The small English town of Daventry has been unveiled as the upcoming home for the next Merkur Slots-branded adult-only gaming center from German operator Merkur Group.

The Espelkamp-headquartered firm, which was previously known as Gauselmann Group until completing a January name-change, intends to open its latest British enterprise on March 18 across a pair of vacant units inside the Northamptonshire town’s central Bowen Square shopping plaza. 

The family-owned company - which operates slot gaming experiences on the UK high streets - told the Daventry Express the fresh two-story venture will be run by its wholly-owned Merkur Slots UK Limited subsidiary and feature an array of the latest slots from some of the world’s top developers.

High Hopes

Merkur Group first proposed bringing a gaming parlor to the empty Daventry premises once home to a travel agency and a family butcher’s shop in July of 2022 and had its associated change-of-use and amalgamation applications approved by West Northamptonshire Council some three months later. 

The company proclaimed it is now looking forward ‘to playing an active role in the local community’ and offering patrons the chance to ‘enjoy a game of bingo and their favorite pastime’.

“We are looking forward to returning a vacant unit back to commercial use and ensuring it once again contributes to the local economy,” read a statement from Merkur Group. 

“The venue will create new jobs and represents much-needed high street investment at a challenging time.”

Optimistic Operator

Merkur Group has a presence in more than 40 European countries and is also responsible for over 220 Merkur Slots-branded venues spread across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, including in the proximate communities in Brixworth, Northampton, Kettering, Rugby and Wellingborough. 

Its Merkur Slots UK Limited arm recently premiered two similarly-sized gaming venues in the Manchester area before unveiling a proposal to open a slot parlor in the southwestern Scottish town of Ayr.

Positive Planning

All of this continues a larger plan Merkur Slots UK Limited laid out last year in which it committed to spend upwards of £5 million ($6.3 million) before the end of 2023 so as to open a number of new venues. 

The Milton Keynes-headquartered operator asserted this strategy supported local economies by creating jobs and resulted in fresh gaming parlors for the English communities of Thetford, Boston, Wisbech, Plymouth, Coventry, Ilford, Leicester, Edmonton and Millfield.

“Every new venue we open creates an average of ten new local jobs and we have already generated over 600 jobs across the United Kingdom in the last twelve months through developing existing venues and opening new ones,” the Chief Operating Officer for the slot firm’s Merkur Casino UK Limited parent, Mark Schertle, said.