With 130 of its 160 UK adult gaming centres reopening this weekend, the Gauselmann Group’s big British subsidiary, Praesepe, has been able to slip smoothly into action with the plan it had prepared for the aborted June 14 reopening.
The UK Government’s U-turn on that promise went down badly at the group’s Milton Keynes headquarters at the time, but this week it has been busily getting ready for this Saturday’s reopening in England.
The locations outside of England, in Wales and Scotland, are subject to different rules as those countries’ own governments are yet to give a firm date for the reopening of the industry.
The Praesepe preparations were led by the customers themselves, who responded to a company survey stating what they wanted to see from their local Merkur Cashino venues reopening. The survey showed that most customers had missed the social aspects of visiting the locations, but they also sought capacity limitations, hand sanitisers and regular cleaning. All of the requests have been implemented, although many of the protocols were already in place.
Mark Schertle, COO, said: “We were disappointed with the government’s 11th hour U-turn last month, but we are pleased that now we have got the green light for Saturday. The results of the survey were reassuring because it is good to know that we have such a loyal following. We will remain vigilant once our venues are open again and will work within government guidelines.”
He said that some of the safety measures being rolled out will include a pre-opening deep clean, changed layouts for social distancing, machine guards, face masks and other measures.
