Boomerang Digital was launched to the industry at EAG 2024 with the London showcase event having a special place in the heart of the Boomerang team. Andrew Ludlow uses the event as a benchmark to reflect on a momentous year and to project forward with a set of exciting plans he will be sharing with customers.
Coinslot: This year is an important EAG with new gambling regulations and legislation on the horizon. What are you hoping to get from January’s show?
Andrew Ludlow: EAG is always an important industry event for us, not least because it really does fire the starting pistol on the exhibition season and what is effectively our new trading year. In these respects it is both commercially and symbolically significant. A good EAG does not necessarily mean a good year, but its difficult to recover from a disappointing show.
I’m pleased that we are in the Bingo Hub which is a great central feature of the show. We have also taken an increased stand presence at an event at which we officially introduced Boomerang Digital to the industry just 12-months ago. The bingo sector has its own unique personality and the Hub serves as a meeting point for the entire bingo community. Not only that, but with the high degree of cross-over that exists between bingo and the rest of the industry the Hub enables all sectors of the business to meet, network and discuss the issues which impact us all.
Our enhanced presence at EAG reflects the importance of the show to the Boomerang business as well as the sheer breadth of our product and solutions range. With ICE moving to Barcelona this year, I believe EAG’s position as a key exhibition dedicated to supporting the UK gaming industry is further elevated. Shows such as EAG also provide a benchmark to measure progress and for the team and our customers to experience how far we have come as a business in just 12-months.
We are nothing without our customers and I’m looking forward to meeting-up saying a huge thanks for their support and outlining the fantastic plans that we have for year ahead. Exhibitions, such as EAG generate a mix of mild anxiety and huge anticipation – as a team we cannot wait for the doors to open at ExCeL London!
Coinslot: There will be a great deal of emphasis on new launches at ExCeL. Can you give us an idea of what new innovations the visitors will be seeing on your stand on 14-16 January?
Andrew Ludlow: Innovation and development are core to Boomerang Digital and drive our ability to consistently deliver for our growing customer base.
Whilst EAG launches are of course a fabulous opportunity to “showcase” new products and innovations we strive to deliver this throughout the entire year. As a consequence we would never come to an exhibition without having some exciting innovations for our customers to experience on the stand.
Creating and delivering consumer engagement and entertainment solutions are what we are about, and we will be showcasing several new products aimed at doing just that. 2024 was a momentous year for Boomerang underpinned by acquisitions which in turn expanded our product portfolio.
We have been working consistently to integrate a number of our platforms in the process delivering improved product integration and benefits to our customers and of course the all-important end-user. We have extended an open invitation for all EAG attendees to visit our stand, come and see what we have been up to, grab a drink and enjoy some Boomerang hospitality
Our product portfolio has been developed as a result of working with our customers and listening to their current needs and future requirements. Reflecting on the market I genuinely believe that Boomerang brings something new to the table in so far as we are able to a provide a much more holistic and integrated approach. This manifests itself in the way that we are able to integrate our solutions to offer a significantly improved customer journey and experience.
Coinslot: We obviously expect to see your best sellers and the reliable favourites on display. What products were pulling up the trees during 2024 and how did they perform in venues last year?
Andrew Ludlow: 2024 was a fantastic year during which our innovations and solutions really did the talking for the brand. We have been able to deliver right across the entire range and also grown the portfolio as a consequence of performance and surpassing expectations. In terms of solutions that sparked discussion, orders and delivered on performance during 2024, our new Paystation model Tik-ex was a stand out.
This ultra-sleek point of sale unit generated really strong orders. Mobile applications, membership and SMS and how they now seamlessly integrate with other Boomerang solutions have also been a standout. There’s also been strong growth across Bingo Express, Jigsaw, Quantum, the Click machine management solutions and our Smarthub self-exclusion platform, all of these products continue to grow
market share.
Coinslot: One final question on the Gambling Review:what do you need from the government’s gambling review, and indeed from their general policies this year?
Andrew Ludlow: I shared my thoughts on this subject for Coinslot pre Christmas and the thinking remains exactly the same. The delay in enabling the changes that our industry so desperately needs would be whimsical if it wasn’t so serious. The fact that we are still the only high street retailer whose customers can only pay in cash defies any form of logic or explanation. We need progressive regulatory change across the board in order to compete.
If we can compete we can continue to provide employment opportunities and we can contribute to the government’s growth agenda. I said it before but we desperately need to shift the narrative to gain a recognition of the contributions that we make to society and to the economy. We also need a unified powerful industry voice to hold government and regulators to account.
