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London Hippodrome redevelopment in family hands
A £15million refurbishment of the UK's London Hippodrome, due to complete in 2011, is set to create the largest casino in London. The relaunched Hippodrome will offer fine dining and live entertainment alongside gaming. The project is being taken forward by, Simon Thomas and his father Jimmy, who sold their Beacon Bingo business in 2006 for £80 million.
Simon Thomas, Chairman of United Leisure Gaming, the company behind the redevelopment, said: "This is a flagship development for London and we are recreating The Hippodrome as a world-class venue. Having successfully developed the project to this stage as part of a consortium, and achieved all the necessary permits and licences, my father and I decided that we would like to see through the redevelopment as the sole operator and see through our plans to launch what is destined to become one of Europe's top entertainment venues."
The Thomas family has bought out consortium partners Mike Pemberton, Eddie Fairless and leisure operators Jon and Harry Shipley, and will now undertake the development on their own.
