Peter Rubin Asks“Where Were The UK Operators?”

Every January, with the commencement of the ATEI show, the British amusement industry looks for a fresh impetus. The tone for the coming year is set at the Earls Court show. Recently, the amusement industry has been suffering a bit of a go-slow in terms of sales. This is largely due to the confusion caused by the new gaming legislation with UK operators struggling to unravel the meaning of the new gaming laws and consequently being unsure what machines they can legally operate. Normally, the ATEI show heralds an upsurge in sales and a revival of optimism. Did this occur in 2008? How buoyant did the market feel after this year’s ATEI show?

Also, last year, there were problems finding the amusement exhibitors on the upper levels due to poor signage and visibility. Had Clarion done enough to improve this aspect of things, so that visitors, who were not used to the new layouts, could actually find the relevant exhibitors and their products?

The amusement institution known as the Crompton family were exhibiting new products as well as the popular Galaxy 21 pusher video game. Richard Crompton was proud to present his new ‘Turf Champs’ 3-ball horse racing game. Simply chose 3 horses to finish first, second or third respectively for the jackpot or in any combination for lesser payouts. Great classic game, however, who was Richard going to sell it to? As he said, “If we saw a UK operator, we chased him down the aisles!” This just goes to show how few UK operators attended the show this year.

Another new exhibitor was Richard Elsy, the Managing Director, of new Jukebox manufacturers Jaybox Ltd, based in Cumbria. Their new online ‘Jaybox’ allows customers to select from a massive 50, 0000 plus on demand library of music. The free download music is also supplemented by 200 tracks every week. It was a pleasure to meet Richard, who seems to be a thoroughly nice guy to do business with.

Talking of nice guys and jukebox manufacturers, Chris Black of Leeds-based Sound Leisure, was also very busy promoting the new ‘TrackDial’available only on the ‘Milestones In Music’ system. ‘TrackDial allows customers to select tracks on any compatible ‘Milestones In Music’ audio jukebox using their ‘WAP’ enabled mobile. ‘TrackDial’ provides a new income stream by allowing more pub customers to play the machine from areas not serviced by a coin slot such as smoking or outdoor areas. No cash is required as all plays are charged to your mobile bill and aggregated by Soundnet.

 It was also great to see Barry Kirby with his son Alex on the NSM Music stand with their new, improved wall mounted ‘Icon Digital’ jukebox. Also, Doug Hession from Sound Sense Electronics was at hand to help repair all makes of jukeboxes as well as help Barry Kirby at the bar.

After many attempts at looking for Cummins Allison’s stand, I finally found them next to the restaurant facilities on the upper level. Unfortunately, this highlighted the signage problems on the upper levels and difficulties involved in trying to find the amusement exhibitors. It is far too difficult to find exhibitors on the upper levels, especially when compared to downstairs at the ICE show and Clarion really has to improve signage along the aisles. Terry Lambert and Paul Clay of Cummins Allison thought that the show could have been busier, as they were showing their ‘JetScan’ currency scanners which can handle as many as 10 country currencies.

Chris Newby and his partner, Fiona Bye of Vegas Imports were as happy and positive as ever, a rare achievement at this year’s show. Thanks for the comment, “that I was the only journalist to try and help the industry over the last few years and tell it as it is!” However, let’s not forget all the help and good work done by the ever-gracious Joyce Todd as well.

Urbain Thewissen from Seeben was as enthusiastic as ever over his new game, ‘Las Vegas Dice’, which had tested very well in the Belgian market.

Nadia Vandeweyer and Paul Grigg from ELO Touch Systems were also enthusing about their latest ‘Dual touch’ touch screen games now available in even larger 22 inch, 26 inch and 32 inch sizes, with their ‘acoustic pulse recognition’ technology.

There was also an increased Polish exhibitor presence at the show totalling 17 in all. Marcin Novak from Jakar was as busy as ever, and it was also nice to meet Andrew Wojcieowski from Magic Play with their ‘Boxer, Hammer and Basketball ‘ games. It seems that most of the new amusement games are now coming from Poland, where Polish companies are now being very innovative and aggressive in terms of exporting. They are certainly showing our UK companies the way forward and with the decline of the UK market, exporting may be the only way for the British amusement industry to survive.

TAB Austria and their Managing Director, Siegfried Dattl, had a busy ATEI, showing their touch screen terminal ‘Silverball’, the digital jukebox’Max Fire’ and the digital pinball ‘Virtual Pinball’. Also TAB Austria are to be congratulated on their excellent and entertaining Awards evening held at the Novotel in Hammersmith. The Best Technical Performance Award went to Baio. The Best Marketing Award to Nord Italia. The Special Award to Global of the UK and the Best Overall Performance Award to C & P of Switzerland. Now in its third year, the TAB Austria Awards is deservedly a much enjoyed and looked forward to evening at the ATEI show.

However, the 2008 ATEI Show cannot really have been described as a successful show in terms of exhibitors doing business. There was a distinct lack of UK operators in attendance. Admittedly, this is due largely to the mess made by the Government of the new gaming legislation and as a result the operators who were at the show were not buying. However, for the first time, amusement companies were admitting that they had lost money by exhibiting and not doing enough business at the show. This is an unprecedented admission and what with the high cost of exhibition space coupled with the real lack of sales being done, it raises issues about whether some amusement exhibitors can afford to return for the 2009 show.

Traditionally, the ATEI show has been the showcase event for the UK industry. However, with very few UK operators attending this year, and more foreign exhibitors and visitors than ever before, questions have to be asked about whether the ATEI show now serves the European marketplace as opposed to the British one? One thing is for sure that the 2008 ATEI Show did not kick start the British market as had been hoped and only served to highlight the difficulties that the UK amusement operators face just in terms of survival. It may mean that the UK manufacturers and distributors may now have to focus on European and global markets in future, especially with the rapidly disappearing core UK amusement market. Consequently, it will be very interesting and surprising if the 2009 ATEI show is as well supported by the British amusement industry as the shows of the past have been.