Wetherspoons made £73.2m from machines. Read that again.
In the Autumn edition of ‘Inn the Club’ Newsletter that gets posted out to pubs and social clubs around the midlands, we did a deep dive on Wetherspoons. I’ll be honest, one number stopped me in my tracks.
Across roughly 800 pubs, Spoons turned over £2.13 billion and made a profit of £81.4 million. Their income from gaming machines? £73.2 million. That’s very nearly the size of their entire profit.
Some of their bigger sites now have up to 8 (yes Eight) machines lined up like mini arcades. Tim Martin doesn’t do anything by accident. If machines weren’t earning their space, they’d be gone.
Why this matters if you run a pub in Birmingham
Birmingham has hundreds of independent pubs and social clubs, and plenty of them sit within walking distance of a Spoons. You can’t match them on the price of a pint, and you shouldn’t try.
But you can match them on machines. Every pub with an alcohol licence starts with the same automatic entitlement as them: two Category C machines. Their bigger sites simply apply for more. The question is whether the machine in your corner is pulling its weight, or quietly gathering dust.
Here’s what I see when I walk into pubs across Birmingham:
- Machines that are five, six, even ten years old, with games nobody under 40 recognises
- Machines tucked in a dark corner, instead of pride of place
- A fruit machine supplier who hasn’t gone over the basic must’s with the location to ensure maximum revenue
Every one of those is money left on the table. The big chains refresh their machines and their games all the time. That’s a big part of why their machine income is so strong.
Three things you can copy from the big boys
1. Keep the machine current. Players want the games they’ve seen elsewhere. A modern digital fruit machine carries 30-plus games and gets new ones added.
2. Put it where people can see it. Near the bar, near the toilets, somewhere with footfall and a bit of light, but insight of the bar
3. Have a supplier who actually turns up. If a machine is down on a Friday night, it earns nothing. Our engineers aim to be with you the same day or early the next morning.
Having the Latest Machines Is A Must
We install them at no upfront cost, there’s no contract, and if you’re not happy, you’re not tied in.
We already look after pubs and clubs right across the West Midlands, from the city centre out to Solihull. If you’d like to see what a modern machine could do in your venue, take a look at our fruit machine hire in Birmingham page.
Try one free for two months
We’ll put the latest digital machine in your pub and you keep all the profit for the first two months. No upfront cost, no contract, free installation.
Call me on 07854 772576 or the office on 024 7669 2992, or email info@comrieautomatics.com. Find out more about fruit machine hire in Birmingham.
Mark Greig, Comrie Leisure. Supplying Midlands pubs and clubs since 1965.
