It is a quarter of a century since the UK Independent Operators’ Association was formed at the ATE show in Olympia, London, in 1991.
The IOA is celebrating this achievement with a dinner during EAG International, following its AGM, where it will lay out its plans and priorities for the future. The key messages for the industry will be reliability, sustainability and technology, according to vice chairman Nick Rudd (pictured).
“When we talk about 25 years of the IOA, this doesn’t take into consideration the number of years of experience that each individual company has,” he said. “The youngest company in the association is 25 years old. Parkinsons and Prize Coin have traded for over 60 years, Alan Davis, Sims Automatics and Fair City for over 50 and Gem Automatics, F Simmonds and Sons, Northumbria and Town and County for more than 40. We have more combined experience than any other operator in the country.”
Sustainability comes from the fact that the majority of these companies are family businesses. “My sister and I have just completed a buy-out of my father’s company,” said Rudd, who is managing director of Bob Rudd Gaming and Amusement Machines. “Other families who work together include the Powells, Steve and Greg at Essex Leisure, and the Parkinsons, to name a few. Where you have a new generation coming through like this, there is long-term investment in the industry and a continuation of service for the customer. There is also an eye on the future, which keeps us up to date with the emerging technologies. This is what sustains the IOA.”
Technology is a priority for the association, as Paul Langham, IOA chairman and managing director of Town and County pointed out: “The IOA has brought a younger team through to look at technology, so that when the tide turns and digital product becomes more successful than analogue, we will be more than prepared. We aim to consolidate our position in the market in the next few years, by expanding our resources. We are already in the number-one position for most of our accounts when it comes to cashbox and we know this from the figures our customers present to us. We plan to extend this over all of our accounts.”
One of the main ways to achieve this, according to Langham. is to continue to seek out the “best in breed” products from suppliers. “We have agreements in place with all of the major manufacturers, such as the Gauselmann Group and Bell-Fruit, but we are also constantly searching out the best from the smaller independent companies as well so that we can offer the very finest games to our customers,” he said.
The latest landmark in the history of the association came last year when a number of IOA members acquired AMDeX Solutions, which supplies site and machine management software.
“This acquisition highlights how the IOA is addressing our key priorities of sustainability, reliability and technology,” explained Langham. “We recognised the potential of AMDeX and saw the advantages of being on the board for both ourselves and the company. Once we have achieved a number of objectives we plan to roll it out for wider investment within the independent operating sector at a future date.
“Investing in this technology puts the future of the IOA in safer hands and the future is our priority, which is why we are actively encouraging the younger generation of our membership to take ever more prominent roles within the association, so that we can all benefit from their technical expertise, professionalism and enthusiasm.”
