Colin Phillips
At the Start
...............how this man became Betting Shop Manager of the Year!
Can't believe he will get much support from his fellow managers in future.
From the RP site:
MICHAEL DEMETRIOU
Weblog: Betting Shop Manager of The Year
Flexibility and product is crucial for shop success
Last week I had the pleasure of going over to Sittingbourne Greyhound Stadium to present the trophy for the BAGS/SIS 500,sadly I didn’t back the winner; as soon as the traps opened it was only ever going to be Oklahoma Molly at 9/4, trained by Roy Griffin.
Took some friends over there with me and we had a great night. Meal was nice and it is always value for money. If there was one disappointment it would be the fact it was on a Thursday, I understand it was to promote the SIS Bags, but I feel it would have been better to have it on the Sunday evening Bags service. Originally there was supposed to be a dozen going over, but because of work commitments etc, some friends had to call off at the last minute so it ended up with seven of us, which still made for a good night, but I feel it could have been better promoted on the Sunday when fewer people are working and would have generated a bigger crowd.
Reading between the lines, SIS, based on feedback from bookmakers, are keen that the ‘experimental’ Sunday evening bags service should continue up to Christmas – at least I hear they have made a formal request to the directors of Bags who will consider this. It otherwise ended last Sunday. I presume there is a cost implication, but from my perspective, it is well worth it and fingers crossed Sittingbourne and Poole will be back on this Sunday.
Fair play to Sittingbourne, they have staged some attractive Sunday cards too.
These things take time, but Sunday evenings have really started to take off in our Choicebet [Herne Bay] shop. What I would love to see next is a twilight Sunday horse meeting from one of the all-weather tracks too.
Yes, I do know many take a negative view on the subject, complaining there’s too much racing and that the quality of the races won’t be top class etc., but not all customers are interested in whether it’s a Group 1 or Class 6. They just enjoy racing and we, as an industry, need to be flexible, encourage these changes and meet them with a positive attitude. Remember the early 90s when evening and Sunday racing was introduced . . . now we don’t even give it a second thought.
We also had the start of the new SIS soccer+ around live lower league football and which kicked off on Friday with Stockport vs. Luton. This is an excellent idea, and the managers I have spoken to have all have great expectations.
Hopefully, once we get a full fixture list of the games that will be covered, we can have some live football coupons produced and, with the extra people in watchingthe games, introduce in-running betting as well
Can't believe he will get much support from his fellow managers in future.
From the RP site:
MICHAEL DEMETRIOU
Weblog: Betting Shop Manager of The Year
Flexibility and product is crucial for shop success
Last week I had the pleasure of going over to Sittingbourne Greyhound Stadium to present the trophy for the BAGS/SIS 500,sadly I didn’t back the winner; as soon as the traps opened it was only ever going to be Oklahoma Molly at 9/4, trained by Roy Griffin.
Took some friends over there with me and we had a great night. Meal was nice and it is always value for money. If there was one disappointment it would be the fact it was on a Thursday, I understand it was to promote the SIS Bags, but I feel it would have been better to have it on the Sunday evening Bags service. Originally there was supposed to be a dozen going over, but because of work commitments etc, some friends had to call off at the last minute so it ended up with seven of us, which still made for a good night, but I feel it could have been better promoted on the Sunday when fewer people are working and would have generated a bigger crowd.
Reading between the lines, SIS, based on feedback from bookmakers, are keen that the ‘experimental’ Sunday evening bags service should continue up to Christmas – at least I hear they have made a formal request to the directors of Bags who will consider this. It otherwise ended last Sunday. I presume there is a cost implication, but from my perspective, it is well worth it and fingers crossed Sittingbourne and Poole will be back on this Sunday.
Fair play to Sittingbourne, they have staged some attractive Sunday cards too.
These things take time, but Sunday evenings have really started to take off in our Choicebet [Herne Bay] shop. What I would love to see next is a twilight Sunday horse meeting from one of the all-weather tracks too.
Yes, I do know many take a negative view on the subject, complaining there’s too much racing and that the quality of the races won’t be top class etc., but not all customers are interested in whether it’s a Group 1 or Class 6. They just enjoy racing and we, as an industry, need to be flexible, encourage these changes and meet them with a positive attitude. Remember the early 90s when evening and Sunday racing was introduced . . . now we don’t even give it a second thought.
We also had the start of the new SIS soccer+ around live lower league football and which kicked off on Friday with Stockport vs. Luton. This is an excellent idea, and the managers I have spoken to have all have great expectations.
Hopefully, once we get a full fixture list of the games that will be covered, we can have some live football coupons produced and, with the extra people in watchingthe games, introduce in-running betting as well
