Richard Noble, who was formerly General Manager of Aspers at The Gate, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) and will oversee the group's other venues in Swansea and Northampton. He will be replaced in the Newcastle role by Richard Smith, who joins the company after two decades with another large casino operator.

The move comes after Aspers at The Gate announced record customer numbers for 2008, with almost 500,000 people passing through its doors, making it the busiest provincial casino in the UK.

"This is a great opportunity for me to oversee the further expansion of the Aspers portfolio, as well as the ongoing growth of our existing venues," said Mr Noble, who grew up in the North East. "I first joined Aspers in 2006 and I've worked at all three Aspers venues, so I'm already familiar with every aspect of the business and I'm really looking forward to this new challenge."

Richard Smith has moved from Glasgow to take up his new role at the venue in Newcastle city centre, where Aspers has built up a loyal customer base since it opened in 2005, becoming the first casino in the UK to go membership-free and introducing 24-hour opening in 2008.

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"The second I walked through the door, I could sense a very positive atmosphere and it's great to be involved with such a success story," said Mr Smith. "Richard Noble had clearly done a great job and I feel I'm picking up the baton. We're heading towards some challenging times, so we need to innovate and constantly set new standards to stay ahead of the competition."

Mr Noble will continue to be based at Aspers in Newcastle, making regular trips to the company's other venues and examining opportunities for future growth in the UK. Aspers is already looking at a possible new casino in Bournemouth and further prospective locations will emerge as the company's expansion strategy develops.

"The gaming industry is in a period of transition, with new legislation still being interpreted and a number of external factors, such as the smoking ban, continuing to have an effect," added Mr Noble. "We now have a management structure in place that can recognise new challenges and act upon them to take the business forward in the longer term."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• Aspers is a 45,000ft2 leisure facility in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne.
• The venue includes bars, restaurant, beauty spa, live entertainment and state-of-the-art gaming facilities. 
• Aspers has attracted almost 125,000 members in just over three 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. You must be 18 or over to enter the premises.  Photo ID is required if you look under 21 and to join our Aspire Loyalty Club.
• 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.