Richard Noble, chief operating officer, Aspers

December will be a landmark month in the evolution of the UK’s casino industry as the first of the country’s new generation of casinos, Aspers at Westfield Stratford City, London, opens its doors. Part of the mammoth Westfield Stratford City shopping and leisure complex in the East End, the casino is the largest ever to open in Britain and the first of eight proposed large casinos under the 2005 Gambling Act. Boasting 40 tables, 150 slot machines, 80 electronic betting terminals, a 150-seat poker room and a sportsbook, Aspers is set to raise the bar on British casino development.

Billed as the ‘Olympic casino licence’ due to the proximity of the site to the 2012 Olympic Park, the London Borough of Newham’s large casino licence was inevitably much sought after. The regeneration work under way in the East End in preparation for next year’s Games is transforming the area and thanks to the Westfield shopping precinct, the largest of its kind in Europe, it is already attracting visitors in their thousands. The decision to award the licence to Aspers ahead of several other bidders, however, resulted in a legal challenge that threatened to drag the whole business through the courts. Given what was at stake, the debate over the merits of the winning bid – specifically the regeneration benefits - did not come as a shock to Aspers chief operating officer Richard Noble.“I wasn’t surprised by the challenge, no. It’s a great prize,” he said. “Without a doubt, it’s the best opportunity and the best casino licence available to win in the UK. I wasn’t surprised there was a legal challenge, nor was I surprised that it went away before the final court case.”

Rival bidders Apollo Genting and City & Eastern both dropped their application for a judicial review in the High Court in August, paving the way for Aspers to pursue its plans.

“When people talk about regeneration,” explained Noble, “what Westfield, including ourselves, has brought to Stratford is immense. This is a £1.8bn development. We were in negotiations and working with Westfield from the very conception of Stratford City. The fact that it took the government and local authorities such a long period of time to start looking at these licences has meant we are opening our doors after Westfield has opened, but we absolutely see ourselves as a critical part of the Westfield leisure offering. That critical mass generates new revenues and employment opportunities and that in itself is regeneration for the whole of Stratford.”

This feature can be read in full in the December 2011 issue of InterGaming.