ASPERS WESTFIELD
Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City a smash hit
Averaging 25-30,000 visitors a week, Britain’s largest casino is the latest in the new breed of UK gaming venues changing old-fashioned perceptions of what a casino is all about. Aspers COO Richard Noble spoke to Casino International about the project’s early months
A
spers has a common-sense approach to siting its casinos – put them in an area with high footfall, make it part of a greater overall leisure offering, and watch the
punters come rolling in. High volume, low spend is the root of their strategy, creating an entertainment destination for adults and a great experience for all of their visitors. Part of the Westfield development in East London, next to the shiny new Olympic stadium, Westfield is the largest shopping mall in Europe, with 300 retail outlets and a core offering of leisure which includes 60 bars and restaurants, a bowlking alley and the largest cinema complex in London. Since Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City’s amazing opening in December 2011, where they hosted 10,000 visitors a day, things have calmed down but the casino is still a roaring
success, as Aspers COO Richard Noble explains.
Casino International: What’s on the gaming floor at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City?
Richard Noble: On the gaming floor, we
currently have 49 gaming tables; we opened with 40 and installed an extra nine within two weeks of opening. That will be expanding up to 57 in the next few weeks, and by the time the Olympic Games are upon us that will be 64 tables, without a doubt the largest number of gaming tables at a casino in the UK. On the electronic side, we opened with 92 electronic terminals, which was a split of 80 Novomatic Unity II terminals and 12 of Interblock’s Organic terminals. We then added 22 Unity II to bring us up to 114 total terminals, and we have a further 24 Organic terminals coming in shortly, which takes us up to 138 overall.
With slot machines, we started with – and
still have – 150 slots, which are proving really popular.
CI: Why did you choose Novomatic and
Interblock for the project? RN: With the Novo Unity II we’ve had great
success in our other properties and we have trialled alternative electronic units, which have never really compared to the Unity II, so the backbone of this site was always going to be Novomatic’s product. The customer appears to understand and like the product, and the opportunity to add extra games to it going forward is very appealing. Sure, 90 per cent of electronic gaming is Roulette, but the benefit going forward is the opportunity to bring games like Punto Banco in to Stratford, which we have, and Blackjack, which we’re having soon, which will be working from a live dealer
36 APRIL 2012
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