Southampton large casino licence article

Interesting article by Intergame on the licencing of a large casino licence in Southampton, UK. It will be interesting to see who will win the bid process and what they propose to build.

Several casino operators, including some major international companies, are vying to bring a Las-Vegas style casino to Southampton in the UK.

Casino industry leaders are set to meet civic bosses to discuss how the development could take shape. When this is complete the council will begin inviting bids from casino operators in an open competition which will look for the application bringing the “greatest benefit” to the city.

City council leader Richard Williams said: “It is an opportunity and something that the administration wishes to explore, but we need to ensure that this process is water- tight.” It is understood that it could take 18 months before a licence is awarded and the process will involve consultation with residents.

More than a dozen companies, including international operators, have so far contacted the council to register an interest in bidding for the project. The city council has earmarked the major US$713.5m redevelopment of the waterfront at the Royal Pier as its preferred location for a large casino.

A super-sized casino, one of only eight allowed in the country, could bring hundreds of jobs and millions of pounds of regeneration to the city. The licence would allow an operator to build a casino housing 150 slot machines and up to 30 tables for blackjack and poker.

Southampton was one of eight local authorities that were granted the right to award a large casino licence four years ago, but the recession, changes in gambling duties and the council’s previous lack of interest in moving the controversial issue forward stalled progress.

http://intergameonline.com/casino/news/8790/operators-going-for-southampton

Jake Waller

http://www.newworld-gaming.com/index.htm

Grasping new initiatives

InterGaming speaks to DJ Smith, managing director of New World Gaming, who, in his 30 years in the gaming industry, has built an extraordinarily rich portfolio of experience in casino operations, new casino development, technical compliance consulting, project management and new product development.

“The biggest challenge facing traditional casino operators and investors in jurisdictions affected by the credit crunch,” explains DJ Smith of New World Gaming, “is the need to meet the demands of a reduced market populated by those who are demanding more value for their money.”

Describing one recent trend in both the retail and casino sectors as a “flight to quality”, particularly in the UK, Smith suggests that premium quality establishments are showing significant growth.
“For the others the challenge is to find the necessary funds and retain and motivate the necessary talent to meet customers’ new and growing levels of expectation.”

New World Gaming, which was founded by Jake Waller in 2008, “fills a niche” in the gaming consulting market between the large and more traditional consulting firms and the many individuals who provide consulting services. Smith joined NWG in the role of managing director in 2009 and was joined afterwards by associates Martin Watson, David Mills and most recently Steve Karoul.

“Our flexible structure and the mix of overlapping capabilities among us allows us to respond very quickly to our clients’ needs and to deliver personalised service that is backed by the promise of continuity of business,” says Smith. The company’s areas of expertise include management consulting, as well as management, development and investment services.

“There are several ways in which we can help to overcome today’s challenges, one of which is a hard hitting five-day marketing review programme,” he continues. “We also introduce systems to optimise customer service by aligning staff with traffic flow, systems to enable flexible scheduling and accurate payroll management and systems to measure footfall conversion rates.”

This feature can be read in full in the April 2012 issue of InterGaming

April 4, 2012 by Simon Liddle intergameonline.com