Camelot slots in to shop m by Chris Pitt L


ocated in Truro, the only city in the county of Cornwall, Camelot Easybet is Britain’s most south-westerly one-shop independent. But that’s not its only claim to fame, for this is an LBO with a difference – one that has taken the best parts of a Camelot Casino Slots environment and transferred it into a betting shop. Formerly a record shop that had lain


vacant for many years – and located next door to the splendidly named Sole Plaice fish and chip restaurant – it opened in December 2008 in Pydar Street, within easy walking distance of its sister building, Camelot Casino Slots in Calenick Street. Camelot Casino Slots evolved in 2003,


following the rebranding of its existing three sites in Cornwall. It had started back in the early 1980s with the opening of Pot of Gold Amusements above an ice cream parlour in Newquay. “We had different arcades and they all had different names, then we branded them all under one brand,” says Camelot Casino Slots director Simon Kellam, a man with 25 years of industry experience. “Our Truro branch opened 15 years ago and is a dedicated Adult Gaming Centre (AGC), whilst our two sites in Newquay are a mixture of both Adult Gaming and Family Entertainment areas. They are all nicely fitted out, all the staff wear uniforms and customer service is high on our list of priorities. One could easily franchise and replicate it.” The Truro arcade has 80 machines, six of them B3s, while the remainder are a 50-50 split of category C and category D. AGCs are only allowed a maximum of four B3s but the Truro arcade is sub- divided with separate entrances, thus allowing up to eight.


When Camelot Casino Slots came up with a scheme to install an additional area in the AGC to function as a betting shop, an objection was lodged by a rival operator, hence the decision to open their own shop in a new location. Relates Simon: “I went into some betting shops and I saw there was room for improvement. I wanted to bring our ethos from the arcades into a betting shop. I thought we could offer something other people don’t offer in this market. “We’d had plenty of practice dealing with local authorities, so handling that side of things for a betting shop wasn’t really an issue. The biggest thing was entering a new market which we’d never had any experience in before. I did a lot


8 July/August 2010 BOS Magazine


Camelot Easybet’s shop in Pydar Street Truro


of research over the course of a year with the help of other independent operators including Spencer Mulholland from Independent Bookmakers. We employed a manager who had worked for one of the chains and then self-taught ourselves. “The shop is not as big as we’d have


liked but it was the only site we liked. We’ve created an upmarket atmosphere, which was one of our aims. It’s on the edge of the main shopping area and we’re near to a car park as well, so we’ve got quite a good position.” The shop was fitted out by Camelot’s


arcade fitters and the similarities are obvious, right down to the carpets, along with staff uniforms and loyalty programs all connected to the other three sites. The managers are Neil Grose, formerly of Betfred, and Andy Warman, who previously worked on the arcades side. Sharon Webber and Jordan Jenkin are the cashiers.


While there are several things about


Picture Mary Pitt


this shop that are similar to the arcades, their respective clientele are very different breeds. Nor is it either age or gender specific. “There is very little overlap of arcade and betting shop customers,” notes Simon. “We do cross-promotions – when we opened the shop we accessed 500 people by SMS texting from our arcade – but they are different types of gambler that will use the arcades and the betting shops.” The decision to open a shop in Truro rather than Newquay was easily made, despite the town already having a William Hill, a Totesport and a Betfred. “Truro has the more steady, all-year-


round trade,” says Simon. “Newquay is more tourist orientated. Generally, in the summer Truro is quieter than in the winter. Many of the clientele are locals. Yes, there’s some stiff competition here but that doesn’t frighten us because I think we can match what they do quite easily. We guarantee to match anyone else’s prices


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