Latest news

We know we’re into a new year when the gaming and amusement machines exhibition season rolls around once again. The first exhibition we visited this year was the EAG International Show, held at the Excel London Exhibition Centre. Billed as the amusement and leisure show, it’s always quite an event.

It’s time to start swotting up on your general knowledge as entries are now open for the annual Dransfields CIU National Quiz.

In November 2015, officials from over 600 clubs gathered in Manchester for an annual awards event to recognise and celebrate successes across the club industry. Run by Club Mirror magazine and now in their 24th year, the Club Mirror Awards provide an opportunity to showcase the achievements of clubs from around the UK and demonstrate their commitment to their communities.

This month saw the end of the road for the long-running saga that has been Rank Group plc versus HMRC. Since 2006, the case has been working its way through the judicial system, finally reaching the Supreme Court and resulting in a judgement on 8th July 2015, in favour of HMRC.

The beginning of this month saw us attending the annual Park Avenue Open Day event in London – which has been taking place for almost 30 years now.

In our last blog we covered the events of this year’s CIU’s Beers & Trades exhibition and Annual Meeting, held in Blackpool in April. This national event provides superb opportunities for members to meet suppliers, colleagues and the CIU Executive team. It provides a valuable platform for discussion, debate and the direction of the club movement as a whole. 

We always look forward to the annual CIU Conference weekend, and this year was one of the best yet.

In recent times, we’ve been made aware of a worrying spike in the number of thefts from gaming machines and we’re encouraging clubs and pubs to be vigilant. Organised gangs of crooks are specifically targeting gaming machines with a view to stealing cash.

It’s been just over eight months on since the launch of our exciting new digital B4 gaming machine, Power Play which pays out a maximum jackpot of £400 on stakes of up to £2. We’re delighted to say that it’s been an instant hit with our club customers – encouragingly, those who have installed Power Play are reporting significant increases in income.

Dransfields is delighted to announce the acquisition in December of Token Amusements of Bournemouth – hitherto the largest independent gaming machine operator in that region. The purchase of this historical company (Token Amusements first began trading in 1937) came about as a result of the retirement of owner Mike Doughty.