The north finally got an amusements show of note this week with the ARE Expo enjoying a successful debut on the exhibition calendar. Enthusiastically supported by its 25 exhibitors – and with some of the best quality products on the floor – ARE delivered enough to prove that April can provide a valuable platform for an industry assembly going forward.

The Amusements & Retail Entertainment Expo made its debut this week, delivering the industry’s first senior show to the north for well over a decade. Manchester’s trendy Cotton Sheds played host to 25 amusements and gaming businesses, all eager to support the new event – and boy, was it a welcome difference to the former Amuse UK that had dominated the northern show terrain back in the early 2000s.

It was a professional line-up both on the showfloor and off it – the exhibitors all serving up some of the top range products on the marketplace at the moment. And many bases were covered: the highest quality machines from Blueprint, show sponsors Novomatic Gaming UK and Reflex spoke for themselves; the arcade game specialists Electrocoin, Instance, JNC Sales and Sega displayed the high octane energy products that are bringing seaside operations to life this summer; even more technological innovations – as if it were possible – from NSM Music and Innovative Technology’s pioneering age verification offering; the payment system pioneers Ask Global, E-Service and GeWeTe were out in force; the ground breaking children’s rides from SB Machines were taking the plaudits; and the all-service systems provider Boomerang continued as the must stop shop on the floor.

And just aside from the show, too, there were top class acts on the seminar bill organised by Steph Norbury. CLMS’s Simon Barff was one of the highlights with his findings on machine play, and the ever-incisive James Miller provided his usual brand of intelligent assessment on the competitive socialising sector. And not surprisingly, it’s the one new sector to watch in the coming years. 

But, and it’s not often said about a trade exhibition, it was a trade body that added a class dimension. The Gambling Business Group’s High Street Hub was an unusual star of the ARE Expo – with its workshops and advisory sessions and, most impressively, its day of events allocated to local Licensing and Police Officers who came out in force, no pun intended, for the GBG programme. Over 40 representatives took part in the seminars, a tour of the show and guidance on new data and age verification technology on the Boomerang and Innovative Technology stand.

Charlotte Meller, General Manager of the GBG, described the event as “very successful” noting that many of the licensing officials were taken aback by the quality of the safer gambling advances being made by the industry.

And on the business front, it was a very steady two days. The Novomatic stand was “buzzing with energy”; Ask Global “had a fantastic time”; Instance, too, described their time as “buzzing”; Electrocoin was intent “on supporting it” and Boomerang’s Freddie Shreeve was ebullient about his seminar session, sending out “a big thank you to everyone who attended the workshop and of course to the brilliant organisers and my fellow speakers Dawn Clarke, Martin Thomas, Philip Aspinall.”

And then there’s Karen Cooke, the organiser that brought amusements back to the north west in the shape of the ARE Expo. It was another well crafted menu from the master chef of exhibitions. Few people around the world know shows like  Cooke, and ARE was further evidence of that experience. She gave the people what they wanted.

So, did it go well? “It was a great two days,” she told Coinslot. “For a debut show we achieved almost everything we wanted – there was top quality on the products side, an excellent party on the first night and a series of workshops and seminars that provoked a lot of debate. We’ll take stock over the coming days and get feedback from our exhibitors who gave the show their full support.”

It would be fair to say – although not yet confirmed, expect a second coming. And the calendar will be a great deal kinder to the show next year with Easter four weeks back rather than one week as it was this time round. And without being too critical, Jesus really does have to get his act together – there’s likely to be an ARE expo to organise in 2026.

And on this year’s performance, the show has positioned itself neatly both in the diary and the budgetary slots. April has always been a month where the industry wants to gather for a last hurrah before the summer season gets into full gear. And as one exhibitor noted, most importantly given the current economic malaise, “it’s affordable”.

So, 25 exhibitors down, and plenty more to bring in. The northern event has staked its claim.