Tag: UK

In partnership with GamCare, YGAM are delivering the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme and have trained Wolves and Foundation staff over the last year, providing them with the tools and information to safeguard the young people they work with and care for.

Wolves season ticket holder and head of delivery at YGAM, Sam Starsmore, has experienced the devastating impact of a gambling addiction and therefore fully understands how important education and prevention is.

Starsmore said: “Working with the teams at Wolves has been fantastic. Raising awareness and delivering education on the potential harms associated with gambling is something that Wolves have been fully supportive of. Our work together will continue so we can appropriately armour young people with the knowledge for them to make more informed choices.”

Lisa Carter, head of safeguarding at Wolves, has experienced first-hand how this partnership has supported the club and the young people connected within the community. Carter said: “YGAM have delivered training to our staff several times and the feedback is always extremely positive. It’s such an emotive subject but part of everyday life for many children, young people and adults.”

In addition to this, YGAM also provide free awareness workshops for parents and foster carers on topics of gaming and gambling. Theuir workshops and Parent HUB empowers parents with the knowledge and understanding around safeguarding their children.

The OKTO brand continues to build its status and reputation as UK gaming’s premier cashless payments provider having secured agreements with both the MERKUR Slots and the MERKUR Bingo brands. The deals, which were completed and signed by Simon Dorsen, Chief Commercial Officer at OKTO and Sascha Blodau, General Manager, MERKUR UK at last week’s ACOS exhibition in London, will see the OKTO.WALLET available in 200 venues throughout the country stretching from Hereford to Harlow, Dundee to Dunstable and Cardiff to Coventry.

The first implementations, which will see OKTO integrated with the existing in-venue cashless infrastructure via the GeWeTe hub, will take place at the 2,200-seat capacity MERKUR Bingo Hall in Cricklewood North London – the biggest bingo club in Europe – and the state-of-the-art MERKUR Slots high street gaming centre in Shepherds Bush, west London.

Simon Dorsen, CCO at OKTO who is responsible for directing the roll-out of the OKTO.WALLET in the UK said: “This is another major agreement and one that we are incredibly pleased to confirm with MERKUR, one of the most respected and recognised names in world gaming.

We started our relationship with MERKUR UK less than six months ago in May 2021 when we signed an agreement with Regal Gaming and Leisure. Adding to the relationship in this way means that we are now active in the Pub, AGC and Bingo sectors which I believe reflects the appeal of the app with players, what it can deliver from a commercial perspective but also its’ role in delivering a safer gambling experience with tools including age verification, time-out periods, a profit and loss calculator, the ability to set spending limits and access to helplines for the small percentage of machine players who experience problems gambling. Through its 360 Program, I know how seriously MERKUR UK is about delivering a safe gambling experience and I am delighted that the OKTO.WALLET will be able to contribute to that commitment and philosophy.”

Sascha Blodau, General Manager, MERKUR UK added: “Our goal as a Group is to strive to be the very best in everything that we do. As well as the obvious criterion such as the best venues, people, and machines it also means providing our customers with the best experience and the best choice of options to play and to pay. Everything is led by our players – delivering choice will always be at the very top of the agenda and that includes a recognition that new demographics are seeking a smooth, seamless digitalised customer journey.”

OKTO, which has a pipeline of 250,000 contractually integrated gaming machines across Europe, has hit the ground running in the UK. The latest agreements with MERKUR Slots and MERKUR Bingo, join those secured with Regal Gaming and Leisure, Inspired Entertainment, and Bob Rudd.

Flutter Entertainment’s new £15m UK technology and innovation hub in Leeds is now officially open to colleagues from across its UK and Ireland and International divisions.

Designed by MEPC, the state-of-the-art workspace is home to 1700 colleagues and comprises 136,000 sq. ft of flexible space across eight floors at 4 Wellington Place in Leeds Dock – a thriving community for the media, technology, and creative industries. It has been built to the highest environmental standard, achieving a BREEAM Excellent rating on completion and includes a range of accessibility and sustainable features, meeting the WELL building standard, which aims to make the work environment healthier for colleagues.

The hub will act as a centre of excellence in technology and innovation for Flutter brands operating in the UK and Ireland, helping to drive innovation across the Group through the development of industry-leading digital products for consumers across the world, while providing highly-skilled jobs and a sizeable local investment in Leeds and the surrounding Yorkshire region.

The new site will be home to more than 800 technology professionals working in key functions such as its Global Sports Trading Platform, Digital Infrastructure, Platform Services, and Information Security. It will also include several unique attributes, including:

• Seventh and eight floors dedicated solely for social activities between teams;
• IT ‘vending machines’ for certain equipment to free up resource and time for IT colleagues;
• £1m investment in VC and AV equipment to promote inclusive meetings between those working remotely and in the office;
• Six electric car charging points in the basement;
• And break-out furniture items all made from recycled Coca-Cola bottles.

The hub will continue to promote SBG’s ‘Skills Academy’, which offers selected graduates a fully funded MSc in Digital and Technology Solutions from Sheffield Hallam University while they gain in-house experience working with technology teams across the business. To better represent the communities it operates in, SBG has also launched a self-funded version of the government’s Kickstart scheme, creating 13 new roles for young people at risk of long-term unemployment. These are spread across business areas and functions including marketing, finance, people, tech and design.

Conor Grant, CEO of Flutter Entertainment UK and Ireland commented: “Our new office in Leeds is our vision for the future of working and we are excited to welcome our colleagues to this modern, agile and flexible workspace. The entire Flutter Group has benefited greatly from the leading technology capabilities we have developed in Leeds through our talented and highly skilled workforce, and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to both the city and our colleagues. We will also continue to be a positive force in the communities we serve, with our Skills Academy and Kickstart scheme offering exciting opportunities for young people to develop their skills.”

PushFar, a mentoring and career progression platform, has partnered with Limit Break, a mentorship program in the games industry, to help improve diversity, inclusion and equality.

Limit Break is using PushFar’s platform to offer a mentorship program for underrepresented people working in the UK gaming industry. Recent figures show that 70% of people working in the gaming industry are male, compared to 28% female and 2% non-binary workers, and that 10% of people are Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME).

Founder Anisa Sanusi established Limit Break in 2019 when she found it challenging to find a mentor in the gaming industry. She recognised the value of guidance and role models for underrepresented genders, LGBQT+ and people of colour, with representation in the workforce significantly below the national average of those in work.

Limit Break turned to Pushfar for a solution because the popularity of the mentoring program meant it was time consuming and required scaling. PushFar set up an accessible and intuitive platform, making it easy to match members based on their specific profiles, and allowing the program to have international reach. The platform also enables people to connect with people from specific backgrounds through a self-matching feature. Limit Break now has up to 700 people on their mentoring program, and has seen an increase in member retention.

Ed Johnson, CEO and Founder of PushFar, said: “Having a mentoring relationship is often noted as being one of the most beneficial things you can do for career development. Employees feel motivated and supported when they see senior leaders with whom they can relate. Limit Break has recognised the advantages mentoring can bring to their industry, and taken an active role in addressing diversity and inclusion issues through it. We’re delighted to be part of this solution and hope that our platform will help more people from under-represented groups join the games industry”.

Anisa Sanusi, Founder of Limit Break, said: “Actively mentoring candidates enables us to facilitate connections for a young workforce to those with experience. We want to help to keep the games industry rich with diverse talent and passion, and hope that our program will enable more people from under-represented groups to join the industry. Creating a mentorship program can be a time consuming and complicated task, but by using PushFar we’ve been able to make it simple and easy for everyone involved.”