HIPPODROME BIRTHDAY
biggest names in online gaming as partners, which is awesome for a stand alone property.
CI: Do you think these partnerships have been a
part of you attracting new players to the casino – players that have not been in a UK casino before? ST: Absolutely. It’s a strong and necessary part of
our development. The reality of casinos in the UK is the majority of casinos are relatively small and have relatively little to offer outside of the gaming floor, because legislation was so strict for so long,. Their management teams are focussed around gambling and customers think casinos are just gambling rooms. That perception is so deeply rooted that customers expect somewhere small that is devoted to gambling and is not much fun and for many traditional casinos it is pretty close to the truth. The challenge for us is to break that perception, but when we advertise we say ‘we have 6bars, restaurants, live entertainment, smoking terrace, etc, people don’t believe it, so we also need strong online promotion and advertising, helped by the strength of Microgaming and pokerstars. We’re also scoring well when we host events and parties here, and it helps get people across the threshold. There is a novelty value to
coming to an event at a casino – and when people walk in, they see the reality of the casino space they are immediately converted. We’ve cut back on conventional advertising because it is less effective because we’re fighting those preconceptions; we’re putting more effort into the PR and events; each event has its own momentum, each one generates more events. We have designed the building so the gaming floor is protected, so any event will not interrupt or bother players. We can do anything from a drinks party for 10, up to 800 people; cabaret, circus, live screenings, we’ve had conferences, boxing previews, press launches, we’re even going to do some boxing weigh-ins, we’ve had three rounds of Miss Great Britain heats and more – it’s a very varied programme and it is all good for raising our profile and creating a buzz about the Hippodrome.
CI: Are you profitable yet? ST: We’re cash positive, and have been for a while – but not as cash-positive as we know we can be. We’re making money, which is the key thing. I am frustrated by the sheer enormity of the place, and not having done everything that I want to do already – but I’m also excited, because we are already making money and we have so much in the pipeline that will make The Hippodrome even better. But everything takes time when you’re working on this scale.
CI: Have there been any problems in your first
year, any changes you have had to make? ST: Problems and opportunities. We’ve obviously had
plenty of challenges thrown at us; the most glorious was a power cut for three hours on a Friday night! In terms of the way people flow, operational issues, it is an evolving business and we keep modifying the layout, tweaking it, changing the tables, the table layout as we learn how people flow and work, and also as customer learn what is on offer in the building. We are constantly improving.
CI: What technology do the staff on the floor use? Do you employ tablets or similar to aid customer-facing staff? ST: Absolutely. Intelligent Gaming supply our Ipad
based gaming system which is increasingly valuand and because we are so large compared to most UK casinos, (we may only have 20 slots but we have 130 electronic gaming terminals, with Organic Roulette, Novomatic’s Roulette and Franco’s Tombola Roulette), we can actually justify putting in a system that typically might be used in a larger resort-style casino. We recently signed up for TransAct’s Epicentral, a slot bonusing system that gives us the ability to track all play on electronic terminals, and recognise which is uncarded play, and so we can approach them, reward them with a bonus ticket, try to get them on to our system. It also enables us to have specific promotions on the electronic gaming, which is typically quite hard to do promotions on. It supplements all of the established technology around our table games.
36 JULY/AUGUST 2013
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