Tenants missing out on new AWPs

Pub tenants are missing out on up to £1,000 of revenue from the new higher stakes and prizes AWP machines because they are not keeping cash hoppers filled with one pound coins.

That's according to Sceptre Leisure boss Ken Turner. Managed pubs are enjoying up to a 20% boost to income from the new machines thanks to strict replenishment of cash hoppers.

But tenanted pubs are enjoying a much smaller increase of two to three per cent because they are failing to keep cash hoppers full - around £350 in pound coins is required for the new machines.

For the average tenanted pub earning total annual machine of around £5,000, the lost earnings can be as much as £1,000 a year.

The lost income comes because machines are unplayable when there aren't enough pound coins to credit a player who inserts a note into a machine.

Turner, whose company supplies machines to around 8,000 pubs, said: "The hopper level determines whether a machine will accept notes. If there aren't enough the machine then only accepts coins.

"Machine income is vitally important for pub profits so it's a missed opportunity."

Sceptre Leisure has unveiled a 83% increase in revenue to £39.2m in the year ended 30 April. Ebitda nearly doubled to £13m.

The total number of machines operated by Sceptre increased by 19% to 18,000 with average weekly rental up by 23% in the period.

Scepter Leisure has also successfully completed a 100-strong trial of instant-win lottery machines, called LotteryKing, in the Joseph Holt estate in the north-west.

Machines support a single nominated charity with licensees earning 15p in each pound spent - Sceptre estimates the machines are worth an extra £500 to £750 in income per annum to licensees.

The machines are now being rolled out to a further 200 pubs. The company is also rolling out its Kelly's Eye bingo, poler and darts solution. Sceptre has won contracts with managed groups Whitbread and Ladhar since its year-end.