEMBER 20142-4Entertainment Arena Expo,Romexpo Fair Ground, Bucharest,Romania www.earena.ro2-4Playfair at SALTEX 2014 RoyalWindsor Racecourse, Windsor, UKwww.playfairuk.com23-25Euro Attractions Show, RAIExhibition Centre, Amsterdam, Nether-lands www.iaapa.org/eas24 Bingo Association Golf Dayand associated dinnerRedditch, Worcestershirewww.bingo-association.co.uk30-2LIW 2014 NEC, Birmingham,UK www.liw.co.uk

OCTOBER7-9Brand Licensing EuropeOlympia, London, UK www.brandli-censing.eu15-16The Autumn Coin Op ShowChelsea Football Club, London, UKwww.coin-opshow.co.uk15-16Kiosk London Expo & Digi-tal Signage London Expo BarbicanCentre, London, UK www.kiosklon-don.co.uk / www.digitalsignagelon-don.co.uk15-17ENADA Rome Rome ExpoCentre, Rome, Italy www.enada.it16-17Surexpo Expo XXI Centre,Warsaw, Poland www.wigor-targi.com

EDITORIALEditor: Alex LeeEmail: [email protected] Tel: 07772 280 299Assistant Editor:James Walker Email: [email protected]: 07816678021Managing Editor:Ken Scott Email: [email protected]: 01273 699 900ADVERTISING SALESKathryn NorrisEmail: [email protected]: 01204 396 397Fax: 01204 392 748SUBSCRIPTIONSSarah HaworthTel: 01204 396 397DIGITAL VERSIONMarc LawtonEmail: [email protected]: 01204 396 397PRODUCTIONDesigner: Gina LloydEmail: [email protected] Production &Pre-Press:Dave RoderickEmail: [email protected]: John SullivanGB Media Corporation Ltd,Bolton Technology Exchange,33 Queensbrook,Bolton, BL1 4AY Tel: 01204 396 397Fax: 01204 392 748

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Clacton Air Show buoys Gaiety arcade

Wext week will seethe Clacton AirShow take to the

skies once more, withthousands of spectatorsdue to descend on theseafron which augureswell for Clacton Pier, andthe Gaiety Arcade.

Prospects of fineweather, a bank holidayweekend, and spectacularaerial displays drive anupward surge in amuse-ments footfall, says Gai-

ety’s arcade managerFranky Bailey:“It’s ourbusiest weekend of theyear. You’ve got customerslining up on the beach andthe pier itself, jostling forthe best view.”

Now in its twenty-thirdyear, the annual ClactonAir Show, organised byTendring district council,welcomes attendees freeof charge. This year,appearances are to bemade by Second World

War era aircraft like thefamed Lancaster bomber,Cold War strategicbomber the Avro Vulcan,and modern service air-craft like the EurofighterTyphoon. The highlight ofthe event will be a spec-tacular aerial displayfrom the Red Arrows.

How does the eventimpact on the Pier’samusements trade? Baileyresponded: “The kind offootfall that you’re look-

ing at, we’ll beexpecting to seeimprovementacross the board,but particularly inthe cranes, andthe redemptionside of things.”Bailey says thefamily-orientednature of the event drivesbusiness in an additionalarea; “Our kids rides dovery well. We’re lookingforward to it.”

The Clacton Air Showtakes places in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on Thurs-day 21st and Friday 22August.

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