internationalcasinoreview News WEST EUROPE


Grosvenor brings the G brand to


Birmingham


The G Casino concept has brought a new vitality and vigour to Grosvenor Casinos and much improved revenues to its parent, the Rank Group. Its 13th incarnation in Birmingham, which opened in December, will be followed by the 14th in nearby Walsall in January. Hugh Sorrill went to the Birmingham relaunch.


betterbrighter UNITED KINGDOM


Following a £1.2m (E1.4m) refurbishment, the existing Grosvenor Casino at the Fiveways Leisure Complex in England’s second city Birmingham,


was


relaunched as a new G Casino on December 9. The casino now boasts


highly stylish décor, a plush new 46-seat dining area, music lounge and cocktail bar, along with state-of-the- art gaming equipment. It has brought an extra 20 jobs to all levels of the business, adding to the 100 already in place - all staff have under- gone a rigorous training pro- gramme to ensure that guests receive the highest standards of customer care and service.


The enthusiastic general


manager Adrian Frost said: “We’re delighted to have made the transition from a Grosvenor Casino into one of the new generation of stylish contemporary G Casinos, now the 13th in the UK. The G Casinos brand is


all about giving people a great alternative for a night out and the new Birming- ham casino does just that. We’re working hard to remove some of those barri- ers often associated with casino and believe the new- look venue offers a fun and friendly atmosphere which will be welcomed by the people of Birmingham.” That barrier removal pro-


gramme means staff offer- ing and being able to help nervous newcomers learn how to the play the games before spending money. Grosvenor Casinos has also instituted a highly suc- cessful programme of busi- ness development, with sales people offering, for example, poker opportuni- ties or casino experience packages to groups through such outlets as hotels and wedding planners. That is a business in itself, but it can also help to demystify the casino environment for a potentially large number of people.


G Casino Birmingham covers more than 1,900sq m


The G Casino transformation


occurred while the Birmingham venue remained open


separatelytogether BELGIUM/EU


The stylish cocktail bar at G Casino Birmingham epitomises the new cool evinced by the brand


and offers 20 slot machines with the maximum permit- ted top prize of £4,000 (about E4,700). The majority (11) of the machines are SuperGaminators


from


Novomatic, with four IGT games attached to the Fort Knox progressive. There are a couple of other IGT machines, including one of the first Multigames in the UK, with the remaining three games from WMS -


Lucky Landings, Jewels of Africa and The Monkees. De rigueur in almost every British casino now are NovoRoulette terminals, 38 in Birmingham, attached to three wheels.


The casino boasts 15 gaming tables, of which six are roulette and the remain- der a mixture of blackjack, poker and mini-baccarat. Frost insisted that the card tables were reversible in


order to be able to offer as many games as possible to the players and to change them quickly and easily as required.


The 100-seat poker room will open in the new year for cash games, with tourna- ments coming along soon thereafter. Both novices and experienced players will be catered to. Slightly off the main floor, the space can also be used for events.


Tax changes aid Partouche revenue growth


patchyinparts FRANCE


France’s biggest casino group, Partouche, saw its net revenues increase by 5.6 per cent in the 2009/10 financial year, thanks to strong second and third quarters which both saw hikes of around 15 per cent. Partouche’s final quarter of the year to the end of October saw revenues drop back 4.8 per cent, however, that was due in large part to a favourable tax change implemented in the last quarter of 2008/9. Revenues were fairly consistent throughout


the year: E115.8m in Q1, E122.3m in Q2, E122.8m in Q3 and E117.2m in Q4 for an annual total of E478.1m. Casino revenues account for 90 per cent of group’s net: the 51 casinos and ‘Pasinos’ together


6 January 2011 •westeuropenews


generated revenues of E431.6m, up 6.3 per cent on the previous year. The 14 hotels in the group,


however, saw a slight fall in takings of 2.1 per cent to E31.9m. Although gross gaming revenues at the casinos


fell by 2.1 per cent to E701.8m, an amendment to gaming tax legislation came into force in the year, which saw the tax bill fall by 5.7 per cent against last year, to create total net gaming rev- enues of E341.5m, up 2.1 per cent on last year. In a trend also seen elsewhere, there was a


resurgence in interest in table games, which saw a 7.6 per cent increase in gross gaming revenues at E88.2m. GGR from slot machines while many times that from their traditional counterparts at E613.5m was, however, down 3.3 per cent on 2008/9.


GGR from the 44 domestic casinos was E596.2m, while the four Belgian and two Swiss casinos and the Tunisian Pasino generated E105.6m, down 4.9 per cent.


The European Casino Association has warmly welcomed the unanimous agreement by EU member states about how to tackle effectively the global challenges posed by online gambling. At a Council meeting in Brussels on December 10, ministers decided that the best approach was strict supervision through national authorities combined with enhanced co-operation and share of best practice between member states. In a statement, the ECA said: “The set of conclusions…on the framework conditions for gambling and betting sets an important political signal, as for the first time ever all EU member states have clearly stated that regulatory solutions for online gambling must be found.”


The ECA congratulated the Belgian presidency for deploying particular efforts in brokering the agreement and welcomed the acknowledgement that online gambling is a global issue requiring strict regulation and supervision by the public authorities of each member state in their respective territories. Ron Goudsmit, chairman of the ECA, commented: “We absolutely endorse the view that stronger co- operation between countries is required both to improve the regulatory environment and to establish effective law enforcement. The council conclusions are indeed a milestone for future discussions at EU level.” The ECA added that it hopes that the European Commission, whose Green Paper on Online Gambling will launch a broad public consultation and is now expected for March 2011, will recognise this


unanimous decision by the Council.


Third E Casino opens in Liverpool Grosvenor Casino opened its third E Casino on December 16 after investing £1.3m (E1.5m) in a brand new 253sq m custom-designed venue in Liverpool. It offers 14 electronic roulette terminals, 18 Cat B1 £4,000 jackpot slot machines all fitted with TITO and a one-rake poker table. In the lounge, sports events will be screened while customers can have a light snack or a drink. It will employ 13 people managed by Cate Rodden (pictured).


ECA backs European Council approach to online regulation


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