Game Nation races into the BTCC with Independent Champion
Game Nation are today delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with the 2024 BTCC Independent Champion, Árón Taylor-Smith.
Game Nation, the UK’s third largest operator of high street Slot Venues are venturing into the pinnacle of British Motorsport for the first time in the upcoming 2025 season. The partnership with Irish Ace, Taylor-Smith, extends far beyond a generic marketing program by focusing on elements to give back to their loyal customer base with race day experiences on offer. This combined with the iconic Game Nation branding being on board Taylor-Smith’s race helmet with all races being shown live on ITV enables the company to further leverage above its competitors.
Mark Jepp, CEO, Game Nation commented: “At Game Nation we are always looking to be market leaders, be it in our forty plus premises to how we market our company and partnering with Árón embodies everything that we are. I first spoke to Árón to explore a mainstream marketing program as the commercial reach of the BTCC is second to none but after meeting it was clear that it would extend far beyond that, from bespoke content creation to offering race day experiences to our venue teams & customer base. Aside from all of that, we are truly excited to be trackside through the year to support Árón.”
Game Nation was founded in 2019 and quickly established itself as one of the nation’s leaders in high street Slot venues Now with over forty locations, primarily in the South-East of the UK, Game Nation have decided to make a bold statement by entering the UK’s most widely followed motorsport championship with Taylor-Smith. The 2024 BTCC Independent Champion was in a league of his own last season as the Irishman had a record-setting season on the way to his title by collecting an incredible twenty Independent race wins out of a possible thirty. This combined with multiple outright podiums has cemented a resurgence in the fans favourite BTCC career and he has his sights set on outright glory in 2025 now with the support of Game Nation.
Taylor-Smith commented: “2024 was an incredible season but now my entire focus is on this coming season. I work tirelessly in the offseason, be it on the simulator, in the gym or on my commercial partnerships to enable me to maximise my performance in season and this partnership with Game Nation could not be any better timed. They are a market leader in their respective industry which aligns perfectly with what I want to achieve in 2025. We’ve been able to structure a tailored partnership to focus on cementing the Game Nation name in British motorsport and if nothing else, I am incredibly excited to see what we can achieve this coming season.
As the 2025 British Touring Car Championship season approaches, Aron Taylor-Smith is poised to build on his remarkable success from the previous season. Whilst the offseason is in full swing the work behind the scenes has continued with Taylor-Smith ramping up his preparations as the day’s countdown to the opening race at Donington Park on April 27th. This partnership with Game Nation enables guests of the company to experience fantastic experiences on race days whilst the iconic company logo will be on display on Taylor-Smith’s race helmet for the millions of viewers on ITV to see.
Taylor-Smith commented: “The support of Game Nation really does make a world of difference, from allowing more preseason testing to further developing our car. My successes on track are solely down to the support of my partner network and I want to thank Mark for trusting in me to fly the Game Nation flag. I really do think that 2025 will be an incredible year and I’m looking forward to doing it in the Game Nation colours.”
The first race of the 2025 BTCC season takes place on April 27th at Donington Park but be sure to keep an eye on Aron’s and the Game Nation channels for regular updates on the run up to the first race.
Let’s talk about safer gambling #SGWeek24
During 18-24 November 2024 it’s Safer Gambling Week and here at Game Nation we want to help raise awareness of gambling responsibly. Visit safergamblingUK.org for further information.
Gaming in our venues is intended to be a fun and enjoyable leisure experience. We aim to ensure our customers are protected from the harms associated with problem gambling.
If you think you or someone you know is affected by gambling, please visit gamcare.org.uk, the UK’s national provider of free information, advice and support for anyone affected by problem gambling.
Game Nation appoint Mark Jepp as CEO
Game Nation, the UK’s third largest high street slots operator, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Mark Jepp to lead the business as CEO, effective 2 September 2024.
Adam Hodges, one of the original founders of Game Nation, will step down as CEO. During his five years at the helm, Adam was responsible for building the brand and cementing its position as a leading name in high street entertainment. He led the company through Covid, the cost of living crisis, and more recently streamlined its portfolio of shops.
Ulrik Bengtsson, Chairman of City Gaming Limited, commented “The Board would like to take the opportunity to thank Adam as he has played an important role in the company’s success over the past years. The Board feels the time is right for new leadership and is confident in appointing Mark Jepp who, with his operational and hospitality mindset combined with vast machines experience, is well equipped to lead the company going forward.”
Mark Jepp moves from Mecca Bingo where he was Slots Director and prior to that he was Managing Director of Majestic Bingo, Mark has also held roles at Ladbrokes and Gala Bingo.
Game Nation deploys Rimini Systems Guardian.
Game Nation is pleased to announce it has entered a partnership agreement with Rimini Systems to deploy the Guardian CMS solution across its entire AGC operation.
Rimini Systems is a market leading supplier of EGM management and cashless payment technologies. Rimini Systems’ cloud-based Guardian CMS machine management and accounting solution includes an easy-to-use tablet solution for site operations and a comprehensive management portal that makes game management easy for all levels within an operator’s organisation. Guardian CMS is fully integrated with Rimini System’s Guardian TITO module, a proven ticket based cashless payment solution that has securely processed more than £200m of transactions over the past 5 years.
Stuart Green, Chief Commercial Officer for Game Nation commented, “We set out 18 months ago to identify a cash and machine management solution with the option of TITO that would allow us to add value to and control of our growing business. Rob Wheeler and his team at Rimini Systems immersed themselves in our operation, got to understand the operational challenges and technical requirements and honed the Guardian CMS solution as a result. I’m delighted to now be able to formalise our partnership and deploy the Guardian CMS solution across our AGC operations.”
Rob Wheeler, Managing Director, Rimini Systems added, “We have worked closely with Stuart and the Game Nation team and are proud to be able to formalise our partnership. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and to supporting Game Nation now and into the future. The last 18 months have been a pivotal time in Rimini System’s evolution and this exciting new partnership with Game Nation, and similar agreements with other UK based AGC operators, means that there are more than 200 AGC venues being managed by the Guardian solution. We look forward to building on this success in 2022.”
Game Nation Invest In Infrastructure With Ask Global Solutions
Game Nation and ASK Global Solutions have developed a strategic relationship to deliver an integrated Cash Management and Cash Redemption kiosks solution for all of their venues.
Both businesses have rapidly grown in size over the last twelve months therefore the opportunity for ASK Global Solutions to supply Game Nation, the fastest growing AGC business, was a perfect fit.
Stuart Green, CCO said, “ASK Global Solutions Director Fivos Polymniou and the Game Nation team, have worked closely together to develop a bespoke solution that dovetails perfectly into our new systems roadmap. The software delivers an improved cash handling experience, along with quality Business Intelligence.”
The partnership has helped ASK Global Solution to now supply over 200 venues using its products and services.
Fivos said. “We are very pleased to have been chosen by Game Nation as their preferred kiosk provider. The combined software development as created an end solution that is user friendly and exceptionally configurable.”
Game Nation ‘Inspired’ by significant new machine injection
The strategic partnership of Game Nation and Inspired continues to grow from strength to strength, with a new deal to deliver over £7 million in machines across the B3 & Cat C product range. This new deal is a significant part of Game Nation’s ambitious machine deployment strategy and is pivotal to achieving future growth.
Stuart Green, CCO of Game Nation, said, “We have worked closely with Inspired for many years, and greatly respect the team and products they’ve built in the AWP market. Working together with Ian Shreeve and the Inspired teams, we believe that our exciting content road map across our ever-expanding Flex & Prismatic hardware range will deliver stronger revenues.”
Ian Shreeve, VP of UK Sales for Inspired said, “Game Nation’s growth in the UK AGC sector has been impressive and somewhat demanding, but throughout our partnership, we have always had machines available to match their pace of growth. Game Nation is a very good fit for our exciting product portfolio. We look forward to supplying more machines and game content for years to come.”