Coinslot June 14 - June 20 , 2013 7
Vending ‘ has crept up ’ on redemption specialist
REDEMPTION
The recent Park Avenue Open Day gave UDC an opportunity to speak to people in relaxed circumstances . Coinslot spoke to chairman Derek Horwood about the direction in which UDC is heading in 2013 .
DC ’ s chairman Derek Hor- pointed to the enor-
Uwood
mous Big Monster Drop from Florida-based Benchmark Games and the Fresh Cotton Candy Factory , manufactured in South East Asia , as two of the firm ’ s major pieces for 2013 , with the latter showing breathtaking returns on a number of Bourne Leisure sites in the UK . While a specialist in redemption since 1990 , the latter product represents not so much a change in direction for the Park Avenuebased outfit , but an additional string to its bow .
Horwood stated : “ We can meet and greet customers and show them new models . Obviously , we ’ d like to write plenty of orders on the back of it , as it does show off the equipment to its best advantage .”
While demonstrating the Fresh Cotton Candy Factory ’ s ‘ candy floss in one minute ’ vending machine , Horwood
explained that an eye for a good product coupled with a desire to keep ahead of the game has helped UDC survive some of coin-op ’ s leaner times while other companies have fallen by the wayside , including some of those which were positioned on the same Brent Crescent industrial estate which Horwood once referred to as “ Coin machine alley ”. He told Coinslot : “ I don ’ t think the UK was quite ready for redemption back in 1990 , but we were at the vanguard then and we ’ re always on the look-out for new , innovative redemption pieces . Exhibiting at Dubai and Mumbai has helped us gain a reputation on the world stage too .”
It was an ex-showman , Freddie Bailey , who sent Horwood a newspaper clipping of a popular US-based redemption machine , who convinced UDC that redemption was the way forward .
Horwood added : “ We watch the market to see where it ’ s
going and we try to influence it where we can . I ’ m not blinkered - I ’ ve been impressed by products distributed by other firms , but we ’ re having good reports from our games all over the UK so I ’ m happy about that .”
UDC ’ s chairman said that 2013 would be a ‘ year of consolidation ’ for his firm . “ We ’ ll push the products we have , give customers support and help customers tweak their purchases to give them the best crack of the whip . We ’ ll always stand by them and help them out wherever we can .”
With products such as Blue Blazes , which spits out tickets every time a player releases a ball into the circular playfield , and the world famous Slam-A-Winner , UDC is well positioned to keep a firm grip on the UK redemption sector . Horwood concluded : “ With the Candy Crane as well as the candy floss machine , vending has crept up on us somewhat , but as far as I ’ m concerned if a product is good enough there ’ s always room for some more .”
Exclusively from Whitehouse Leisure
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