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May 2 – May 8, 2014 • No. 2366 • www.coinslot.co.uk

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COMMENT

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Industry news 4Seaside amusements 11Jukebox feature 12B2B Listings 22Latest machine charts 24Classified ads and opps 26Jabro Surreal Soccer 29Comment & Analysis 30

COINSLOT

Recent years have notbeen kind to Britain’sWorking Men’s Clubs, thefirst of which werefounded more than 150years ago..Several haverecently gone under, andmore will follow..Half theclubs have been lost overthe last 30 years. About2,000 remain.

REPORTA new report by an analyst fromDeutsche Bank has suggestedthat the pub sector is in thebest shape it has been for threedecades and it has plenty ofscope to grow and take marketshare as the economyimproves. According to GeofCollyer in an extensive reporton the UK’s pub and restaurantindustries, entitled The ChipsAre Up, pub groups areemerging from the “perfectstorm” of recent years in “muchbetter shape”. The reportstates: “Having survived thesmoking ban, above inflationexcise beer duty increases andthe recession, as well as amore conservative attitudetowards leverage, the pubsector has emerged in muchbetter shape, in our view, thanat any stage in the past threedecades. Despite thesignificant decline in beervolumes - now 45 per centlower than 15 years ago - thesales mix of the pub groups isnow more geared to growththan a rear guard action ondeclining volumes.” Itcontinues: “The eating out

market data suggests thatthere has been at least nominalgrowth in spend on food awayfrom home in all but six of thepast 196 quarters since ONSrecords began in 1964. Weestimate that over 50 per centof most pub groups’ revenuesare now driven by theircustomers going out to eat anddrink rather than just drink. Forthe major quoted pub groups,we estimate that this is closerto 65 per cent to 75 per cent oftotal sales.” According toCollyer, the market is more

Pub sector ‘in much better s

APPOINTMENTS

Industry trade body BACTA hasannounced that John White will

become its new chief executiveofficer, taking up the positionfrom 21 July 2014.

White joins BACTA, the largesttrade association in the gamingarena, from his role as chief exec-utive of the Timber Trade Federa-tion, where he has been for thepast nine years. White returns tothe amusements industry havingcommanded considerable expe-rience in the sector spendingover 12 years at BACTA where hehad previously held the role ofdeputy chief executive.

White said: “I am thrilled to be

returning to BACTA, a fantastictrade association that is workinghard to promote the interests ofits members. The industry faces anumber of challenges at presentbut there are also opportunitiesto work with policymakers andhelp shape the agenda for thegaming industry. I firmly believethat trade associations are a vitalpart of the political culture and attheir best are essential to goodgovernment. I hope to work withall stakeholders to promote theinterests of BACTA’s membersand can’t wait to get started.”

BACTA’s current president,Steve Hawkins, added: “I ampleased to be welcoming Johnback to BACTA. He has worked in

White returns to seas BACTA’s new ch

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INTERVIEW

Music to their earsESSENTIAL GUIDE

Macleod Miller on theindustry’s challenges

May 2 - May 8, 2014 • No. 2366 • www.coinslot.co.uk31

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fragmented than at any stage inthe last 25 years. He added: “Insuch a fragmented market,there is ample scope to gainnot just share but also to growas the pub and restaurantsector, and more pertinently,the UK economy emerges intoan upswing. With real wagegrowth now expected, the puband restaurant space is ideallysituated to benefit asconsumers seek more lowticket, affordable treats - asweet spot - or should that bedessert, as we are looking at

the growth in eating out. Wealso see many opportunities tobreak into other day-parttrading areas, providing scopefor increasing like-for- likesales growth potential,although companies will needto avoid this becoming toodilutive in terms of margins.”With the pub sector lookinggood, at least according to thisparticular report, single siteoperators will be hoping thatthis renewed confidence will bereflected in some decentcashbox takings.

otss, the

50aveand

f theoverout

eter Sedgwick, who ownsBlackpool’s North Pier andalso operates rides on the

resort’s Central and South Piers, hasrevealed that he will be looking intowhether he could take on FlagstaffGardens, on South Promenade, onthe site of the recently closed Car-nesky’s Ghost Train attraction.

The Ghost Train ride closed onApril 21 after “running its course”and being no longer financiallyviable, according to owners Black-pool Council and managers Sand-castle Waterpark. The attraction,which made a paltry £600 profit infour years after costing £285,000 toset up, has operated since 2010 asan arts installation part of the Illu-minations but bosses say it is timefor something new.

Alan Cavill, assistant chief execu-tive of Blackpool Council, told localpress: “We have had approaches. Wewill consider all options and what’sbest for the tax payer.”

Now Sedgwick, who purchasedNorth Pier in 2011, has said hewould be interested in installingsomething “modern” there shouldit go up for lease.

He told local press: “I’ll certainlyhave a look at it and have a talk withthe council. Rides are my business.It’s a good position there. If I wereto take it I’d be looking to go over tothe States to fetch something overthat was completely different.”

Ideas Sedgwick said hebelieved would prove popularand successful on the site includea high ropes course. He contin-ued: “There are a number of newrides out there that would workin Blackpool. A high ropes courseis a good attraction and that would

be something different.”The management of the nearby

Sandcastle waterpark admittedthey have had ideas for the site toobut for now they are simply mark-ing the “end of an era”, said businessdevelopment manager Jane Kelly.

She added: “We have ideas andare in discussions all the time butthere’s nothing in the pipeline,we’re just sending Carnesky’s outin a nice way.”

When the wheels of the Black-pool ghost train finally ground to ahalt less than two weeks ago, it wasmet with disappointment by thefamilies who soaked up the scaresof the attraction on its final day.

Families queued up to experi-ence the actor-led fright show intheir droves, but the decision hadalready been made to axe the ride.

The fact that the Flagstaff Gardens-based show had cost £285,000 oftaxpayers’ money to set up in thefirst place had sparked wide-spread controversy in the coastalresort town.

News of the closure came as ashock to the families paying out forthe experience on its final day.Darren Woodcock, from nearbyPoulton-Le-Fylde, was on the ridewith his family, including his twochildren. He said: “We thought itwas pretty good. It’s something dif-ferent and there’s a lot of effortgoing in to it from the actors. It hasa lot of different elements to otherghost trains and it’s a shame to seeit going.”

The ghost train is gone then, butopportunity knocks, it seems, forone of the UK’s major operators.

Operator eyes upprime Blackpool siteSEASIDE OPERATIONS

A major seaside operatorhas said he would beinterested in taking over aprime piece ofBlackpool land whichhas been left vacant dueto the recent closure ofCarnesky’s Ghost Train.

P

better shape’

12

trade associations for many yearsand brings with him vast experi-ence that will be invaluable forour members. During his time atThe Timber Trade Federation theassociation’s membership dou-bled and the reputation of theindustry significantly improved,in no small part because of hisdedicated leadership.”

White is a trade associationprofessional, having worked inindustries as diverse as meat ren-dering to baby products andgarden furniture to gambling.Prior to joining the Timber TradeFederation, White was director ofthe Federation of Bakers.

White succeeds LeslieMacLeod-Miller who has decided

to step down after ten years incharge as CEO of BACTA.Although MacLeod-Miller hasrelinquished his post he willremain a key consultant to thecoin-op trade organisation.

to sectorew chief

2366-p03-front_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 15:36 Page 2

4 Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

Industry TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE

Email: al@sjc.co.uk8

earing that morethan 10,000 jobs and2,300 licensed bet-

ting offices have been put atimmediate risk, the ABB hasdelivered a million-strongpetition to Downing Streetimploring the governmentto stop demonising LBOsand their customers. Thebookmakers’ trade bodystated: “Threat of furtherpolitical intervention couldmean your right to have a betand enjoy yourself at yourlocal bookie is in seriousdanger. Disproportionateand unjustified measures areputting extreme pressure onthe industry making itharder for us to keep our

shops open.”It added: “Nearly eight

million people each yearenjoy a trip to their localbookie. As long as our cus-tomers gamble responsibly,we believe you should befree to enjoy your leisuretime as you choose withoutbeing demonised.”

The petition states: “Mylocal bookie is part of mycommunity. I should be ableto spend time and moneythere if I choose, and I don’tsupport government actionthat threatens to take awaythat freedom and also putsjobs at risk.”

The move comes just asWilliam Hill announced it

will close 109 loss-makingbetting shops before the endof the year, in a bid to main-tain profits, in response tothe government’s decisionto increase the tax rate onFOBTs in 2015.

The gaming group saidthe shop closures couldresult in around 420 employ-ees being made redundant.“Whilst every effort will bemade to redeploy individu-als this may not be possiblein every location,” it said.

Chancellor of the Excheq-uer George Osborne said inhis annual Budget statementlast month that the govern-ment will raise duty on B2machines, to 25 per cent from

20 per cent, with the rateeffective as of March 1, 2015.

Last month, William Hillsaid that based on its B2gaming machine gross winsin 2013, the new rate, ifapplied during that year,would have cost the busi-ness £22m.

The firm said that with thetax increase it is unlikely thatthe performance of currentand loss-making shops canbe realistically turned

around, and has thereforedecided to shut 109 of itshigh street bookmakers. Itsaid in a statement: “As aresult of the closure of thisloss-making portfolio, thegroup currently estimates itwill incur around £23m to£24m of exceptional costs.”

Despite the proposedclosures, the group said it iswell placed to take advan-tage of the World Cup in thesummer.

ABB delivers petitionas William Hillannounces closuresBOOKMAKERS

Bookies from around the UK have handed over a petition toDowning Street just days after major chain William Hill announcedover 100 shop closures.

F

SHOWS

Leading novelty and redemptiondistributor UDC has implored

industry stakeholders to open uptheir diaries and fire up theirsmartphone calendar andreminder apps, as it’s almost timefor ECAS 2014.

Exhibitors are gearing up for thisyear’s East Coast Amusement Show,otherwise known as ECAS, in Skeg-ness later this month. On 13-14 May,the Southview Park Hotel will hostthis showcase event put on espe-cially for operators and businessesin the east coast region.

Many visitors travel from up anddown the east coast with othersventuring from further inland. It’s

a modest affair compared to thelikes of EAG and IAAPA, but all ofthose taking part have made a con-scious effort to support and caterto the local trade.

The east coast amusementsector is amongst one of the mostvibrant and successful in the coun-try, yet is often overlooked,

believes UDC’s Matt Bland. He toldCoinslot: “While Blackpool andBrighton might grab national andinternational headlines Skegnessand the surrounding resorts con-sistently pull in a massive numberof holiday makers. With ‘stayca-tions’ still all the rage for budget-sensitive families looking for value

for money keen operators need toequip their locations with the high-est earning games, most attractiveprizes and innovative equipment.”

UDC, Crown Direct, DeithLeisure, Electrocoin, PMS Interna-tional, Embed and Bingo Expressaim to ensure that operators willbe spoilt for choice.

Bland continued: “We’re look-ing forward to welcoming friendsand customers, new and old onthe Tuesday and Wednesday. We’repreparing our machines rightnow and have a fantastic lastminute surprise item that we’rehoping to have on show. It’s allvery ‘hush hush’ until we are 100per cent sure that we’ll be able todeliver it in time.”

UDC looks forward to ECAS 2014

RESORTS

Sussex police have admit-ted they cannot ban the

annual March for Englanddespite this year’s eventcausing widespread disrup-tion throughout Brighton.

Officers from nine forceswere stationed around thecity’s centre and seafrontlast Sunday, in what wasone of the largest policeoperations the resort hasever seen.

It was unable to stopclashes between national-ist marchers and anti-fas-cist protestors causingaround £500,000 of dam-ages to Brighton busi-nesses, leading manytraders to call for the marchto be banned or moved.

Superintendent SteveWhitton said police areunable to stop the eventgoing ahead, as the actualmarch along the seafronthad passed by relativelypeacefully.

He explained: “The seri-ous disorder to reach thethreshold for a ban wouldhave to take the form ofwidespread violent protest,rioting criminal damageand looting.

“A banning order canonly ban a procession andthere is no power to preventan assembly.”

Brighton Pavilion MPCaroline Lucas said it wouldbe up to the government toinstitute a ban: “The policetold me the final decisionwould lie with the HomeSecretary, and the onlygrounds for banning themarch would be if the policebelieved they are unable tocope with it.”

Brightonpowerlessto preventMarch forEngland

2366-p04-05-industry_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:10 Page 1

INDUSTRY AMUSEMENTS LEISURE B2B COMMENT NEWSWEEK

MUSIC The UK jukebox industry is ona high at the moment which is musicto the ears for a revived sector. 12

RESORTS

Tom Fox, council leaderof seaside resort Scar-

borough, has given the go-ahead for an £18m waterpark in the North Baywhich could provide a mas-sive boost to the town’seconomy - and an accom-panying rise in visitors tothe nearby arcades.

It is hoped that the devel-opment will rival top waterparks in Dubai and Floridaand attract up to half-a-mil-lion visitors a year. Cllr Foxsaid the decision should alsokick start The Sands project- a wider regenerationscheme for the North Bay.

Using powers delegatedto him by the council, CllrFox has approved the pro-posals from BenchmarkProperties, following adetailed assessment of thedeveloper’s plans.

The council is now setto provide a loan for up to£9m of the £18m cost ofthe water park. The attrac-tion, which it is said willbe the only one of its kindin the UK, will be built onthe town’s Burniston Roadcar park and could beopen by Easter 2016. It willbe run by German com-pany Alpamare.

The council said that ini-tially it will feature “fourthrilling water rides, whichwill be some of the best

rides available in the worldon a par with those foundat premier water parks inDubai and Florida”. Therewill also be a wave pool, aluxury spa suite and an out-door infinity pool.

Roland Duce fromBenchmark stated: “Scar-borough’s place in historyas the first seaside resort isassured, but it’s importantthe town continues toevolve in order to attractnew generations of visitors.The water park will be a

world-class attraction ofthe very highest calibre.”

Fox concluded: “Thedecision is a significantmilestone and should bethe catalyst that will get TheSands project moving onceagain and bring massiveeconomic benefits. Whilethere is an element of risk,it shows the confidence wehave in the scheme anddemonstrates the council’sstrong commitment to eco-nomic growth, regenera-tion and jobs.”

Scarborough boosted byconfirmation of new water park

It has been an excitingcouple of years for single

site operator Bob Rudd,during which time the firmhas been rebranded fromBob Rudd Leisure and thetransfer of Bob Rudd tochairman and Nick Rudd tomanaging director. Over the last 18 months,the two have been investi-gating the potential for amanagement buyout andthey are now in the finalstages of completion. NickRudd will be purchasingthe majority of shares fromhis father Bob and willbecome the main share-holder of the now officiallyclassed ‘medium sizedcompany’.

Although ownershipwill change, the day-to-dayroles and operations willremain the same within thebusiness. Bob Rudd willcontinue to be an integral

part of the organisation aschairman. Nick Rudd hasgrown up with his father’ssuccess and hopes to buildon the solid foundationsgoing forward as well asimprove on the growth

that has been shown yearin year out since the cre-ation of the company. Inthe last seven years BobRudd have doubledturnover to circa £7m. Thenew generation of Rudds

have particular interests inexpanding the researchand development program,working with others in themarket place to ensure thelongevity of the companyand the industry.

With this in mind, BobRudd is embarking on therelocation of its currentNewark depot to the Not-tingham area, expandingtheir coverage of the UK.It will also move the firmnearer to the centre of itsoperations and allowgreater opportunities togrow in denser regions ofbusiness. Further to this,the company is lookingto expnd its employmentbase.

The managementbuyout and relocation ofdepots indicates that BobRudd is firmly set ongrowth and expansion inthe coming years.

Changes afoot for Bob RuddOPERATORS

Following a successful rebranding exercise and subsequent boardroom reshuffle, single siteoperator Bob Rudd is investigating the possibility of a management buyout.

2366-p04-05-industry_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:40 Page 2

ashbox reports coming back toAstra suggest that players havebought into the firm’s Cat C Lite

concept. The ‘type 2’ machine classifica-tion - to give it its formal title - enables a20p/£10 stake/prize configuration thatattracts the lower, five per cent rate ofMachine Games Duty.

The company released three modelsgeared toward the new configuration.They comprise Bullion Bars and PartyTime - already proven performers in tradi-tional Cat C guise - and the stunning newR-cade777 compendium.

According to Astra Games sales and mar-keting director Alan Rogers, the successof the firm’s Cat C Lite offering derivesfrom what he describes as an ‘appealingblend of brilliant games’, many of whichare already familiar with players.

He noted: “Initial income derived fromour Cat C Lite portfolio has been hugely

encouraging. Players are clearly enjoyingthe broad mix of pub and arcadefavourites we’ve made available in thisformat and games such as Roulette andClassic DOND East Wing West Wing areleading that charge.”

Another interesting statistic to emergefrom Astra’s monitoring of Cat C Lite per-formance relates to the time of day that themachines are being played. Rogers added:“The vast majority of game play on Cat CLite happens over the lunchtime periodwhereas traditional Cat C play takes placeafter 5pm. It’s perhaps a little too soon topredict that the genre is attracting a newbreed of player, but we will be closely mon-itoring the situation.”

Sister company Gamestec, meanwhile,is currently in the first phase of roll-outfor Rcade 777 and according to commer-cial director Peter Davies, the product isalready showing potential. “The early

indications are very promising; and itwill be interesting to see how themodel has performed after the Easterperiod,” he commented. “As we havecome to expect, Astra has done a greatjob and put together a scintillatingcompendium of games in a stunningpackage.”

Astra Games will be on hand with itsCat C Lite portfolio at the upcomingNorthern Showcase on May 7 and 8 andat the Electrocoin showroom at ParkAvenue Open Day on June 4.

The company reminds stakeholdersthat games coming under this machineclassification qualify for the five per centrate of MGD applicable from February 62014 according to the Machine GamesDuty (Types of Machine) Order 2014. Assuch they are subject to any futurechange in MGD that may subsequentlybe imposed on a ‘type 2 machine’.

THEFT

Athree-strong gang of thieves wearinghoods and scarves raided a safe at a

Kettering amusement arcade yesterdayon April 21.

Police are appealing for witnessesafter the incident, at Carey’s AmusementArcade in Newland Street, Kettering,which took place between 5.30 and 6pm.The men, wearing hoods and scarves,went into the staff office and demandedmoney from a member of staff.

The offenders took cash from the safeand ran off in an unknown direction. Wit-nesses or anyone with information areasked to contact NorthamptonshirePolice on 101.

AWP

Astra Games has confirmed this week that the market has responded positively to its Cat C Liteinitiative that was launched in March.

Trio of robbers stealcash from Ketteringamusement arcade

VIDEO GAMES

Golden Tee, one of the most successfulcoin-op video games in history, cele-

brates its 25th anniversary this year. Thetrackball-powered video game is playedin tens of thousands of bars and pubsaround the world, including the UK, andhas a devoted and passionate player base.Every month, thousands of players spendmillions competing against each other ininternet-enabled tournaments, and someplayers are good enough to earn theirliving playing it.

Golden Tee Live, the latest incarnationof the game, which offers online andoffline play, is still going strong in the UKwith approximately 600 units on site inpubs around the country. The game, whichencourages players to ‘think like realgolfers’, is distributed in the UK exclu-sively by Electrocoin and, according to thefirm’s Kevin Weir, is still a major attractionfor players. He told Coinslot: “Because ofits trackball-driven interface, it can’t bereplicated at home. The uptake for thelatest 2014 updates has been phenome-nal and there are still rolling tournamentswith a monthly prize of £500 that weadminister remotely.”

Since 2006, over $150,000 has been

raised for charity in the US, and to cele-brate the 25th anniversary of Golden Tee,the Players Charity Championship IV willbe held June 6-8, 2014 in Algonquin, Illi-nois. 128 players are expected to competeand raise over $100,000 to support threelocal non-profit organisations.

“During the past 25 years hundreds ofthousands of Golden Tee players have wonover $55m competing in our online tour-naments,” remarked Elaine Hodgson, pres-ident of the game’s creator IncredibleTechnologies. “To see our players cometogether as part of the game’s 25th

anniversary celebration, and compete toraise money for such worthy organisa-tions, is very gratifying. We knew our play-ers had big hearts, but this is trulyremarkable.”

Complementing the tournamentaction will be appearances by celebrities,a live and silent auction of one of kindGolden Tee and golf memorabilia, and atraditional real golf tournament. Besidesindividual ‘crowd-funding’ player pledgepages, non-attendees will be able to makedonations through Golden Tee’s Facebookand Twitter accounts.

Golden Tee celebrates 25th anniversary

C

Astra’s Cat C Lite gameswin over the players

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8 Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

ooking back on your decade with BACTA what havebeen the highs and what have been the low points?There have been a myriad of great and frustrating

moments but the challenging ones where we have woneclipse the disappointments. Writing hundreds of amend-ments and speaking notes during the passage of the Billwith Linda night after night and then listening to thembeing read in the Lords, causing the Bill to be caught up inthe election after having been told by DCMS that there wasnothing we could do to prevent it having been passed byChristmas, was an amazing moment. Watching Nora Slaterlead the charge when we went to the House of Commonswith her Early Day Motion and years later hearing Nora say‘we only pass this way but once’ when we were at theGrand Canyon with characteristic courage, will always bewith me. Seeing Stuart Greenman in hospital before hedied, expressing his fear that he was letting BACTA down,was a sobering reminder about making every day count.Going to No. 10 with Neil Chinn and witnessing his braverythrough his illness made the same point about sharingsome less trodden paths, both personally and profession-ally. My daily conversations with Derek Petrie during hisPresidency, 5.30am calls with Michael Green, observationsfrom other gentlemen of the industry namely Derek Hor-wood and Jack Transport, and some of the most hostilemeetings with regulators representing members againstthe threat of removal of their licences or essential commer-cial rights, and winning, will never be far away.

The SWP campaign and working with John Powell indragging HMRC for hours through their latest painfulattempt to destroy the product and listening to BillyEdwards threaten to throw the Minister off the Pier if shedidn’t support our lobby, have become part of our indus-try’s folk lore. Preparing for 15 back to back BBC inter-views to seek the return of the £2 stake for B3s andworking with Nick Harding during his Presidency whileAndrew Ludlow made presentations to the Minister aboutmachine algorithms still make me smile. Our B3A triumphwith Quentin Stott and Chris Haley, as we were mes-merised by our Counsel, added another professionalmarker to my BACTA life. Watching Keith Smith stand hisground in BACTA meetings when he was CEO gave mesome insight into the need to have a point of view in thatrole and his continued mentorship, reminding me that Iwas no longer 21 and would one day need a pension, wasa unique experience. I have made some great friends whohave provided advice and support from my first day to thelast and they include, but are not limited to, (yes, still alawyer), Brian and Sonia Meaden, Jimmy and SimonThomas, Michelle and Michael Thomas - of course every-one recognises that Linda has been subjected to endlessdictation and editing textbooks, consultations and pre-sentations.

Membership of BACTA, in line with the majority of tradeassociations, continues to dwindle - what can be under-taken to reverse this trend and could more have been donein this area?Membership is always about value and vision that businesscan improve. The industry has always been hallmarked byan entrepreneurial spirit but it’s difficult to be entrepre-neurial if you are seeking a return to the good old days,rather than identifying new opportunities which will takeyour business into its next incarnation. Our part of theindustry has suffered enormously from a range of factorsincluding fundamentally flawed legislation, a huge increasein costs, changes in technology and social habits and regu-lation which has enshrined an unfair playing field. Against aperfect storm of events, not all members of the industrycan be expected to maintain the optimism or have the nec-essary resource to continue to stay afloat. Survival requires

“Every chief executive has his own style and mine has beehave had with seismic change to social and fiscal law. It

stance with government and regulators that not all have feI am pleased to say, the government or

TRADE ASSOCIATION

Leslie MacleodMiller is finalisingthe hand-over to anew era in theBACTA executive.After ten years, notall comfortable onesfor the BACTA chief,and certainly not forhis opponents either,LMM will be leavingthe post this week.He talks candidly toCoinslot about histerm, his approach tothe task and thechallenges that still lieahead for the tradeassociation andindustry he clearlyhas a special affinitytowards. A battler,with a determinedand highly intelligentinsight, MacleodMiller brought a verydifferent approach tothe CEO’s role atBACTA, but onealmost definitelyshaped andgoverned by verytough times andarguably the mostdifficult economicand politicalenvironment to drivethe fortunes of thisindustry through.

Interview L

2366-p08-09-Interview_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 17:13 Page 1

leadership and change. While BACTA can provide leader-ship, change where it depends upon Parliamentary timeand political sensibilities, is increasingly difficult to guar-antee.That might mean that the change needs to comefrom the industry, rather than government and businessmodels will need to evolve to understand how cus-tomers are going to use their time and money in thefuture. What is clear is that there are no rewards forpoliticians to seek to assist the industry and thereforecreating the right narrative remains the challenge for oursector which looks at the remote industry with thesense of unfairness and frustration. There is simply nopublic policy reason why our premises should not haveequivalent rights to offer games that members of thepublic can play in their own homes in television and onremote devices.

Are Coinslot readers more likely to see you spendingyour leisure time in a bingo club, an AGC, FEC, casino orindeed a licensed betting office?I originally came from Ladbroke and I am not certainthat going back to LBOs is something on my agenda, noron those of the bookmakers - particularly after my trackrecord on choosing the winner of the Melbourne Cup(or not). I hope that I will be seeing many of my BACTAfriends wherever their business leads them, but I would-n’t be surprised that in the future we see convergence ofdifferent types of gambling premises. My leisure time hasbeen slightly limited over the last few years, so I proba-bly need to re-educate myself, but I will certainly bespending some of my time with the cultural sector - andof course finding situations that require a fight in orderto ensure legitimate business interests are protected - ifyou look for some white water and a difficult situation, Iwill probably be there.

What work do you consider to be ‘unfinished business’?I arrived at BACTA at a time when there was a seriousthreat of unfair competition from overseas operatorsand a huge escalation in costs to traditional business. Ihave been consistently critical of the failure of the UKlegislative regime to find the right balance between reg-ulation and civil liberties. There remains a fundamentallack of accountability from government and regulatorsconcerning the way in which they prioritise resourceand their willingness to take decisions. What we haveseen in the gambling sector is a microcosm of the way inwhich government deals with society generally and it’s aterrifying lesson for those who are close to it. If stake-holders lose or are unwilling to use their voice, it’sunlikely that they will be heard. Trying to find the rightforum in which to ensure that government and regula-tors are as accountable to the public and the industry asgambling operators are, remains elusive but it is essentialin a democracy that this fundamental flaw in the UKsystem, is addressed.

Is the 2005 Gambling Act still fit for purpose or do youfeel that government should now be looking at a new actthat allows licensed operators the ability to provideproducts across the gaming spectrum under one roof?The question assumes that the Act was fit for purposeand I think that history shows that it is not. We had a newAct to introduce a new casino regime, to create a neweffective regulator with increased powers to deal withtechnological change and in particular to regulate theinternet. Nine years later we have had to go back to Par-liament to begin to deal with remote gambling and thetraditional industry has been over-regulated based uponprinciples taken from vastly different jurisdictions. Prob-ably the most disappointing element of the new Act was

that we lost the spirit of collaboration which we sharedwith the Gaming Board. The loss of the concept ofshared responsibility has hampered the ability to takeissues forward in a practical results-driven way and weneed to find other ways of returning to a culture of sup-port between the regulator and a legitimate industry. Asmentioned above I think that the only way for the indus-try to survive is to embrace convergence, so we caneasily find more products including those involvingsocial gaming, not just under one roof, but under one vir-tual Roof and the challenge will be to find the politicalwill and time to deal with this.

Do you think there is a case for a greater BACTA bring-ing together the interests of low stake gaming, amuse-ments, bingo, piers, attractions, motorway servicestations and bookies to provide the whole industry withmore fire power?The industry is changing as members find new revenuestreams. Simply combining historical interests isunlikely to enable representation which reflects futurebusiness models that are divided by gambling premisestype. Lobbying for change in gambling is not simplyabout fire power - it’s about being able to influencepoliticians who are looking towards the next electionand if there are not votes or there is toxic media profile,getting the narrative right has to be the key.

What are your plans for the future?I was previously a consultant working in areas ofchange and challenge. I have never knowingly backedaway from adversity, whether facing it myself or onbehalf of my clients. I firmly believe that those who saythat it is not about whether you win or lose it is abouthow you play the game have never won anything.Having said that, it’s not about winning at all costs and ifit’s without integrity it’s not worth winning, so the longgame is important. I have worked with an enormousvariety of clients both within BACTA and externally. Ithink over 10 years BACTA knows who I am but moreimportantly, I certainly do and that will inform myfuture choices.

What advice will you give to your successor?I look forward to assisting John White in his new role.It’s a curates egg and when we say the industry is allabout the people, it really is. Trying to find consensuswithin an organisation as large and diverse as BACTA, isone of its greatest challenges. My objective has been toensure that there has been direction while preservingthe rights of the smallest members to have their voiceheard and to be fully protected when their need is great-est. Some might observe that it is difficult to please all ofthe people all of the time and perhaps my achievementhas been to sometimes make members feel equallyunhappy with a compromise position. It is, however, therole of the chief executive to, in my view, protect theAssociation, preserve National Council and ensure thatdecisions are made transparently. Every chief executivehas his own style and mine has been formed by thestruggles that we have had with seismic change tosocial and fiscal law. It has often necessitated a robuststance with government and regulators that not all havefelt comfortable with, but least of all I am pleased to saythe government or the regulator. It might be time for anew approach and I am sure that John will be wellequipped with BACTA’s amazingly resilient Secretariatto lead BACTA to its next phase.

Can you sum up BACTA in three wordsForward, forward, forward.

as been formed by the struggles that welaw. It has often necessitated a robustave felt comfortable with, but least of all, ent or the regulator...”

2366-p08-09-Interview_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 17:10 Page 2

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OBITUARY

Sega’s Peter Gustafsonhas issued the follow-

ing obituary about the lateTom Keil: “It is with greatsadness we share withyou our dear friend andcolleague, Tom Keilpassed away on Friday, 18April. Tom put up a valiantand courageous fightagainst cancer for overthree years. Throughouthis entire ordeal, he neverlet his condition stop oreven slow him down. Hisunwillingness to let hisdisease define him was aninspirational example ofhow to live fully regard-less of the circumstanceslife hands you.

“Tom started his coin-op career in 1974 and waswell known throughoutthe industry. He will besorely missed by theentire Sega family and byhis many friends industrywide. Our sincere condo-lences are extended toTom’s wife, Jan, his broth-ers and sisters and hisdearly loved nieces andnephews.”

Jan Keil shared that inlieu of a memorial service,Tom’s request and desirewas for donations to bemade to one of two med-ical centres:The PrestonRobert Tisch Brain TumorCenter at Duke Duke Uni-versity Medical Center orThe Caring House inDurham.

TomKeildies

esearch from previ-ous World Cups hasshown licensees

can expect to see wet salesrise by as much as 400 percent during an Englandmatch, but only if they pre-pare several weeks inadvance.

Punch Taverns is cur-rently running workshopsacross the country to helppublicans capitalise on thecompetition. Meanwhile,Star Pubs & Bars is spend-ing £1.8m on re-decorat-ing its sports-focussedvenues in time for the tour-nament.

David Evans, managingdirector at Sports Bar &Grill, said he started pro-moting corporate pack-

ages for England games inDecember 2013 and isnow fully booked.

He told pub trade press:“People will still be able tocome in off the street towatch in the bar but thefunction rooms are all full.They started snappingthem up immediately. Wewant to create an atmos-phere for the whole tour-nament. We will havespecial meals for each ofthe nationalities and flagsup for every team - whichwill come down as they getknocked out. We spreadthe word early - that wasthe key. We contacted allthe embassies so theycould use their database tolet people know where

they could watch theirhome team.”

Evans said his message topublicans who had not yetstarted preparing for theWorld Cup was “get yourstaff and everyone youknow to start spreading theword - the momentum isbuilding fast”.

At the Punch Tavernsworkshops publicans wereadvised to focus on retain-ing the custom driven byEngland’s opener againstItaly on June 14. With twogames beforehand (Colom-bia v Greece and Uruguay vCosta Rica) to whet pun-ters’ appetites, the com-pany has advised licenseesto focus on promotingthemselves as a football

base for the entire day.Chris Jowsey, trading

director at Star Pubs & Bars,said he was advising tenantsto plan ahead and order extrastock. He added: “Considerusing alternative servicemethods to ease congestionat the bar, for example, tableor roving waiter service,pitchers of draught beer; icetrays or buckets of PPLs,installing temporary barsand pre-ordering of half-timedrinks.”

Stephen Martin, categorymanager at Punch Taverns,said: “By now plans shouldbe starting to cometogether so publicans areready to execute and pro-mote in May. At this stage,publicans should be order-

ing any additional POSmaterial, decoration or TVscreens that will berequired.”

Operators will of coursebe praying that the addi-tional footfall will result inrelated cashbox increases.According to figures pub-lished on the MorningAdvertiser website, averagespend on drink increasesfrom £11.50 per head to£14.50 per head for majorfootball matches, whilelager sales increase from 30per cent of total drinks soldto 47 per cent. If cashboxtakings reflect theexpected beer sales uplift,even to just a small extent,it could be a good summerfor all concerned.

Landlords look tomaximise World CupopportunityPUBS

With the World Cup only weeks away, UK publicans are planningahead for the Brazil-based tournament to maximise profits.

LEGISLATION

Areview is underway tostrengthen the social responsi-

bility and player protection/harmminimisation elements of the Gam-bling Commission’s Licence Condi-tions and Codes of Practice, and itsGuidance to Licensing Authorities.

The review, which is being led byGambling Commission Commis-sioner Rachel Lampard, takes intoaccount:

The Secretary of State’s call for

aspects of the Association of BritishBookmaker’s betting code to bemandated;

The Commission’s work with theAdvertising Standards Authority onthe marketing and advertising offree bets and bonuses;

The need for significant progressin establishing national self-exclu-sion schemes for both remote andnon-remote gamblers.

The Commission will also be con-sulting on aspects of the regulationof bingo. This is in response torecent interest in the provision ofbingo outside of the environmentwith which it is normally associated;the risk that bingo will be offeredunder the auspices of a bingo prem-ises licence despite the fact thatbingo is unlikely to be the primaryactivity in those premises; andrecent technical developmentsrelated to the offer of electronicbingo.

The Commission expects to pub-lish proposals for formal consulta-tion this summer.

AWARDS

Innovative Technology is cele-brating after being named

winner of a Queen’s Award forEnterprise - the UK’s highest acco-lade for business success.

Innovative Technology joins anelite group of companies, recog-nised for excellence in UK busi-ness with the International Tradeaward paying tribute to the com-pany’s achievement and substan-tial growth in overseas earningsand commercial success.

Managing director, AidanTowey commented: “The Queen’sAwards are one of the most presti-gious business accolades in the

UK and are only awarded to com-panies demonstrating the highestlevel of excellence. This is actuallythird Queens Award in the com-pany’s history having previouslywon in 1997 and 1999.”

He added: “After a year ofunparalleled success for everyaspect of the business in 2013,we are currently in the processof building a new ‘state of the art’office facility at our UK headoffice and will create up to 30new positions this year. Over thesummer we will celebrate theQueens Award in style with aparty for all of our European staffand special guest the Lord Lieu-tenant of Greater Manchester.”

Innovative Technology receivesQueen’s Award for Enterprise

Commission looks tomake player protectionmore robust

R

2366-p10-industry_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 14:24 Page 1

Amusements TO COMMENT ON ANY ARTICLE

Email: al@sjc.co.uk8

easide amusementsoperators aroundthe UK have her-

alded a positive start to theseason, with high footfalland healthy spending beingcommon factors across theEaster holidays and BankHoliday weekend.

In Great Yarmouth, Joy-land family amusement parkwas one of many businessesto benefit from the sunnyspells, with visitor numbersand spend per head both upas a consequence.

Joyland owner MichaelCole had been worried thatthe way the school holidayswere structured this year,starting two weeks beforethe actual Easter weekend,would work against him.

The outcome, as he toldCoinslot, was much more

positive: “We thought wecould have two very slowweeks of trading beforethree or for decent daysover the Easter weekend,but in reality we had nearlythree weeks of consistentlygood trading.

“On the Saturday of theEaster weekend I haven’tseen so many people onGreat Yarmouth seafrontfor years. It was absolutelyfantastic - not just at Joylandbut across the whole of theseafront.

“It is difficult to ascertainthe level of spend per headin Joyland itself, but it wascertainly up in our Ameri-can-style diner, and I wouldsay it was up in Joyland too,which is very encouraging.”

The weather alsobrought the crowds out at

Weston-super-Mare, andalthough a slightly damperEaster Sunday took a bit ofwind out of his sails,Olympia FEC owner WillBollom reported an encour-aging start to the season.

He commented: “Familieswere out, and that’s exactlywho we cater for. Cranes,pushers and redemptionwere all very strong againover Easter, so hopefully wewill see more of the sameover the rest of the season.”

Although Bollom had yetto do the collection, gutinstinct told him that resultswould definitely be on thegood side: “There were morepeople about, and althoughthey weren’t spending likethey were a few years ago itwas definitely better thanlast year.”

While talk of an improv-ing economy might havebeen a factor, Bollomthought it was more due tothe fact that it was the firstbank holiday - and a sunnyone at that - after the regionhad suffered an arduouswinter.

He explained: “The SouthWest has had a pretty hardtime over the winter withthe floods and bad weathergenerally, so after that it isnice to see plenty of footfallout there.”

In the North West, Lee Ste-fani, manager of Fleet-wood’s Harbour Lights FEC,was feeling similarly posi-tive: “The weather just feltperfect over the four days ofthe Easter weekend, whichmade such a difference.

“We are located next to

the beach, and we saw a lotof families come up to visitthe arcade and our café,which really increased ourfootfall.”

Stefani saw solid proofthat customers were start-ing to feel increasingly moreconfident with their leisurespend: “We had one lady whocame in with 40 £1 coins tospend for her and fourothers. It was good to seethat people were willing tospend such a healthy sum.

“We ordered new plushand swag at EAG show inJanuary which was deliv-ered a week before Easter,and the amount of timeswe had to refill the push-ers with swag was incredi-ble. We were literallyrefilling them three or fourtimes a day.”

REGENERATION

Traders in Exmouth haveexpressed concern that

plans to remodel the resort’sseafront to create a newleisure zone and water-sports centre will risk alien-ating the traditional seasidetourists that are key to itsprosperity.

The area in question -owned by East Devon Dis-trict Council - has beengranted outline planning bythe council and the projectis now being marketed topotential developers.

The new leisure zonewould include an outdoorand indoor play and recre-ation area, public openspace, water sports hub,hotel with cafés and

restaurants.If a developer is found, it

would signals the end ofExmouth seafront’s chil-dren’s playground andtrampolines, model railwayand carriage-café, as well asa boating lake dating backto 1949 and a rare ten-and-a-quarter-inch gauge rail-track.

Chris Wright, who ownsthe Exmouth fun park, toldlocal media that the latterattractions were “heritageamusements”.

He commented: “It is adouble-edged sword andwe all welcome theopportunity to invest butthere is no guarantee thatany of us will be part of the

future development.“People have been

coming here for a long timebecause it works and thisplace has stood the test oftime.

“I see grandparentsbringing their children -generations of peoplecoming back - it would be areal shame to spoil this andwe should be careful notthe throw the baby outwith the bath water.”

Wright said it would beinevitable that costs wouldrise and the days of familiespaying £1 or £1.50 a gowould become a thing of thepast under the new scheme.

He explained: “The coun-cil is making all the rightnoises about sustainableamusements but what’s

affordable to one man maynot be to another. Unfortu-nately, there is a lot of apathyabout this and many peoplejust don’t know what isgoing on.”

Mark Williamson, a Con-servative district councillorfor the Exmouth ward,, saidthe proposals had beeninformed by a consultation,including the views of locals,traders and young people.

He commented: “Thereare lots of resorts like us allcompeting against oneanother for tourists and wehave got to look to thefuture.

“All change is tough andthis is difficult for somepeople but we have to main-tain Exmouth as a destina-tion of choice.”

Easter bringspositive startto the seasonEASTER REPORT

After a winter of storms, wind and rain, theseaside sector breathed a sigh of relief asEaster sun brought fun-seekers and spend-per-head aplenty.

Exmouth leisure zone plans prompt tourism fears

FUNFAIRS

Families, friends and red-robed dignitaries

flooded Great Yarmouth’sMarket Place for the officialopening of the town’sEaster Fair last month. Thefour-day extravaganza,which has been held in thetown for centuries, waslaunched with the handingover of the ceremonial FairKey, before the dozens ofrides kicked into action tothe delight of the visitingmasses.

A marching band led aparade of showmen anddignitaries from the TownHall to the Market Place,where Mayor John Bur-roughs officially openedthe Easter Fair by handingover the gilded key to rep-resentatives of the EasternCounties branch of theShowmen’s Guild.

Jacqueline Gray, a com-mittee member with theShowmen’s Guild, recalledvisiting the fair as a younggirl. She said: “It’s a lovelytradition and the atmos-phere there is great. What-ever the weather wealways get a warm wel-come at Yarmouth, and thesupport from the cus-tomers, the council and themayor is great. It’s some-thing we always look for-ward to. Last year we had acouple there who were cel-ebrating their weddinganniversary after they hadmet as youngsters at thefair. It’s lovely for us to hearstories like that. It’s some-thing all ages can enjoy.”

This year, the fair fea-tured more than 100 ridesand attractions, includingtwo sets of dodgems, the165ft-high spinning Obliv-ion and two fun houses.

GreatYarmouthEaster Fairenjoyed by all

11Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

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Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

12

B2B

Essential Guide to... Jukebox & Music Solutions

Essential Guide to the UK seasideamusementsNext Week

MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

22B2B listingsand industrymarketplace

24This week’s

machinecharts

26Classified

sales, job andbusiness

opps

29Jabro Surreal

Soccer season

oundnet has begun the rollout of its technology-driven smart-phone app, soundjack, which allows pub goers to queue up juke-box songs from their own devices, wherever they are in the

venue. “We’ve got some soft launch sites all around the country,” saidcommercial director, James Luck. “The app will change the perceptionof what can be done, but it also gives power and engagement back tothe end user, which was never possible before. On a jukebox the enduser obviously has the power to choose a track, but they’ve never reallybeen able to see and share and join with other users of a like mind toselect music without leaving their seat.”

Soundnet views this as the starting point for a much grander project,as it continues to bolt on more services to the existing phone app. “It’smaking the most of mobile commerce,” said Luck, “which is a huge buzz-word this year. Mobile commerce dispenses with cash, which somepeople are very nervous about. I think what we’ve got now is we’ve gothuge banks joining together and forming groups to utilise the opportu-nity that the mobile gives you to pay for things. Paying for things in anelectronic way, rather then even having a swipe on your phone.”

Luck compares the future for mobile payments to the rise of eCom-merce throughout the 2000s. “The people who’ve just got traditionalbricks and mortar have had a bad Christmas,” he said. “It’s both feet inboth camps, and doing it well, that gives you the advantage over some-body that doesn’t have one or the other.”

By utilising this kind of technology, the company believe that sound-jack makes possible the evolution of the jukebox “We’ve got a uniquenew platform,” said Luck, “which would be something that isn’t a juke-box which we could communicate with a mobile phone and play music.A background system that you can actually pay for.” This opens up themarket to pubs and bars that might currently view the jukebox asunfashionable.

This project builds into Sound-net’s strategy for embracingthe world of technology,while keeping themselvesgrounded in traditionalvenues. “You’ve got theability with soundjack tobe in bricks-and-mortarand online,” said Luck.“The people whodon’t really want toplay the jukebox, whodon’t even care thatthe jukebox is in thevenue, they can play themusic from their phone.Somebody round thecorner who’s nearthe pool table andthe jukebox canuse the jukeboxand not be evenbe aware it’s avail-able on thephone. So we’veour feet in bothspaces.”

I’ll happily admit that I’m a major fan of juke-boxes - of all kinds. They play music and I love

music so from my point of view it’s the ultimatewin-win arrangement. I shove a coin in and I getto choose a tune or tunes to enhance my eveningand contribute to the ambience of the pub/annoythose standing nearby.

The words ‘technology’ and ‘innovation’ oftenget bandied about when discussing productsspawned by the UK coin-op industry - and some-times wrongly. The jukebox sector, however, istruly an industry leader when it comes to intro-ducing new tricks, embracing the available tech-nology around it and creating innovative, relevantproducts to cater for today’s demands.

It’s not that long ago when jukeboxes had tobe physically fed full of vinyl or CDs and thusoffered a very limited choice of tunes. Whilevinyl lovers will happily argue the toss aboutsuperior sound quality, digital music offersmore flexibility and functionality that an oldWurlitzer ever could, regardless of its aestheticand ‘analogue’ qualities.

It was even more recently that jukeboxes wereconfusing and complicated as manufacturersand music providers sought to please everyoneall the time and thus somehow dilute the coreoffer, experience and hindsight has helped makethe digital jukebox what it should be - a simple touse, relatively inexpensive gadget with all theaccessibility and none of the annoyances.

The fundamentals for successful coin-opproducts from a customer perspective are forthem to be easy to understand, good value formoney and interesting enough for repeat plays.From an operator’s perspective they need to beeasy to manage and offer consistent cashboxearnings without having to break the bank toacquire on in the first place.

Enter the jukebox - the coin-op entertainmentsolution for the twenty-first century. While Top ofthe Pops has long died a death, it’s no coinci-dence that the current batch of TV ‘talent’ showsfocus on music. In other words, the Britishpublic’s love of music remains unabashed, it’sjust accessed in so many different ways in 2014.The UK’s jukebox and music content providershand us all one of the easiest and most fun waysto access and enjoy all types of tunes and for thatreason alone deserve a lot of praise.

forewordalex lee

COMMENT

Underestimatethe power ofthe jukebox atyour peril

KEYNOTE

Soundnet strikesa balance

The long awaited soundjack app has begun its softrollout across England and Wales, while developersSoundnet are already looking to the future.

S

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B2B

Essential Guide to ... Jukebox & Music SoSector Overview

SWOT ANALYSISJUKEBOX SECTOR

Music’s saviour“I think the pub sec-tor has stabilisedsomewhat. Therewas a lot of dead wood and I think alot of that’s been removed. I thinkthere probably still is a little bit more,but I think what we’ll see is it willlevel out and we’ll stop seeing asmany closing and that the one’s thatare left are much better at under-standing their business,” says Jay-box sales director, Jamie Barrett.

Pub closuresThe earliest known jukebox is theNickel-in-the-Slot machine, whichallowed customers to listen to a se-

lection of phonographtunes through special lis-tening tubes. The de-vice, invented by LouisGlass and William S.

Arnold, stood in the Palais RoyaleSaloon in San Francisco, USA whereit earned over $1000 in its first sixmonths of service.

Jukebox historyTouchHits director, AadamMcCrossan believes that pubs couldbenefit from more aggressively pricedwet goods. “What we’ve found is thatthere seems to be a price fixing acrossthe price of a pint. There’s very little com-petition in certain areas and because alot of them are owned or involved withbreweries and there is a difficulty with re-ducing the price of a pint or even tryingto fill a premises, because it’s become socheap to have a drink at home.”

Pint pricingThe Great Depression inthe United States had anuncharacteristically posi-tive effect on the sector,as plummeting recordsales meant that the only way to lis-ten to the new songs and oldfavourites was to pop a quarter inthe local jukebox. Without the popu-larity of the jukebox the music indus-try may not have survived theeconomic collapse.

hile it’s still only April, the UK juke-box sector has already seen somemajor deals done in 2014, one

which was famously sealed on the open-ing day of EAG in January, and because ofthis the sector is looking like one of coin-op’s strongest.

Although there are some very seriousrivalries in the UK jukebox sector, it isrefreshing to know that there is room inthe market not just for the much-laudedSound Leisure and NSM Music, but also fornewer kids on the block such as Jayboxand Touch Hits.

Vinyl and CD jukeboxes have of coursedeclined in the public space to the barestof minimum figures, but digital jukeboxeshave come along to replace them, offeringa much greater choice of tunes and func-tionality. Furthermore, besides a thrivingmarket in pubs, bars, entertainment cen-tres and, most recently, themed restaurants,the UK’s jukebox manufacturers stillsupply - and support - the home market.Add to this the parts and peripherals onoffer from the likes of Suzo-Happ and thesector pretty much has all bases covered.

The EAG show, which featured anumber of brand new product launchesfrom the major players in the jukeboxsector, underlined stakeholders’ determi-nation to stay ahead of the curve. It is tes-tament to the drive and forward-thinkingon the part of the UK’s jukebox providersthat a concept that dates back to the 1950sstill thrives today, but in such a future-

facing way. Interestingly, while the big firms

involved in jukebox manufacture nowa-days are products of a bygone era, they areat the vanguard of music technologyhaving embraced internet connectivityand digital music provision back in the1990s.

Furthermore, while each manufacturerhas worked hard to make choice and easeof use two of the most important featuresof its products, some interesting strategicdifferences have emerged in recent years.Some jukebox manufacturers have chosento attack the domestic market and broadenthe scope in terms of previously-untriedvenue styles (themed restaurants being arecent case in point) while others havelooked outside the UK to expand theirhorizons. Added to this is the fact thatnewer entrants to the jukebox market havelooked to introduce innovative features,such as quizzes, karaoke, video footage andbingo with a view to tailoring content tosuit the ambience of individual venues.

Despite these differences, however,there are several elements which unite theUK’s jukebox providers - professionalism,attention to detail and strong after-salessupport, based on consistent dialoguewith operators, being three obvious casesin point.

In marked contrast to a lot of ‘tradi-tional’ coin-op fare which has survivedlargely on its novelty and feelgood factor,the UK jukebox sector has grasped the

wireless nettle as well as emulating smart-phone and tablet operating systems witha view to simultaneously serving the nextgeneration of jukebox users and handingthem an experience that synergises withtheir established leisure pursuits. The‘touch and slide’ interface which is syn-onymous with iPhones and iPads, forexample, is prevalent in UK jukebox use.

The relationship between the latestjukeboxes on the market and smart-phone/tablet use extends to app usagenowadays too, with bar managers or land-lords able to remotely program thousandsof tracks on their venue’s jukebox via anapp. There is also an app in use whichallows customers to select tracks fromtheir smartphones/tablets which theypay for via Paypal, thus taking the pay-to-play concept of jukeboxes into the cash-less space.

What seems to have happened in juke-box manufacture in recent years, certainlyin this decade, is that ‘features for the sakeof it’ have largely disappeared, with manu-facturers realising that tracks relevant tothe site’s audience, user-friendliness andsimple to understand functions are thekey fundamentals of cashbox success.

With plays officially audited at 16m in2013 - for just one of the country’s majorjukebox manufacturers - there is clearly along-term future for jukeboxes in the UK.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Music tooperators’ earsWith a number of firms competing for business in the jukebox andmusic provision arena, not least the two long-established Leeds-based stalwarts, the sector looks in a state of rude health at present.

STRENGTHS

• Enormous breadth and depth of choicefor all concerned

• Small footprint/wall space required• Easy to use, understand and manage

WEAKNESSES

• Jukeboxes not top of pecking order in‘sports-led’ pubs

• New features and functions can onlybe maximised if publicised and pro-moted correctly

OPPORTUNITIES

• New types of sites, such as restaurantchains

• Overseas distributors• Online and wireless connectivity

THREATS

• Other types of coin-op entertainmentnearby

• Pub closures

W

2366-p12-21-Essential 2_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 15:27 Page 2

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For TouchHits director, AdamMcCrossan, the main function of new

jukebox technology is to boost the cashbox of the operator. “Technology hasbecome more and more important interms of less downtime, less mainte-nance and maintenance that can be car-ried out without service men having togo to a site,” he said. “Alongside theimprovement of broadband technologywe have remote support applicationsthat run on our jukeboxes, so we can lit-erally log in and see how our jukeboxesperform and we can perform softwareupdates and everything from our base,so it can usually cut costs.”

Improvements in screen technologyand storage have made modern juke-boxes a much more reliable propositionthan in previous years. “We find that interms of maintenance, machines have amuch longer lifespan than a few yearsago,” said McCrossan. “We have solidstate hard drives and we’ve also goneinto cloud technology, whereby you havea central resource for distributing con-tent and you can update that centralresource and push it out to all operatingsystems. All of that has helped keep themaintenance of jukeboxes quite low,compared to what you would have beendoing 3-5 years ago.”

With the pub sector depleted, thesecost savings are of vital importance tooperators around the country. “Whatwe’re finding is that an operatordoesn’t want to do a service call or acollection run if it’s not in his best inter-

est to do it,” added McCrossan.However, from TouchHit’s perspec-

tive, pub trade has begun to rebound inthe recent months, thanks in no smallpart to the company’s cut price conver-sion kits. “What we’ve found that in theUK there’s been a pickup with a lot ofoperators. The only thing we can reallyspeak of is our sales and that’s reallyincreased,” said McCrossan. “We selljukeboxes complete and we’ve had a lotof success with a conversion kit, wherean operator may have a jukebox thatwas running old technology, we put ourconversion kits on it for a minimal costand they can push it out to sites. It’s alower cost to the supplier and the sitetreats it to like a new jukebox becauseit’s running new technology with brandnew music.”

TouchHits has also seen an increasein demand for its high end jukeboxes,such as the recently released JukePad.This 32 inch touchscreen device benefitsfrom a valuable multimedia partner. “Weare delighted to be working with RockItmusic in providing music content for theJukePad,” noted McCrossan. “Theyhave always provided a great service forour operators and pride themselves onbuilding music libraries that are tailoredto the needs of the site. Since we beganworking with RockIt we have seen con-tinued growth in sales of our jukeboxesand jukebox kits in both the UK andEurope which comes on the back oflarge increases in cash box revenues forthe operator.”

TECHNOLOGY

TouchHits buildreliabilityNew hardware developments have enabled jukebox creatorsTouchHits to offer more reliable devices at every price point.

2366-p12-21-Essential 2_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 15:28 Page 3

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B2B

Essential Guide to ... Jukebox & Music SoMarket Analysis

ith a new jukebox waiting in thewings, Sound Leisure was confidentthat 2014 would get off to a strong

start. An attitude that was roundly justifiedat EAG, following the announcement thatthe company had secured a massive dealwith Gamestec, the UK’s largest gamingand amusement machine operator.

“We had a fantastic reaction at EAG thisyear,” said Sound Leisure managing direc-tor, Chris Black. “We received two greatorders, one of which has been well publi-cised and another from a business thatwished to remain anonymous. The Gen 2 V-Hub software that we launched received afabulous response and this has resulted inour factory being busier than it has beenfor many years.”

It’s an investment in jukebox softwarethat has really paid dividends for SoundLeisure and its partner Soundnet. “The V-Hub has always been a fantastic machinebut the latest software really sets itself apartfrom anything else that is out there,” saidBlack. “In addition, EAG and ICE saw thelaunch of the innovative soundjack appwhich was developed by us and our musicpartner Soundnet. This will allow cus-tomers to choose and pay for music usingtheir smart phones.”

The future for the jukebox sector looksset to rely heavily on broadband internetconnections, with Sound Leisure’s prod-ucts increasingly exploiting the potentialof an ‘always online’ machine. “The inter-

net has and continues to play a major partin the majority of our developments,” saidBlack, “allowing features such as soundjack,Twitter, Flickr, Last.fm and news feeds tobe passed to the machine. In addition theV-Hub also benefits from the use of the‘unlimited music server’ that allowspatrons to choose and download tracksfrom an additional 5 million songs.”

The internet also plays a major rolebehind the scenes, giving operators thepower to tailor their jukeboxes in the waythat’s most profitable for them. “In additionto the features that customers can interactwith, the internet also allows operatorsgreater control of their machines with sys-tems such as Opweb, that also allows oper-ators to make real time changes to themenus of their machines from their desk-top.” said Black.

Features built into the V-Hub, such as thebuilt in SL quick support, also allow techni-cians and Sound Leisure HQ to servicemachines remotely, cutting down on traveltime and costs.

These design elements have combinedto create a machine that has been able tocompete for pub operators limited spend.Especially at a time when new Cat Cmachines are hitting the market. “Tradition-ally when such a major rollout of newmachines and kits has occurred, our side ofthe business suffers,” said Black. “This yearwe are witnessing major growth at thesame time.”

SOFTWARE

Sound Leisure valuetop quality softwareThe second generation of V-Hub software is powering increasinginterest in the Sound Leisure’s top of the range machine.

Coinslot: How would you characterise the health of the pub sector after the firstfew months of 2014?

Jason Jarrett: The pub sector in the first few months of 2014 has been very positive. AtAMS many of our customers have seen encouraging up-lifts in AWP takings due tothe stake and prizes review. This has also allowed many SWP’s to be updated to offerthis larger cash prize which has also resulted in increased cashbox performance.Other products such as jukeboxes and pool tables have been consistent, which fol-lowing feedback from our customers this reciprocates their trade in general, as theyare all reporting steady business but no great fireworks.

CS: How important is the integration of technology into the jukebox market?JJ: New technology is vital to encourage the next step in taking incomes to the nextlevel. Only last week we visited a pub to launch the new soundjack app, which worksin conjunction with the Venue Hub digital jukeboxes. We spent the evening demon-strating the functions with the bar staff and their customers to ensure everyone inthe venue understands how soundjack works, so that even after we have left peoplecontinue to make track selections on their smartphones to play their music choicein the venue. If it had just been added without the training it probably wouldn’t beused and the staff wouldn’t be able to explain how it works.

CS: In what ways can venues encourage their customers to make use ofjukeboxes?JJ: Locations need to be made aware of the potential the jukebox has and how it cannot only attract more people but also keep them in their venue for longer. Offering agame of bingo, a pub quiz, advertising upcoming events or sport that will be shownon the TV or even a themed 80’s or 90’s night can all be easily set up on a jukebox andkeep customers returning time after time, but the communication of these facilitiesis vital. At AMS we strive to review each location regularly as it is amazing how manysay “oh that’s a good idea, I’ll do that next week” and when next week comes theyforget how to do it and then don’t bother.

CS: What developments in the pub sector and jukebox market would youlike to see in 2014?JJ: We hope that 2014 will see the feel good factor return to people’s mindset, so thevisit to the local pub becomes more regular. This will result in landlords having moreconfidence in their business and looking for a proactive and forward thinking sup-plier offering the latest products to drive incomes even higher. At AMS we under-stand everyone has a budget and everyone wants value for money, so workingtogether with our customers and encouraging all these new features on the latestproducts everyone can, hopefully, improve their profit margins.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

AMS promotescustomer contactJason Jarrett, director of Automatic Machine Services(AMS), believes that communication and integration are the keysto driving jukebox success.

W

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Market Perspectives

Jukebox manufacturer Jaybox has astrident point of view when it comes

to the growth of technology in juke-boxes. “I think it’s fantastic, if done inthe right way,” said sales director, JamieBarnett. “The big pitfall is, don’t putthings in because they can be done. Theway we’ve seen it is: technically it’s acomputer, so you can put anything inthere, but just because it can be done,doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing.”

Accordingly Barnett is not keen on inte-gration of social media services into juke-boxes, believing that they impede thosepub goers who would simply like to playsome music. “Ultimately what people wantis a machine that plays music and takesmoney for doing so. Anything that increasesthe amount of money, speeds up the time ittakes to put on the music, makes it morereliable - and therefore saves them money -is fantastic and if you can incorporate anytechnology that does then you’re on to awinner,” said Barnett, “but putting a camerain just because you can and falling into thegimmick trap is very very different.”

The company is not afraid of makingstrong decisions. Unlike many of its com-petitors, Jaybox elected not to exhibit atthis year’s EAG. “We said to any of our cus-tomers or anyone who had been hintingthat they wanted to do business, ‘we’ll beat the bar, drinks are on us, come and meetus’ and that did us far more good than anexhibit stand,” said Barnett. “We took aconscious decision not to exhibit basedon the price and the reduced return fromthe show the year before.” It’s a strategythat paid dividends, with sales and cus-tomer feedback strong in the earlymonths of 2014.

Jaybox were also among the first to makedetailed use of jukeboxes that are perma-nently connected to the internet. “We cameto the market as an internet jukebox provi-dor, so we’ve never known it any other way,”said Barnett, “and because we designed ourbox up as an internet jukebox, there’s somuch more information that we store.”

Machines such as the company’slatest, the V3, are able to update musiclibraries remotely and record every time

a coin passes through the mechanism.Operators can then take to the JaybirdLive Access website to view a detailedrundown of their statistics. “We’ve hadsites where the operator was gettingswindled by the people on site and wewere able to provide evidence thatproved exactly when every coin wentthrough the coin mechanism,” said Bar-nett, “so we gave definitive proof thatthey were being swindled.”

Parts and spares supplier Suzo-Happ deals witha vast variety of sectors, including the pub

industry, which retains strong links to the juke-box sector. As such, sales director John Vallis has agood overall view of the health of the market.

“There’s mixed reports from everybody. Foot-fall from numbers are down and there’s still Xamount closing every week, but we do see a resur-gence in sales of certain products,” he said. “Notonly billiards, which is still growing, but also audio as well.”

He sees it as a market which has diversified in order to stayafloat, in many cases powered by forward-thinking compa-nies like those in the jukebox sector. “It’s not the same as itwas five or ten years ago, but it’s probably stabilised where itis,” said Vallis. “I think technology has probably driven that. Itwent from traditional jukeboxes and background music sys-tems to people plugging in iPods and now it’s migrated toonline with a touch screen, where you put your money in andget whatever tunes you want. Technology is playing a big partin the resurgence of jukeboxes and the general age of thepeople going into pubs, who would want to listen to music,

are more familiar with that kind of technology.”From a hardware standpoint, the adoption

of modern developments have also made juke-boxes much more robust products. “Every-thing being solid state is obviously the biggestbenefit of all. If the jukebox goes down theychange the power supply, they change the harddrive or they change the screen,” said Vallis.“There’s mainly these three things and anamplifier. I think that makes the whole offer alot easier to service and the parts are obviouslya lot more reliable. Generally they use indus-trial grade products as well, so all in all it’ssomething you can just put on the wall andhopefully just forget about.”

However, this reliability, coupled with thegrowing trend of OEMs converting parts to fit their owndesigns, means that stocking Jukebox spares is become lessof a priority for Suzo-Happ. “It’s no longer a massive part ofbusiness, selling jukebox spares,” said Vallis. “There’s nothingin them.”

The same is true for classic jukeboxes in need of repair. “Wetend not to stock those parts anymore because they’re gettingmore expensive as there’s less of them around and there’s alsoa lot of specialist jukebox suppliers that deal with that,” saidVallis. “For us it becomes part of a whole wash of tens of thou-sands of products, so when we’re not going to sell any more,we run it down.”

Aperfect storm of product, finance andmarket optimism has led to unprece-

dented demand for the latest V-Hub Gen 2,meaning that both Soundnet and SoundLeisure have had to recruit new staff to keepup with demand.

“We started the year with a number of sig-nificant orders from leading UK operators,including Gamestec and Sceptre and wehaven’t looked back,” says Soundnet’s TobyHoyte. “When we launched the V-Hub Gen 2platform, we knew that it had turned a greatproduct into an excellent one and demandfrom customers has backed this up.”

In addition, Soundnet announced twoattractive ‘rent to buy’ propositions for thoseoperators looking to update their jukeboxestate or find new business. These were com-prised of a V-Hub P32 deal at £30 per week forthree years and a final payment of £250, afterwhich the jukebox is fully paid for. Alterna-tively, operators can opt to receive MusicMilestone for £24.99 per week, for threeyears, with a final payment of £250 complet-ing the purchase.

“We felt that these deals would allow someof the smaller operators to invest in the newjukeboxes, following a period of uncertaintyin the financial climate,” said Hoyte. “We werethrilled to find that the timing was right and somany customers have taken advantage of thepossibilities offered by this form of finance.”

As a result, Sound Leisure’s Leeds-basedfactory is working at a level not seen for anumber of years and new staff have beenrecruited to help deal with the demand. “AtSoundnet we have also recruited new staffrecently, and we are working very hard along-side our customers to roll out the V-Hub Gen 2software update, which is available free ofcharge to existing V-Hub customers, as wellas taking new orders, thanks to the rentaldeal,” saidHoyt. “It isgreat to feelthe optimismcoming backinto thesector,thanks toproductswhich areperforming sowell on site.”

SOUNDNET

Rental dealsboost V-HubdemandOperators looking to get on boardwith Soundnet’s groundbreakingjukeboxes can spread the costs byopting for one of two affordablerental packages.

ProductsADD ONS

SPARE PARTS

Jaybox stakes out its positionTechnology for technology’s sake is a dangerous pitfall for thefuture of jukeboxes, according to Jamie Barnett.

Suzo-Happ responds to market needs

As the jukebox sector continues togrow, Suzo-Happ focusses onsupplying manufacturers amid adwindling demand for spare parts.

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Essential Guide to ... Jukebox & Music SoProducts

It’s easy to talk about quality, totell customers that you believe inyour product, but the real test is

do you back it up and put your moneywhere your mouth is” said Jamie Barnett,sales and marketing director of Jaybox.“When we built the V3 we really felt wehad created a revolutionary Jukebox.High quality, reliable and yet great valuefor money using the most reliable tech-nology, software and design and wewanted to share that belief and commit-ment with our clients, that’s why all V3’sship with a full 3 year parts guarantee onall components.”

Over the past 18 months Jaybox hasbeen talking to its customers and identi-fied that one of the biggest costs anddrains on profits was the price of partsand repairs, which cost a significantamount in both time and money. “Withengineer callouts costing up to £60 pervisit, courier costs of up to £50 and back

to base repairs it is costing some of thelarger operators £1,000’s every year inrepairs, lost revenue and wages just tokeep their jukeboxes working,” said Bar-nett.

Jaybox built the V3 to eliminate mostof these costs. Soft landing technologyprotects the hard drive, high quality com-ponents ensure reliability and full accessto all parts for the engineer, coupled witha 24 hour replacement part service toensure rapid repair.

“This all means our clients have fewerbreakdowns, need to carry fewer partsand spend less on engineer costs, makinga huge difference to their operating cost,”said MD, Graham Bolderson. “We are soconfident in the quality and design of theV3 we offer a three year full parts guar-antee, which basically means our cus-tomers will have zero parts costs for thefirst three years. This should save all ofour customers £100s per box over the

lifetime of Jukebox. The challenge wasnot to build the cheapest Jukebox, that’seasy, the real challenge was to build theJukebox that creates the most profit forour customers and we feel we haveachieved that with the V3”.

“It’s been a interesting journey” saidBarnett, “and it is been a real eye openerfor everyone involved just how muchoperators are spending on maintainingtheir machines. It’s a cost that is acceptedbut one that with the correct equipmentcan be drastically reduced.”

JAYBOX

Jaybox builds the V3 to lastThe V3 jukebox from Jaybox has been created to do morethan just play music. Through smart design and efficientoperation, its manufacturer claims that the V3 can dramaticallyreduce operating costs.

Jukebox experts TouchHits are excit-edly trumpeting the arrival of their

new JukePad jukebox, a product thatcombines style and elegance with stateof the art performance at an affordableprice. After a lengthy developmentperiod, the company has beguntaking orders for theJukePad and Touch Hitscouldn’t be happier withthe finished product.

“Before productionbegan, we displayed a pro-totype of the JukePad atEAG in late January, whichproved to be hugely bene-ficial for us,” said directorand head software devel-oper, Adam McCrossen.“We were blown away bythe positive response theprototype unit receivedfrom operators and wewere able to draw ontheir feedback and sugges-

tions to help improve the JukePad beforeit went into the final stages of produc-tion.”

Today, more so than ever, the needs ofevery jukebox operator vary dramati-

cally. For example, some opera-tors prefer to use a site’s

in-house sound systemrather having anonboard amplifierwithin their jukebox,while others mayrequire the ability for

their jukeboxes totake notes in addition

coins and some maynot have the ability toconnect to the inter-

net. For these reasonsTouch Hits are offeringthe JukePad in differentformats, allowing opera-tors to pay only for thehardware features theyactually need.

“From the end user perspective, it wasimportant for us to bring a jukebox tothe market that was in keeping with whatusers tend to experience during their dayto day lives,” said McCrossen. “We knewthat users found our TouchHitsAV soft-ware extremely intuitive and very userfriendly. With this in mind, we made a con-scious effort to build the JukePad soft-ware platform on the same frameworkas TouchHitsAV, but with some additionalfeatures including apps, touch gesturerecognition, a built in HD camera, sitecustomisation tools, additional back-ground music options, playlists, videos,advertising and much more besides.”

TouchHits still firmly believe that ajukebox’s primary function is to providehigh quality music on demand to the enduser and also recognise that there areusers who often like to do more than justbrowse for tracks. They feel that the addi-tional features available with the JukePadcan help to substantially boost an opera-tors jukebox takings.

TOUCHHITS

JukePad debuts for TouchHitsBuilding a jukebox that is affordable and adaptable has taken its designers, TouchHits, a sizeablechunk of R&D time, but the resultant JukePad machine has made them justifiably proud.

Suzo-Happ’s diverse product line extends frombill validators to jukebox screens, the majority

of which are supplied through distribution dealswith manufacturing partners. A growing numberof products, however, are being sold under thecompany’s own branding. Items that are carefullyselected to ensure that Suzo’s own-brand equip-ment is associated with high standards of quality.

“Our biggest product for the audio and jukeboxmarket would be audio speakers themselves,”explained sales director, John Vallis. “Welaunched our own range two years ago under thebranding of SAS, which stands for Suzo AudioSolutions. We’ve now increased that range to fourdifferent size speakers, which caters for differentenvironments. They’ve been really popular, havegood quality and are under our own branding.”

Compared to more complex gaming machines,the parts required for jukeboxes are relativelystraightforward. However, there still remained theopportunity for Suzo-Happ to improve on theequipment currently available to manufacturers.“We identified a gap in the market where we man-aged to find a really good source of audio speak-ers and decided, rather than spend a lot of timepromoting somebody else’s name, why not pro-mote our own,” said Vallis.

Suzo-Happ’s decision to produce its ownbranded speakers is part of an overall movetowards first-party products. “That’s part of ourglobal branding strategy,” said Vallis. “The seriesof products called the Pro Series, although thespeakers aren’t branded as Pro at the moment,they may be in the near future.”

This is more than just a branding exercise,however. “The whole Pro Series really meanssomething,” said Vallis. “It means the quality isthere and it means we’ve qualified the products.We will back the products up and we’re notbeholden to somebody else, so it should givesome sort of quality assurance as well.”

SUZO-HAPP

Suzo-Happpromises SAS qualityAmong Suzo-Happ’s range ofjukebox parts and spares, thecompany offers speakers under itsown brand as part of a growingcompany-wide strategy.

“

2366-p12-21-Essential 2_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 15:09 Page 6

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Following its launch at EAG 2014, SoundLeisure and Soundnet have been work-

ing closely with their customers to rollout the free V-Hub Gen 2 software updateacross their VenueHub estates.

The V-Hub Gen 2 completely overhaulsthe design and look of the user interfaceof the jukebox, making it much more intu-itive for the customer. Several operatorshave already noticed the difference thatthe new platform has made.

“I have always thought that V-Hub isthe most desirable jukebox I had everseen and it only required a small changeto make it the best jukebox ever,” saidMark Davie, manager director of ChilversAutomatics. “I am not sure if it is the sim-plified menu, Flickr, Twitter or indeed thecamera (which is actually being used alot), but this machine is really earningsome serious money at the moment andgiven me the confidence to invest in juke-boxes again.”

The new software update incorporatestwo new apps - Twitter and Flickr - so thatpubs can promote their own social mediafeeds via the juke-box screen.Operators canalso fit a camerato their exist-ing V-Hub juke-boxes in orderto take advan-tage of theincredibly pop-ular Dance Mefeature, whichhas been fur-ther improvedin this softwareupdate. TheCredit Count-down featurehas also beenintroduced inthis platform,displaying alarge clock thatcounts downto double cred-its if the juke-box has notbeen played fora while. It is

designed to encourage customers to putmoney into the machine during quiettimes.

“One of my sites told me, ‘Everyoneloves the “Dance Me” feature,’” said JasonJarrett, director of AMS. “Since the newsoftware and camera have been installed,they had everyone creating videos ofthemselves with very funny results. Theyalso noticed how the Credit Countdownhad people rushing to the jukebox to gettheir double credits, resulting inimproved takings.”

As well as a free update for existing V-Hub models, the new platform is featuredon the flagship HD V-Hub, which wasunveiled at the London shows in January.Demand for the new model has beenincredibly high with machines beingshipped to retailers around the world.

“Select Gaming recently reviewedtheir jukebox estate and the obviouschoice was the new VenueHub fromSound Leisure,” says Nick Wheeler, test-ing and approvals manager for SelectGaming.

“The V-Hub is now our best sellingjukebox and more impor-

tantly our higheste a r n i n gmachine,” saidChris Black,Sound Leisure’smanaging direc-tor. “The factorycannot producethem fastenough so all thesigns are that thisupdate has beenextremely suc-cessful. We arec o n t i n u a l l yinvesting in R&Dand will con-tinue to workclosely with ouroperating part-ners to ensurethat SoundL e i s u r em a c h i n e sremain the bestinvestment inthe industry.”

SOUND LEISURE

Operators reportimpressive resultswith the new V-HubSound Leisure and Soundnet’s new V-Hub jukebox softwarehas proved popular with customers across the country accordingto the duo’s key operators and suppliers.

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“We are incredibly excited to be bringinga premium bowling offer to the people ofCheltenham. Customers will benefit fromstate-of-the-art facilities with 16 lanes,gaming area, restaurant and licensed baralong with exclusive areas for corporatehospitality.”

Demelsa Coleman, the leisure com-plex’s marketing manager, added: “Ithink this is great because there hasn’tbeen a bowling operation for years inCheltenham. So to have one right in thecentre of Cheltenham is fantastic foreveryone.”

CURRENCYAVA WELCOMESCURRENY CHANCE

The Automatic Vending Association(AVA) “welcomes the opportunity” to

be involved in the Royal Mint’s plans tochange the £1 coin design.

“The AVA understandsthe requirements ofThe Royal Mint tomaintain theintegrity of the £1coin and it is nota surprise thatdue to theincreased level ofcounterfeiting that anew public consulta-tion will be launched by theChancellor for the introduction of a new£1 coin,” the association stated.

“It is imperative that the vendingindustry works with all the other inter-

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It is due to open by November and willfill the empty unit in The Brewery com-plex previously occupied by Gala Bingo,above Nandos, Prezzo, Frankie &Benny’s and the Harvester.

James Mawer, Hollywood Bowl’s headof sales and marketing, told local press:

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Next week’s feature is

Seaside Review Supplement

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01204 396397

Maintenance of Worthing Pier

The second phase of maintenancework has been completed at Wor-thing Pier. According to the WorthingHerald, contractor Aarsleff has beenworking to replace rotten and weath-ered timber piles from a section of the

landing stagethat surroundsthe southernend of the pier.

By bringing together bretailers and property e

on projecrejuvenatstreets wjobs and growth in

2366-p22-25-Listings Analysis_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:29 Page 1

D

23

B2B

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

MARKETPLACE

B2B Pool Tables & Accessories

Distributor of snooker and pool accessories and manufacturers of genuine Superleague tables and spares.

Telephone

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IGH STREETS MINISTER BRANDON LEWIS

ested parties to ensure that the securityand implementation can be undertakenat the lowest possible cost to industrydue to its large legacy machine base.

“The AVA supports the developmentof a new coin, which is more secure thanits predecessor and can incorporatenew technologies in the future and worksthrough the existing machine base atminimal cost.”

CATEGORY CDEITH OFFER CAT CLITE DEALS

Deith Leisure are continuing with theirweekly special deals, offering a top

tier gaming machine at a limited time lowprice. This week focuses on RainbowKing, a community slot game from

Astra. Thegame isplayed overfive winlines,with a spe-cial gameboard acti-vated bylighting upthe letters

‘Rainbow King’. Among the prizes avail-able on this special mode is entry into acommunity jackpot. The game runs onthe 10p/£5 stake and so qualifies for therecently introduced lower rate of 5 percent Machine Games Duty.

APPOINTMENTSHB LEISURE SEEKSFIELD SERVICEENGINEER

HB Leisure has a vacancy for a fieldservice engineer to maintain and

service a wide range of amusement andcoin-operated equipment at two of itsoperations at leading theme parks inSurrey.

LOTTERY KING HIRINGBUSINESS MANAGER

Lottery King is on the hunt for a newbusiness development manager to

work at its basein the NorthWest. The suc-cessful applicantwill be tasked nonegotiating salesand rental dealswith licensedmembers clubs around the region.

REFURBSDEALS ABOUND ATHERONDATA

W ith news from operators around thecountry positive on the performance

of the new£100 jackpotCategory Cmachines, it’sno surprise tosee Heron-data offering awide selectionof new Cat Ctitles at com-petitive prices.

Among thecompany’smost popularoffers are arange of theever popular Deal or No Deal Games.The top of the range Cops and Robberstitle comes in at £1050, with pricesextending down to the Make or Breakmachine at £850. All of the games havebeen fitted for the new £100 jackpot.

gether business, councils,property experts to workon projects that will helprejuvenate British highstreets we can create newobs and boost localgrowth in the process.

Casino hosts poker tour

Aspers Super Casino WestfieldStratford City is to host one of Amer-ica’s biggest poker tournaments.The five-day Deep Stacks Poker se-ries, which will take place betweenOctober 22-26, will include severalAmerican poker champions includ-ing Michael Mizrachi, Mike Matusowand Tristan Wade.

2366-p22-25-Listings Analysis_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:29 Page 2

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

24

B2B Analysis

CATEGORYB3 (£2/£500 Max.)

CATEGORYD (10p/£5 Max.)

CATEGORYB4 (£2/£4000 Max)

AGCsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Magic Lotto Ultra Novomatics2 2 Mega Bars Big Hit Project3 3 King of Slots Blueprint4 4 Triple 8 Barcrest5 5 Mega Bars £2 Project6 6 Rainbow Riches Community Cash Barcrest7 7 Big Party Astra8 8 A Bet Astra9 9 Casino King TS 22 Project10 10 Lady Luck Reflex

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

Members clubsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Street Casino 2014 Tempest Storm2 2 Public Enemy Reflex3 3 Galloping Jackpot Reflex4 4 Cops Judgement Pay BFG5 5 Flamin’ 400 Reflex

Based on data from representative sites. Supplied by sector professional

FEC - familyThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Party Time Classic (3 Player) Astra2 2 Bullion Bars (3 Player) Astra3 3 Rainbow Riches (3 Player) Empire4 4 Gold Rush Stampede (4 Player) Barcrest5 5 Adders And Ladders (4 Player) Vivid6 6 DOND (3 Player) Bellfruit7 7 Party Games (4 Player) Astra8 8 Party Time Arena (4 Player) Astra9 9 Party Time (3 Player) Astra10 10 Crazy Fruits Bellfruit

Based on data from four sites Amusement Equipment Co Ltd

FEC - adultThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Magic Games U/R Novomatic2 2 Win Wall Astra3 3 Magic Games S/D Novomatic4 4 Pure Gold Project5 5 Super Big 7 S/D Electrocoin6 6 Party Time Aerna (4 Player) Astra7 7 Rainbow Riches Party Barcrest8 8 Sevens Up Electrocoin9 9 Party Time Classic (3 Player ) Astra10 10 Party Slots Novomatic

Based on data from four sites Amusement Equipment Co Ltd

CATEGORYC (£1/£100 Max.)

Single siteThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 DOND Winfall BFG2 2 DOND Lucky Streak BFG3 4 DOND Powerplay BFG4 5 DOND The Big One BFG5 3 DOND Crazy Chair Gold BFG6 6 Bank Job - Rob the lot QPS7 7 Worminator QPS8 8 DOND Pure Gold BFG9 9 DOND Turbo BFG10 10 DOND Double Chance BFG

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

AGCsThis LastWeek Week Name / Manufacturer

1 1 Encore T7 (GP2) SG Gaming2 - Magic Games 3 (s/d) Novomatic3 2 Magic Games 100 Ultra Novomatic4 8 X3000 Multigame Amatic5 - Encore T7 (GP1) SG Gaming6 3 Magic Games 3 Novomatic7 - Triple 7 (GP3) SG Gaming8 7 Triple 7 (GP2) SG Gaming9 6 Find the Lady 2 card Project10 - Random Gold Concept Games

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

Listings

PIERSPAVILION CELEBRATESLANDMARK BIRTHDAY

The Pavilion at Burnham-on-Sea,the UK’s smallest pier, celebrates its

100th birthday this year. To mark theoccasion, its owners are offering coachdrivers who stop in the town’s free coachpark the chance to win a £100 cash prizeevery week.

According to local press, from now untilSeptember, every coach driver who stopsin the car park will get a raffle ticket, to gowith other incentives already in place.

Les Barber, coach destination man-ager, told the Western Daily Press: “It isonly with the support of local businessesthat this project can be successful as ithas been so far. We are already advertis-ing this new incentive throughout thecoaching industry and it has been receiv-ing great reviews so far.”

TRADE SHOWSCROWN VALUES FACETIME

Crown Direct’s regional trade show,the Northern Showcase, is less than

a week away and managing director DeanHarding has been discussing why hebelieves that face-to-face time with cus-tomers is so important.

“My lads are on the road for fifty weeksa year and but with technology it’s veryeasy for the lads to sit down and showyour customers machines on iPads,” hesaid, “but it does give people a chance toget together, network and to see theproduct first hand. The time period fromEAG to the Northern Showcase also givesus an opportunity to refresh people’sminds on some products.”

EAST COASTAMUSEMENT SHOWDATES CONFIRMED

The 2014 incarnation of redemptiongiant UDC’s annual East Coast show,

an event which has become a popular fix-ture on the coin-op calendar, will be held

on May 13-14. Known by many in theindustry by its abbreviated form of ECAS,the show will be once again held at itsusual venue - the Southview Park Hotel inthe coastal resort of Skegness. Con-firmed exhibitors at the event so farinclude hosts UDC, nearby neighboursElectrocoin, PMS, Embed, CrownDirect and Connected Entertainment.

AIR HOCKEYKITTY AIR HOCKEYFUN!

Showcased recently at the DEAL Expoin Dubai, the Hello Kitty Air Hockey

from Sega brings one of the world’s mostrecognisable felines to the arcade.

Players stand at each end of the airhockey table and try to score more goalsthan one another in the time limit. Thegame includes LED scoring and timer,along with a scratch-resistant playfield.

JNC’S SUMMER DEALS

JNC Sales has a range of tried andtested amusement products available

as part of its large machine portfolio.These include a selection of whackersfrom Taiwanese manufacturers Feiloli,among them Klobber the Robber andGalaxy Garrison. Operators looking tostock up on these products before thesummer season can purchase both totherfor £4,495 as part of a cut-price deal. Theever-popular world of pushers is also wellcatered for at JNC, with the final fewClockworkOranges straightpushers availableto order now.All of the newmachinessold by JNCcome with asix monthwarranty andfull aftersalessupport.

2366-p22-25-Listings Analysis_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:43 Page 3

Sponsored by

NOVOMATIC LEADS, OTHERS FOLLOW

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FILMCHARTS

MR PROBZ:WAVES

UK Box Office ChartThis LastWeek Week Name

1 - The Amazing Spider-Man 22 3 Rio 2 3 2 Noah4 1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier5 - The Love Punch6 4 Divergent7 7 Calvary8 6 Muppets Most Wanted9 - Locke10 - 2 States

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

IGGY AZALEA: THENEW CLASSIC

MUSICCHARTS

UK Jukebox ChartHighest Earning Tracks on Sound Leisure jukeboxesThis Last

1 1 Happy Pharrell Williams2 - Hideaway Kiesza3 3 Nobody To Love Sigma4 4 Rather Be Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne5 6 All Of Me John Legend6 2 My Love Route 94 feat. Jess Glynne7 5 Money On My Mind Sam Smith8 8 The Man Aloe Blacc9 7 I Got U Duke Dumont & Jax Jones10 9 Timber Pitbull feat. Ke$ha

Based on data supplied by Soundnet

http://www.soundnet.net/

www.soundnet.net

25

B2B

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

FIGHT THE GOODFIGHT

KUNG FU POUNDAG-SQUARED GAMES

Kung Fu Pounda is an innovative Cate-gory C gaming machine from G-

Squared Games. Available directlythrough the company or distributor PWSales, the £100 jackpot game sees play-ers collect three ‘Poundas’ to activate thesuper board. The cash metres build upsuper cash, while three dragon coins acti-vate the take it or leave it feature. Playerscan hi-lo shuffle their way to extra cash,features and bonuses, and nudges canbe banked for later.

Efficiency savingsInstance Automatics’ new five-watt LED bulbs consume just 10 percent the amount of power in a stan-dard 50w dichroic bulb. Ideal forpushers, the bulbs’ unique diffuserglobe eliminates glare and dazzle.“We expect you will save enough

money to pay forthese bulbswithin four to sixmonths,” In-stance said.

Products

AlbumsThis Last

WeekWeek Name

1 1 Caustic Love Paolo Nuitini2 4 Love In The Future John Legend3 2 Meet The Vamps Vamps4 3 A Perfect Contradiction Paloma Faith5 - The New Classic Iggy Azalea6 5 Education Education Education & War Kaiser Chiefs7 - The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Eels8 7 The Take Off And Landing Of Everything Elbow9 8 Girl Pharrell Williams10 6 Symphonica George Michael

DownloadsThis Last

WeekWeek Name

1 - Waves Mr Probz 2 1 Hideaway Kiesza 3 2 Nobody To Love Sigma 4 3 All Of Me John Legend5 - Take Me Home Cash Cash ft Bebe Rexha6 - Calling All Hearts DJ Cassidy/Thicke/Jessie J 7 - Welcome To The Jungle Neon Jungle 8 4 Touch Shift K3Y 9 6 Stay High Tove Lo 10 7 Happy Pharrell Williams

SO MANY BENEFITSCASH MACHINESDC PAYMENTS

DC Payments - formerly InfoCash - is aleading supplier of tailored ATM solu-

tions to the pub and gaming industry. Thecompany creates packages that addressthe sectors’ unique trading environments,and supplies free to use or pay to useATMs. “A self-fill ATM is a great way toreduce your bank charges and to cutdown re-banking,” the company said. Afully managed ATM is the solution if youare looking for maximum return againstminimum effort. Your cash machine willhave absolutely no call on your ownresources or manpower. Simply get onwith running your business and let DCPayments look after all aspects of manag-ing your cash machine and keep it work-ing hard for you.”

Reduce coin starvationThe NV11 is a market leading,compact note recycler fromInnovativeTechnology.Combining an NV9 USBbanknote validator and‘Note Float’ payout unit,the NV11 can store andrecycle up to 30 notes. The NV11maximises cash efficiency andreduces coin starvation, significantlyreducing operational costs.

2366-p22-25-Listings Analysis_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 16:44 Page 4

26

B2B

B2B

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

Businesses Wanted Wanted

For Recruitment

please see Page 28

Classifi edTo advertise: Contact Kathryn Norris on 01204 396 397

Crown Direct 26Cricklewood Electronics 26JNC Sales 27Herondata 27Recruitment 28

For Sale

For Sale

SITE OPERATIONS WANTED

IN THE NORTH WEST OF ENGLAND & MID/NORTH WALES AREA’S

SMALL/MEDIUM SIZES CONSIDERED(Pub and club sites preferable)

Apply to;Coinslot International Magazine

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T8 VEGAS PARTY £7,995PERFORMER 22 £7,995KING OF SLOTS VISION £6,995MEGA 7/ D&J / MEGA BARS £4,495MEGA GAMES SLANT £2,995JACKPOT KING £995

Cat B3 £2 Stake WIZARD OF OZ 2 PLY £12,995EXPLOSIVE £11,995TICKET MONSTER £11,795CONNECT 4 MINI £8,995HARPOON LAGOON £7,995MONOPOLY £7,495DOWN DA CLOWN £6,995RAINBOW SHOOT TO WIN £5,995MILK JUG TOSS £5,995

Redemption

Video

SUPER REPEATER 3 PLY £14,495RAINBOW PARTY 3 PLY £14,495BULLION BARS STREAK £10,995CRAIC IN FUN 3 PLY £5 £8,495PARTY TIME CLASSIC £5 £8,495BULLION BARS CLASSIC £8,495

Multiplayer Gaming

SWEET FALLS COIN/TKT £18,495MRY GO ROUND COIN/TKT £16,995BIG PRIZE WINNER £4,995

DROP THE HOOK JELLY BEAN £3,495

Pushers

Prize

E CLAW 900 TWIN £8,995E CLAW COSMIC £4,995

Cranes

THIS WEEKS SPECIAL

TRANSFORMERS THEATRE £11,995ALPINE RACER TWIN £11,995TERMINATOR SDX £7,495 ALPINE RACER SINGLE £6,495NFS CARBON (CONV) TWIN £2,495PRIMEVIL HUNT 62” DLX £1,995

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RANDOM SPINNER £295CAN BE SEEN WORKING ON ARCADE FLOOR

TELEPHONE BELFAST 07753 963364

27

B2B

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

JNC SALES UNIT 1, CCT BUILDINGS, GREENSPLOTT ROAD,

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TEL: 0117 9382552AFTERSALES TEL: 0117 9382225

BOTH WITH TICKET OPTION AVAILABLE

• BUY THIS YEAR’S LATEST HARRY LEVY PUSHER• EXTENDED CREDIT TERMS AVAILABLE• PUSHER PART EXCHANGES WELCOMED

BUY BOTH FORONLY £4,495

£2,995KLOBBER

THE ROBBER £1,995GALAXY

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WHEEL DLX

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NEWWIK GOLD

AIR HOCKEY

CLOCKWORKORANGESSTRAIGHTPUSHER

LAST FEW‘CASH ONLY PAYOUT’

IN STOCK£16,995

2 ‘TICKET PAYOUT’ REMAINING FOR

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A SELECTION

OF THE BESTGREATWHACKERSFROM FEILOLI

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FOR FULL STOCK LIST OF OVER 1500 MACHINES, PLEASE VISIT WWW.JNC-SALES.CO.UK

GREAT TAKING MACHINES FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY

All new machines come with 6 month warranty and full aftersales support, if required.

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DONDRED HOT£995

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28

B2B

Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

Recruitment

SEASIDE REVIEW SUPPLEMENTIssue 2367 - 9th May

CAT B3Issue 2368 - 16th May

UPCOMING FEATURES

To subscribe, email:shaworth@gbmedia.euor asullivan@gbmedia.eu

01204 396 397

Best of British

In line with the impending launch of their exciting new B3A terminals and content, Lottery King are looking to recruit an experienced business development manager.

Based in the North West, this exciting role presents the following benefi ts:

Predominantly fi eld based, this role will involve the sales of machines on a rental or shared income basis to licensed members clubs.

The successful candidate will bring their experience and contacts and benefi t from the ability to offer a full solution to the club market, to complement the B3A offering.

You will also have a knowledge of the licensing requirements surrounding gaming in the club sector.

If you have a desire to bring a great new product to the forefront of the market and feel you have the sales skills and contacts to grow the business, then please get in touch using the methods below.

Adam Pickles, Lottery King, 134 Brookfi eld Place, Walton Summit, Preston, PR5 8BF or email adam.pickles@sceptreleisure.co.uk

FIELD SERVICE ENGINEERSURREY

We have a vacancy for a Field Service Engineer to maintain

and service a wide range of amusement and coin operated

equipment at two of our operations at leading theme parks in Surrey.

Applicants should be hands on and have experience in the

repair and preventative maintenance of the full range of modern

amusement equipment, including AWP’s, pushers, videos,

redemption, cranes and ancillary equipment.

Must hold a full clean driving licence and have a flexible

approach to your work schedule in order to deal with the

changing priorities.

Competitive salary offered depending on experience.

Please write to Julie Rogerson, Personnel Manager,

H B Leisure Ltd, 82 Mostyn Street, Llandudno, LL30 2SB or

email recruitment@hbleisure.co.uk www.hbleisure.co.uk

H B LEISURE LIMITED

FOR SALEMagic 6 club (B4) machines£400 JackpotAll stakes£1300 eachTelephone

07768 275044

ONLY A FEW LEFT£70 FRUIT MACHINES IN STOCKHOT HOT HOT ........................................£165HOT AS HELL ........................................£165SAFECRACKER ......................................£165DEVIL OF A DEAL...................................£195ON THE FIDDLE .....................................£225DUBLIN YER MONEY..............................£245WWW.FRUITMACHINEWORLD.COMARCADE CLEARANCE LTD07810 493581 PRICES INC. VAT

FOR SALEPILE UP/STACKERS

£700CRANE DINOSAURUS

S/P £350BOXERS CASH WINKALKOMAT £1000

THOMAS NOTES TO £1 COINS £550

LIKE NEW SUPERLEAGUE POOL £375

BARCREST CAT C & D FRUITS FROM £100TEL. 07900 972759

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Coinslot MAY 2 - MAY 8, 2014

29

B2B

Only an

April Fool

would miss

out on this

offer!

Sponsored by

1 AMG FIRST 11 Terry Farr 19 1498

2 ABOVE STANDARDS Lee Clarke 12 1485

3 SHERWIN A TEAM Mark Sherwin 52 1478

4 THE PERFECT TEAM Tom Clarke 26 1440

5 EVAN TENNER BACK NOW Stuart Heyden 30 1437

6 BOWLERS BOYZ Andy Bowler 22 1431

7 SOUTH OF THE QUEENS David Lees 31 1430

8 JABRO LIONS Tony Brookes 45 1416

9 LE COINSPINNERS Lee H 16 1410

10 ANGRY BALLS Laurie Carpenter 44 1402

11 SUSHI SLIPPERS Derek Lewis 23 1401

12 BAYERN OTHER STRIKER David Lees 25 1394

13 AMG LEISURE Carl Bearman 36 1344

14 COSMIC FIRST 11 Terry Farr 9 1340

15 GILLSGILLSGILLS Colin Smith 25 1338

16 FC CLACTON UNDER 10's Stuart Heyden 48 1331

17 THE ELDORADO TRACTOR BOYS Stoo Evans 17 1330

18 DYNAMO KEBAB David Lees 17 1323

19 MOTHYS MARVELS Scott Yarham 7 1318

20 CAREFREE WEEMAN Glyn Petrie 19 1301

21 KEEDAY LEGENDS Peter Holmes 19 1293

22 THE REAL DEAL Dave Columbine 41 1293

23 KEEPLAYERS Peter Holmes 9 1292

24 CAREFREE BAZZA Glyn Petrie 26 1287

25 KEEDAY RESERVES Peter Holmes 42 1283

26 CHEEKY MONKEYS Matty Sirett 15 1282

27 THE TEAM THAT WIN Hugo Illingworth 31 1276

28 EASY MONEY Steve Barber 29 1271

29 JACKSONS SUPER BLUES Phillip Nelson 21 1263

30 LLL WANDERERS Jake Parker 14 1262

31 CLUB TROPICANA Warren Roffey 16 1261

32 MUCKING FUDDLERS Chris Skelly 25 1261

33 AMG OOOOSSSHHH Ian Pawson 34 1258

34 IFUN@SUNDANCERS Shaney Pashley 17 1253

35 RAYLEIGHS REJECTS Jody Buckley 10 1250

36 JAMIES SHOPPERS 11 Jamie Lucky 27 1248

37 LLL CITY Keith Parker 28 1246

38 CASHBOX KINGS James Illingworth 31 1244

39 JOHN WARK'S MILKMEN Stu & Stoo 4 1243

40 CAREFREE ALDON Glyn Petrie 19 1240

41 JACKSONS JACKPOT XI Gareth Cammack 11 1239

42 11 UNDER PAR Ross Evans 22 1229

43 NES UNITED Chris Bell 13 1222

44 KEEDAYS FINEST Peter Holmes 22 1217

45 RANGERS RETURN 1 Ashley Temple 16 1216

46 I WANT DIRTY KNEES 2 Jorzoe-FTM 31 1216

47 SCUM ON THE RUN Nathan Holmes 33 1212

48 PARAGON ACADEMICALS Nick Hardy 31 1208

49 S.A.S FC David Holmes 17 1206

50 JABRO BOYS Tony Brookes 41 1201

51 AMS YID ARMY Jason Jarrett 26 1191

52 DELAYZIGITS Dave Delay 15 1184

53 COMRIEAUTOMATICS Jack Craddock 12 1182

54 HAMMERTIME Brian Wright 16 1182

55 LLL UNITED Tim Stanhope 21 1181

56 BEADLES 2 Peter Hemmings 36 1181

57 SHELL'S ELEVEN Michelle Martin 14 1179

58 SHOWBOAT ALLSTARS Ray Harris 9 1178

59 DANS DESTROYERS Daniel Barber 38 1171

60 HOLTY'S HOTSPOTS Tony Holt 18 1167

61 COSMIC SECOND 11 Terry Farr 20 1166

62 ESSEX BOYS 2 Steve Hawkins 24 1165

63 BUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE Harry Leaveme 31 1157

64 BEACON BATTLERS Harry Illingworth 28 1156

65 ALL THIS AND MORE Gary Newman 15 1144

66 ABSOLUTE RANKSTERS Alex Lee 14 1143

67 MICK McCARTHY'S MISFITS Stoo Evans 27 1137

68 ABSOLUTE REAMSTERS Alex Lee 31 1132

69 WARWICKS WINNERS Warwick Tunnicliffe 40 1131

70 BIG PRIZE WINNERS Harry Leaveme 31 1128

71 JO'S ASSETS Joanne Crooks 11 1122

72 JJ'S SHOPPERS 11 JJ Lucky 17 1122

73 HOT CHIPS C Edenborough 15 1121

74 DIDCOT GOALBUSTERS John Carpenter 30 1116

75 RANGERS RETURN 2 Ashley Temple 15 1098

76 AINT GOT A KALOU Stuart Heyden 37 1095

77 ESSEX BOYS 1 Steve Hawkins 13 1069

78 RICK'S BOYZ Andy Bowler 16 1068

79 BRAMBLEBOYZ123 Andy Bowler 19 1061

80 BEST SELECTION John Jennings 17 1054

81 STEVIE G LUCKY 11 Shoppers Luck 25 1052

82 DONKEY LASHERS Andy Williamson 9 1047

83 EE BAH GUM Simon Shaw 27 1036

84 HOLIDAY MONEY Darrell Webb 22 1034

85 AMS VXR GJ Roger Jarrett 20 1031

86 BEADLES 1 Peter Hemmings 22 1025

87 BURSNELL'S BULLETS Jo Bursnell 33 1021

88 DIBBS ELEVEN Tracey Dibben 15 1006

89 LLL BELLES Amelia Stanhope 12 1001

90 M.O.T Bill Knowles 27 1001

91 DO IT THEE SEN LAD Simon Shaw 28 990

92 ESSEX'S FINEST Dave Clarke 28 981

93 UPHILL SKIERS Bill Knowles 33 958

94 FERGIES FINEST Kevin Temple 17 955

95 JOHNNYS SHOPPERS 11 John Mitchell 20 955

96 COINSPINNERTRONS Coopertron 17 952

97 LLL ACCIES John Hood 7 927

98 AK BABES Andy Water 13 927

99 TOWER POWER Tony O'Brien 10 920

100 SEE THE AT' TOP Simon Shaw 24 912

101 LAC DE GURSON Bill Knowles 22 890

102 2 THE TOP Reece Newman 22 845

103 WARWICKS ELEVEN Warwick Tunnicliffe 7 756

Current Team Manager Weekly TotalPosition Name Name Points Points

Current Team Manager Weekly TotalPosition Name Name Points Points

Current Team Manager Weekly TotalPosition Name Name Points Points

SEMI FINALS: 1ST Leg - Mar 24TH to Mar 30th

KEEPLAYERS Peter Holmes 9 19 AMG FIRST 11 Terry Farr

Team Manager Aggregate over Team ManagerName Name both legs Name Name

SHOWBOAT ALLSTARS Ray Harris 9 31 PARAGON ACADEMICALS Nick Hardy

Team Manager Aggregate over Team ManagerName Name both legs Name Name

MINOR CUPMAJOR CUP

2366-p29-Surreal soccer_Coinslot NEW 29/04/2014 12:27 Page 1

30 Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

Comment

In the latest industry-the working men’sfeatured in recent col

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media watchalex lee

Wholesome coin-op recreat

commentalex lee

ne of coin-op’slongest-serving stal-warts told me just a

few days ago that he believesthe time is ripe for the 10ppusher to start dominatingthe UK’s seaside arcades. Ifound it hard to argue withhis sentiment.

The pusher is the ultimateseaside amusements icon.You could easily remove avideo game, novelty piece orprize vendor from a seasideFEC and it would still be seenas a seaside FEC. To a largeextent, you could perform asimilar experiment withmany of the gaming andamusement machines incontemporary operationsand the arcade would remaineminently recognisable forwhat it is.

If you made the error,however, of removing allpushers from the seasideoperation equation, youcould virtually guaranteethat the arcade wouldbecome just anotherweather-beaten art deco sea-side building. Distinguish-able by its bright neonsignage and garishly-coloured lighting, yes, butthat’s where the similarity toa thriving seaside arcadewould end. Pushing out thepusher would be like remov-ing the hashtag from Twitter- simply unforgivable!

This imposing piece ofequipment that dominatesmore floor space than youraverage coin-op machine hassurvived the test of time - and

many will testify to theindomitable nature of UK-manufactured pushers.Once your average visitor toa seaside arcade is throughthe door it’s the pusher thatdominates the premises andattracts punters like no otherproduct. The pusher is trulythe doyen of the coastal FEC.

In terms of technology,the pusher has of courseevolved, with video footage,fast coin entry, multiplier fea-tures and so on, but it hasdone so with both style andsubstance. The concept ofpushing a coin into the slotand watching its unpre-dictable journey onto theever-moving beds stays assimple and uncomplicatedas it always did - just ask thewaiting list of contestants forthe quiz show Tipping Point.

The pusher’s survival hasbeen helped in no small partby the 2p coin, which wouldlargely lurk down the backof settees up and down thecountry were it not for push-ers. How a machine thatswallows vast amounts ofdirty old copper coinage canbe as popular now as it wasfour decades ago, however,is anyone’s guess and I’minclined to agree with theabove mentioned operator’sview that now is the time forthe industry to give the 10ppusher a proper try with aview to increasing the paceof that all-important ROI.Let’s be honest, it doesn’ttake a rocket scientist towork out that 10 = 5 x 2.

Ignore thepower of thepusher atyour peril

Recent years have not beenkind to Britain’s Working

Men’s Clubs, the first of whichwere founded more than 150years ago, according to the NewYork Times. Several haverecently gone under, and morewill follow, said George Dawsonof the Working Men’s Club andInstitute Union, the central gov-erning board. Half the clubshave been lost over the last 30years. About 2,000 remain.

Around 1862, Unitarian minis-ter and teetotaller Henry Sollybegan to fret about men’s pen-chant for the “demon drink.” Sohe founded the Working Men’sClub: a social enterprise whereblue-collar workers mightescape the pull of the pub andfind, instead, education (throughlectures and workshops),wholesome recreation and per-haps some middle-class values.

Solly’s original plan wentawry; before long, the clubswere supplying alcohol that wasas plentiful as it was cheap.Many clubs became neighbour-

hood institutions where familiespassed evenings over games ofdarts, cribbage, skittles andsnooker. By the mid-1970s,Working Men’s Clubs had aboutfour million members. Thoughthe issue of “lady members”was first discussed in the 1870s,women did not receive full clubrights until 2007.

But things have since gonesour, and clubs are closingquickly. Many factors have beenblamed, said Ruth Cherrington,author of Not Just Beer andBingo! A Social History of Work-ing Men’s Clubs, among theminexpensive supermarket beer,cafe culture, soaring rents, theInternet and gyms. England’s2007 smoking ban “is usuallyhigh on the list”.

Holbeck Working Men’s Clubin South Leeds, founded in 1877,is close to shutting. Ian Pickup,who runs the club bar, said thathe is trying to streamline thebusiness. He proudly noted thathe increased the women’sannual fee from 50 pence to the

£5 that male members pay: “Ifmen pay a fiver, then ladies pay afiver!” But the change is notadding up. And the youth are notcoming; Pickup says his aver-age member is 65 years old.

Even so, other clubs arebucking the trend, making nodsto the present by installing Wi-Fi,even renting space to localbands. The Bethnal Green Work-ing Men’s Club in East London isjust east of Brick Lane, thestreet now known for itsBangladeshi curry houses.Faced with closure in 2001, theclub opened up to non-mem-bers and has since become afaddish destination for 20-somethings. Downstairs, theoctogenarians still have theircards and their gamblingmachine. But upstairs, thespace is used for concerts, bur-lesque shows, voga (a dynamicfusion of yoga and vogueing), apop-up Chinese restaurant and,says the club website, “wild,unhinged good times.”

Elsewhere, sport has tradi-

O

“Let’s seea few moreof these!”

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31Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

atest industry-related news, the New York Times has taken a look at the ups and downs oforking men’s club, while coin-op table football and claw machines have alsoed in recent column inches.

The National Pier Society’s Anthony Willshas given Coinslot an update as to thecontrasting fortunes of the UK’s piers. “

anthony wills

quote unquote

”creation for all

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tionally had a strong presencewithin pay-to-play amusements,whether that’s in video gamecontent or football, hockey orpool tables, according toIntergame’s Simon Liddle.

In table football, competitionis a fundamental element withinthe amusement experience.Challenging players to achievean objective in the quickest timeor when competing directly witheach other has formed the basisof a host of games that havebecome staple attractions in adiverse range of locations. In thesame way that cranes and push-ers are now thought of as clas-sics of the genre, sports gamesare considered equally asessential to a balanced amuse-ment offering.

“Sports are always attractiveto players because they areabout skill and are aestheticallyappealing,” said PabloMadariaga of Billares Sam, acompany that manufactures bil-liards and pool tables, airhockey and soccer tables.

Unlike other forms of amuse-ment, which some consider tobe in the same bracket as gam-bling, sports games are familyfriendly and can, in the case ofbilliards and pool, for example,become activities that can beseen “as part of a lifestyle assome players keep practicingthem all their life”.

From bars and bowling com-plexes, to FECs and outdoorattractions, sports games con-sistently attract players and fillcashboxes. They can create alively, jovial atmosphere thatimmediately attracts attention.Their popularity, it seems,crosses generations and demo-graphics.

And finally, a three-year-oldboy whom employees of a bowl-ing alley found playing with thestuffed animals inside of a coin-op claw-crane game has beenreunited with his mother in Lin-coln, Nebraska, US, accordingto KWTX.com.

The 24-year-old womancalled 911 after discovering that

the boy was missing from herapartment, police said. Mean-while, employees of the bowlingalley across the street from thecomplex called police to reportthat a small boy was playing withstuffed animals inside the coin-operated machine.

A representative from thevending machine company lethim out and he was reunitedwith his mother a short timelater. The boy apparently wan-dered out of the apartment andacross the street to the bowlingalley, but it’s still not clear howhe managed to get inside themachine. He wasn’t hurt.

His mother was not citedbecause she quickly reportedthat her son was missing andthere were no indications ofneglect, police said.

“Good news for all those planning to visit Adventure Island in Southendthis year: they’ve banned men from baring their chests. There’s no explicitban on women doing the same, but the rule probably applies equally.”

TIM STANLEY, THE TELEGRAPH

Having voted in December todemolish Colwyn bay’s Victo-

ria pier Conwy council formallydeclined the £594,000 initialaward from the heritage lotteryfund on 13 February. At their meet-ing on 12 March councillors con-firmed their decision to demolishthe structure but hoped to safe-guard and exhibit certain elementswhere possible. Campaigners,Shore Thing, are now saying thatthey could now be in a position tomake a lottery bid of their ownonce the ownership issue is set-tled, as the process of de-listing thestructure will be lengthy. The pro-tracted legal battle between SteveHunt and Conwy council was togo before Cardiff county courtbetween 14-16 April, with a rulingexpected in June. However, due toa problem with receipt of docu-ments, the hearing has now beendelayed until August, which meansthat a decision is not expecteduntil the autumn.

There have been persistentrumours that Southsea SouthParade has been sold for an undis-closed sum to a private individualintent on restoring it to its formerglory. Last October Portsmouthcouncil ordered that the Grade IIlisted structure be closed on safetygrounds, and energy companyEDF subsequently ceased supply-ing electricity due to an unpaidbill. The council has now orderedthe owners to carry out essentialrepairs to the pier canopy in orderto protect the public, failing whichit would do so itself and send themthe bill. Southsea pier trust chair-man Leon Reis said that any newowner would have to spend mil-lions of pounds salvaging andrestoring the badly damagedstructure.

Many piers sustained damagein continuing bad weather in Feb-ruary. Huge waves fanned by galeforce winds caused part ofBrighton west’s skeletal concerthall to break off. The train servicefrom Ryde pier head to Shanklinhad to be suspended after the con-ductor rail was shifted by thetides. Planks from the disusedboat deck at the end of Southseasouth parade were dislodged andstrewn along the beach towardsClarence pier. Further west, hugewaves ripped a 10ft hole in theamusement arcade on Teign-mouth pier and Torquay princesshad to be closed after high seaslifted some of the concrete deckat its head, exposing electricitycables. Perhaps most tragicallythe north jetty on Weston-Super-Mare Birnbeck - Britain’s mostthreatened pier - buckled underthe force of the waves.

After ten years of delay, con-struction work on the i-360 towerin front of the site of Brightonwest pier is scheduled to begin inJune and be finished in time toopen in 2016, the 150th anniver-sary of the pier. The tower, how-ever comes at a price - £46.2m -almost enough to rebuild the pieritself! Brighton & Hove’s GreenParty-led council has increasedits original contribution of £14mto £36m, most of it borrowedfrom the government’s publicworks loan fund: a further £6m iscoming from architects MarksBarfield, and £4m from the coastto coast local enterprise partner-ship. According to the councilwebsite the 574ft high observa-tion platform is predicted toattract 700,000-750,000 visitorsa year and bring £1m worth ofbusiness to the city.

Uncertain future formany of UK’s piers“Gambling and problem gambling are in the news almost every

week these days and MPs, campaigners and the media are allactively engaged in debating the legal and commercial hot topics ofgambling. However, very little discussion is devoted to the actualproblems in the lives of gamblers who have developed a destruc-tive compulsion or where problem gamblers can go to seek help.”

ELAINE SMETHURST, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GORDON MOODYASSOCIATION

“FEC Las Vegas was a great investment of time and resources. Thisparticular IAAPA event was ideal because the focus was network-ing and sharing information that could benefit all the attendees atthe event. It is exciting to have connections with so many newpeople that I can continually engage with about improving our busi-nesses.”

CRAIG WESCOTT, PRESIDENT AND OWNER, TRACK FAMILY FUN PARKS

“An explosion and fire on Gibraltar disrupted a number of onlinebetting operations on Sunday. No-one was injured, but the outageshut down the online betting operations of several firms, includingWilliam Hill, Betfred and Ladbrokes, which are based in Gibraltar.The outage meant many people were unable to play bets online ona busy Easter Sunday of sport.”

STAFF WRITER, BBC NEWS

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32 Coinslot May 2 - May 8, 2014

A ‘LIVE’ INTRODUCTIONTO ATTRACTIONS

here is just time forLondon-basedCoinslot readers to

visit BlooloopLive - a brandnew conference for UK visi-tor attractions. Taking placeon at the Westminster Con-ference Centre, 1 VictoriaStreet on May 1, the event isheld in conjunction withUKTI. “Join us atBlooloopLive for an unparal-leled opportunity to sharethe visions and tactics of thesenior industry figures whoare creating the environ-ments our customers willenjoy over the next 20years,” the organisers said.

THE NEED FOR SPEEDhe National KartingAssociation (NKA)Trade Day takes

place at the Daytona Kart Cir-cuit, Milton Keynes on June11. The event will bringtogether the UK’s NKA mem-bers and seeks to help bol-ster indoor and outdoorkarting circuits across the

country. The NKA has manyyears of experience in dealingwith the problems and chal-lenges of operating kartingcircuits. Membership of theNKA provides immediateaccess to this experience and

to a wide range of other serv-ices and facilities associatedwith running a karting circuitsafely and successfully.

INCREASED ATTENDANCEEXPECTED AT EAS

ore than 8,500 indus-try professionals,392 exhibitors, and

40 speakers from leading

facilities and suppliers fromall over the world partici-pated in EAS 2013 in Paris,and the event’s organiserexpects to draw even moreexhibitors to the 2014 editionof the amusements show.EAS 2014 takes place at theRAI Exhibition and Conven-tion Centre in Amsterdam,Netherlands, on September

23-25. “It’s all about the lat-est trends,attrac-tions, newinsightsabouttech-niques, networking, andmeeting colleagues, friendsand customers,” said showorganiser IAPPA.

Calendar

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UK EVENTSMAY 20147-8 Crown Northern ShowcasePines Hotel, Clayton-Le-Woods, Chor-ley, UK www.crowndirect.co.uk13-14East Coast AmusementShow (ECAS) Southview Park Hotel,Skegness www.udc.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL EVENTSAPRIL 2014

23-24 FEEL Expo Corferias,Bogota, Colombia www.feelexpo.com

MAY 20148-10GTI Asia Taipei ExpoTaipeiWorld Trade Centre, Taiwan www.gti-expo.com.tw/taipeien

UK EVENTSJUNE 2014

4Park Avenue Open Day, ParkAvenue, London, UK www.electro-coin.net

INTERNATIONAL EVENTSJUNE 201418-20 Asian Attractions Expo,China National Convention Centre,Beijing, China www.iaapa.org/AsianAttractionsExpo

SEPTEMBER 20142-4Entertainment Arena Expo,Romexpo Fair Ground, Bucharest,Romania www.earena.ro

EDITORIALEditor: Alex LeeEmail: al@sjc.co.uk Tel: 07772 280 299Assistant Editor:James Walker Email: jw@sjc.co.ukTel: 07816678021Managing Editor:Ken Scott Email: ks@sjc.co.ukTel: 01273 699 900ADVERTISING SALESKathryn NorrisEmail: knorris@gbmedia.euTel: 01204 396 397Fax: 01204 392 748SUBSCRIPTIONSSarah HaworthTel: 01204 396 397DIGITAL VERSIONMarc LawtonEmail: mlawton@gbmedia.euTel: 01204 396 397PRODUCTIONDesigner: Gina LloydEmail: gl@sjc.co.ukAd Production &Pre-Press:Dave RoderickEmail: gdk@sjc.co.ukPUBLISHERDirector: John SullivanGB Media Corporation Ltd,Bolton Technology Exchange,33 Queensbrook,Bolton, BL1 4AY Tel: 01204 396 397Fax: 01204 392 748

Email: jsullivan@gbmedia.euMARKETINGMarketing Executive:Emilie BeauTel: 01204 396 397OFFICESEditorial and Production:3rd Floor, 20 New Road,Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1UF (UK)Tel: 01273 699 900Advertising andSubscriptions:Coinslot International, Bolton Technology Exchange,33 Queensbrook,Bolton BL1 4AY Tel: 01204 396 397Fax: 01204 392 748

Opinions expressed in this publication shouldnot be regarded as the official view of GBMedia Corporation Ltd, except where stated.Views, opinions and recommendationscontained in this publication are put forward forconsideration only. No action should be takenin reliance upon any such views, opinions orrecommendations. Neither GB MediaCorporation Ltd nor contributors accept anyresponsibility for any loss occasioned to anyperson howsoever caused or arising as a resultof or in consequence of action taken orrefrained from in realiance on the contents ofthis publication.

Notes for contributors: Coinslotwelcomes the submission of articles forconsideration by the editor with a view topublication. Submission of an article will beheld to imply that the article contains originalunpublished work which GB MediaCorporation Ltd may lawfully publish. Allsubmissions are made at the owner’s risk.© GB Media Corporation Ltd, 2013All rights strictly reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any formor by any means without the prior writtenpermission given, full acknowledgement ofauthor, publisher and source must be given.

Space at Asian Attractions Expo sells outT

Newsweekhe trade show floor at AsianAttractions Expo 2014 hassold out. Setting a show

space record, the 8,500sq.m floorwill play host to more than 5,000attendees, including a considerablenumber from the UK coin-op sector.The Asian Attractions Expo 2014 willtake place at the China National Con-vention Centre in Beijing 17-20 June.

The likes of Bandai Namco, Bob’sSpace Raiders, Brunswick Bowling,Cogan, Embed, Qubica AMF and Syn-dicate - all of which have either UK

offices or distributors - have con-tributed to the sell-out.

The amusement parks and attrac-tions industry show will include 290

exhiitors with an estimated 3,500buyers from 60 countries.

“This year’s Asian AttractionsExpo trade show floor will beamong the most lively ever seen inthe Asia-Pacific region,” said IAAPApresident and CEO Paul Noland.“The wide array of internationalindustry manufacturers and suppli-ers make Asian Attractions Expo anexcellent opportunity for attendeesto find the next great product orservice that can give their attractiona competitive edge.”

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