News INTERNATIONAL UPDATE RW Birmingham is underway
Ground-breaking has begun on the Genting Resorts World Birmingham site in the UK
Construction work is now underway at Resorts World Birmingham after operator Genting UK received confirmation of its major funding for the project from The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Genting revealed that the money was made available via the government’s Funding For Lending Scheme in partnership with The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Corporate and Institutional Banking division.
“When RWB opens
Richard Salmond from Genting UK said: “The bank developed a bespoke package to assist with our project and has been instrumental in helping this project become a reality. We’re confident that this project for Birmingham will boost the local economy and become a core asset for the company in the UK.”
President of Genting Malaysia, the parent company of owner and operator of Resorts World Birmingham, Genting Casinos, Dato CY Lee, joined Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green and Genting Casinos UK President Peter Brooks to break ground on the development site.
The construction phase to build the seven-storey, 49,982sq.m. leisure and entertainment complex will last two years with Resorts World due to open to the public in early 2015.
Resorts World Birmingham, which promises to be one of the largest leisure and entertainment centres of its kind in the UK, will cost £125m and will open with a 176 room hotel. The four-star hotel will up to 10 five-star VIP suites located on the top floor. There will also be multi-use banqueting and conference centre offering facilities for large scale dinners and conventions, as well as for smaller seminars and meetings, a designer outlet centre of 45 units and 11- screen cinema offering the latest digital technology..
The 150 slot casino is expected to open in January 2015 offering over 1,100 full-time equivalent jobs and bringing £25m a year into the local economy. During the construction phase of Resorts World Birmingham 1,750 full time equivalent jobs will be supported and when fully operational 1,100 full-time equivalent jobs will be created.
March 2013 PAGE 20
in 2015, it will bring an innovative and exciting new offer for the recreational
and business visitor to the NEC. Resorts World Birmingham is by far our most
ambitious project to date - with a scale and budget to match.”
PETER BROOKS,
President and COO Genting UK.
Resorts World is working in partnership with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council,Jobs Centre Plus and Solihull College to ensure that local employment opportunities are maximised.
An economic assessment of Resorts World Birmingham’s impact on the regional economy undertaken by PwC has highlighted that during the construction phase £58m in gross value added (GVA) will be generated and when operational the development will create £32.8m in gross value added to the regional economy and £25m to the Solihull economy specifically per annum.
Cash management top of the MEI agenda during ICE
Despite news dominated by the proposed acquistion by Crane Payment Systems, MEI remained focused at the ICE show on delivering its combined benefits of the SC Advance and EASITRAX Soft Count as a complete cash management solution.
SC Advance evolved from the CASHFLOW SC note acceptor, applying new technology and market knowledge to make a great product even better. It features enhanced recognition technology, faster note-to-note speed, improved barcode recognition and the increased capacity to accept up to 100 different currencies and denominations. SC Advance also has the industry’s best acceptance rate for valid street-grade notes, including those that are wet, crinkled or
torn. At the same time, more MEI customers are now also implementing EASITRAX Soft Count, a product extension that expands the reach of note acceptors from the slot floor into the soft count room. The addition of EASITRAX to SC Advance or CASHFLOW SC creates a comprehensive software/hardware system designed to streamline the cash management process.
Operators typically receive a return on investment in less than one year by reducing 20- 30 seconds per cash drop and improving maintenance practices. There’s an interactive Savings Calculator on the new website (
easitraxsoftcount.com) which can estimate how much money can be saved by implementing EASITRAX.
THE SALE OF TRUMP PLAZA, ONCE, the jewel in Donald Trump's Boardwalk crown, has generated the lowest ever price for an Atlantic City casino at just US$20m. The Meruelo Group of California, owner of the Grand Sierra Resort and casino in Reno, has bought the casino for the bargain-basement price from Trump Entertainment Resorts. It wants to close the deal by the end of May, sealing its entry into a distressed market where only one casino posted year-on-year gains in the last set of financial figures. It has paid less than 10 per cent of the $210m that it cost to develop Trump Plaza in May 1984. The Meruelo Group, which also works in the construction, engineering and real estate sectors, will rename the AC property at a later date. The new operator said it would make a considerable investment into the property.
Alex Meruelo, Founder and CEO of the Meruelo Group, said: “Trump Plaza is one of the world's most recognised gaming resort destinations and is an integral part of the Atlantic City landscape. Our company is thrilled to have the opportunity to become the new owners of this property, and we are firmly committed toward establishing it as one of the elite destinations in Atlantic City and on the East Coast.”
INSPIRED GAMING HAS SOLD ITS Warrington-based amusement and leisure division to Playnation, in a private equity backed Management Buy Out (MBO). Inspired will use the proceeds to invest in the rapid expansion of its gaming technology business internationally, driven by the growth of government sponsored networked gaming. Playnation meanwhile will be able to invest new capital in its leadership position in the UK high volume low stakes amusement and leisure market. Playnation will be led by Adam Hodges, formerly MD of Inspired’s Leisure division.
Luke Alvarez, CEO and founder of Inspired, said: “This is an important further step in the evolution of Inspired Gaming Group into a pureplay international gaming technology leader. It strengthens Inspired’s balance sheet and enables a sole focus on the fast growing UK and international SBG/VLT/ V-Sports markets. It allows Playnation to leverage its unique leadership position within UK high volume low stakes entertainment to invest in and grow its business.”
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