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Rank takes Coventry site as Isle of Capri exits Europe
Rank Group has taken over Isle of Capri Casinos’ property at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England, rebranding it under the G Casino marque and confirming Isle of Capri’s departure from markets outside the US.
The acquisition brings Rank’s G Casinos estate in Britain to a total of nine sites, with a tenth set to open soon in the northern city of Sheffield.
Rank spent £1m ($1.7m) on developing the Coventry venue, in addition to the £650,000 ($1.1m) cash purchase price that it paid to Isle of Capri.
Since the first G Casino site opened in Manchester in 2006, Rank has added locations in Aberdeen, Blackpool, Bolton, Dundee, London, Luton, and Thanet, as well as an online casino at gcasino.com.
And by 2012, Rank plans to grow the brand to 20 locations, pursuing a strategy of offering customers a wider than usual range of gaming and non-gaming choices.
The 44,000-square-foot Coventry venue, for example, has a sports lounge, bar and restaurant as well as 20 gaming tables, 50 electronic roulette tables, gaming machines and a poker room.
The non-gaming mix follows a similar pattern to that at the new £5m ($8.4m) G Casino in Dundee, Scotland, a 30,000-square-foot venue also featuring restaurant, bar and sports lounge.
Richard Edwards, Operations Director for G Casinos, said: “We consider G Casino’s competition to be the whole leisure market rather than other casino operators. We also appreciate that dining is a hugely important part of the leisure offering for today’s consumer.”
Underlining that approach is Rank’s decision to open in Coventry what it says is the first ever Punjabi restaurant in a British casino, run by local caterers Mahir’s Experience, which was already working extensively at the Ricoh Arena to cater for Asian weddings. Coventry is close to the traditional West Midlands heartland of British Indian food.
The Ricoh Arena development, which opened in 2005, is the home of Coventry City Football Club. It also hosts concerts from the likes of Take That and Oasis, and includes conference and exhibition facilities as well a boutique hotel and several leisure businesses.
For Isle of Capri, meanwhile, the Coventry deal is paralleled by a departure from the Bahamas, where it has disposed of its Our Lucaya property to Treasure Bay Gaming.
Isle of Capri’s activities are now concentrated in the U.S., where it has 14 locations.
