The first question most people ask is where did Nick Harding's operating company get the name Praesepe?

It seems it is ‘a cluster of stars in the constellation of Cancer, also known as the ‘Beehive Cluster’. The background is from Nick Harding himself - and he has probably had to repeat the antecedents so often that he must sometimes wish his organisation had come up with a name a little less obscure.

However, the CEO of the adult gaming centre operating organisation, manfully turns the name into an intent to build a team of stars, beginning with Jonathon Hughes and his Cashino team.

Neat. It fits at least, but puts pressure on Harding and his organisation to come up with that team of stars. It is by no means a new role for Harding, who has made a career out of building a network of adult gaming centres across the UK.

Now that portfolio includes licensed betting offices. He is a devotee to the principle of low stakes/high volume gaming in the UK and more particularly in the British high streets.

"As hard as they try, bookmakers’ shops are aimed quite clearly at a male audience and in any case they can only operate four B2/B3 machines. AGCs work primarily with women - well over 60 per cent of customers are women.

"And they provide a range of different machines, including low stake prize bingo. The locations are also far more female-friendly, providing a convivial environment for them to feel comfortable, safe and confident."

AGCs of course have been under pressure, despite their role as one of the few female friendly light gaming locations. Earnings have tended to be consistent even in face of difficult trading conditions.

"The AGC offers low ticket entertainment without life-changing prizes and customers are not under pressure to gamble higher amounts and try out ‘harder’ products as they often are in other gaming sectors." 

He is keen to emphasise that the AGC is not to be confused with an arcade, which Harding sees as the equivalent of a family entertainment centre.

It is true that in some arcades, even at seaside locations, there is a sectioned off area for payout machines, restricted to adults, but generally, the separation of the ‘family’ location and the adult location is reasonably well defined.

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"The AGC is an entirely different proposition from FECs. In terms of a family offer, both types of venue sit well side by side. If you are to entertain the kids, you have to entertain the adults as well and as such there is a symbiotic relationship, not a competitive one."

But having said that, the Praesepe locations are distinctly adult in flavour with a minimum age entrance qualification.

For Harding and companies like Praesepe, the temptation is there to become involved in the fixed odds betting machine, which has revolutionised the income of bookmakers’ shops.

Some British AGC operators have experimented with turning part of their locations over to bookmakers’ shops on the basis that, as the saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’

Harding’s view: "I have always felt that there is mileage in juxtaposing LBOs and AGCs. One caters for Mr Smith and the other for Mrs Smith and presented properly, I believe that they can complement one another.

"However, I also believe that the Government and the regulator are having a long, hard look at the B2 machine (high stakes/prizes in bookmakers’ shops). I think that until decisions are taken on the future stakes and prizes for this category of machine, I would be reticent about developing LBOs."

Praesepe’s involvement in online gaming through its recent agreement with Jackpotjoy gives rise to the possibility of the company going into new territories.

Harding said: "At Talarius (his previous company), I led a team which successfully developed, from scratch, an online gaming product which was highly innovative in many aspects of its presentation and product offer.

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"If you are to build a multi-faceted gaming business, which is what I want Praesepe to be, then the online delivery of gaming products has to be part of the business. Our relationship with Jackpotjoy is in its infancy and at this stage is only being developed by Jonathon Hughes and his Cashino team.

"Other parts of the Praesepe group may progress this relationship, or they may decide the follow the same path as we did at Talarius and build a business from scratch. At this stage, I think it is fair to say that we are still on the fence."

Harding wants to take Praesepe into Europe. He recognises that to restrict his company to a UK-only strategy is dangerous as British gaming law and economic considerations are historically fragile.

"We believe that a European strategy provides a way to grow Praesepe quickly and to provide the group with a counter cyclical financial structure which will ensure that shareholder value is protected against all the ups and downs from which most domestic gaming industries suffer.

It would be foolish to be parochial and simply focus on the UK and we continue to look at opportunities right across Europe. There are significant private businesses, built up by entrepreneurs who are now considering how to exist for retirement.

"We have experience of acquiring private businesses both painlessly and with a structure, which ensures maximum value for vendors, inserting them into a listed vehicle, which provides both cash and also shares in a developing business. In that way they get two bites of the cherry.

"My mantra is that the one thing to know when you move into a new jurisdiction through acquisition is that you know nothing. As such I would only ever want to acquire 51 per cent of a target business and would want to ensure that incumbent management stayed with the business and that our futures were inextricably linked."