The senior management team that helped to make Aspers at The Gate the busiest casino outside London has been boosted further by the appointment of Alan Barnes as Head of Gaming.
Alan joined the Newcastle casino when it opened in 2005 and has since worked across the Aspers group, including periods at the company's other venues in Swansea and Northampton. He will now oversee a team of more than 200 staff at the Newgate Street casino, which was the first in the UK to go membership-free in 2008.
"This is a great opportunity for me to contribute to the ongoing success of Aspers at The Gate, ensuring that we stay ahead of the game in the products that we offer and our commitment to customer service," said Alan, 31, who was previously manager of a casino in St Petersburg. "I will be focusing in particular on the introduction of electronic gaming and the region's first NX2 roulette table, which will be installed soon."
Alan's team includes seven dedicated customer service managers, who are focused on the smooth running of the gaming floor and the welfare of the playing public, ensuring that the exemplary service expected by Aspers customers is maintained at all times.
"Alan joined us one week after the casino opened in 2005 and rapidly became an integral part of the team," said Richard Smith, General Manager of Aspers at The Gate. "Having overseen the planning and implementation of our move to membership-free gaming, a process which he repeated in Swansea and Northampton, he was a natural choice for this new role. "
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Alan will also supervise the installation of an electronic TCS Blackjack game in the coming months, making Aspers one of only two venues in the UK to offer it. He will also be introducing Las Vegas favourite Dice to the casino, another first for the North East.
"These are challenging times for the industry, so if we want to stay ahead of the game, we need to be at the cutting edge of technology," added Alan. "I'm always looking out for the next big thing, as well as listening to what our customers want, and with 500,000 people through the doors in 2008, we seem to be getting it right."
ENDS
Issued on behalf of Aspers at The Gate
by Point Pleasant Communications
For further information please contact Rob Lawson
on (0191) 519 7219 (Mobile: 07940 501 993) or email rob@point-pleasant.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
- Aspers at The Gate is a 45,000ft2 leisure facility in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne.
- There are currently two other Aspers in Northampton and Swansea, with more new openings in the pipeline.
- The venue includes bars, restaurant, beauty spa, live entertainment and state-of-the-art gaming facilities.
- Aspers has attracted over 134,000 members in just over three and a half years from a catchment area covering Northumberland and County Durham, reaching across to Cumbria and down to York.
- In late 2007 Aspers became the first casino operator in the country to launch a loyalty club - Aspire - that allows customers to collect and redeem points throughout its operations (including gaming). Customers are now able to gain points for every purchase made on the premises and can also earn bonus points on selected promotions.
- In April 2008, Aspers became the first British casino to go 'membership free' which means that virtually all visitors can freely walk through the reception area without completing membership forms.
- At every Aspers location, the company has set up the Community Action for Responsible Gaming (CARG) programme. This initiative is unique to Aspers and is based on similar successful schemes in Australasia. CARG is a voluntary, not-for-profit group that seeks to constructively address problem gambling issues in society through a working partnership between local community-based interest groups.