It appears that Aspers placed a winning bet when it decided on the Stratford City development for its bid for the London Borough of Newham’s large casino licence. Today Newham Council’s licensing committee announced that after careful consideration they had chosen the £1.45 billion complex at Stratford City, due to open in September, as the location for what will be possibly the largest casino in the UK, although still a pale imitation of Las Vegas operations.

Stratford City is being called the Gateway to the London’s Olympic Park, having unrivalled transport connectivity. It will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe, anchored by top brands. The Aspers project, to be sited in the central arcade, will include live entertainment, restaurant and bar as well as poker, sports betting and bingo. The casino will have up to the permitted limit of slot machines – 150 with £4,000 maximum jackpot - and gaming tables within a 65,000 sq ft gaming floor. An estimated 440 new jobs will be created in an area in need of an economic boost.

Both Genting Casinos and Grosvenor Casinos were originally bidding for the Newham licence but the final decision was between Apollo Resorts & Leisure, the Great Eastern Quays Casino consortium and Aspers. In October last year Genting and Apollo entered a joint venture agreement to pursue the licence. Aspers chairman Damian Aspinall has expressed his delight at being the winning bidder, commenting the Aspers project ‘delivers the best operator in the best location within the best development’. (E-03.11.11)

© Copyright 2011 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage