A Tyneside pub amusement machine supplier is back in the game after bosses made a £2m digital investment into the business designed to revolutionise the UK’s leisure industry.
Bob Rudd, which was founded in 1989, specialises in digital and analogue fruit machines, pool tables, quiz machines and jukeboxes and sits within The Rudd Group and has five additional UK depots, as well as the Brunswick Village head office.
Nick Rudd and sister Charlotte bought out their parents Bob and Sharon in 2012 and continued to build on the firm’s reputation as an independent operator.
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The global pandemic triggered the immediate recall of 4,500 machines across the UK, with managing director Nick Rudd and his team having to collect every one of those machines within a strict 72-hour timeframe.
With the business suddenly starved of any income, the priorities were to stabilise outgoings and develop a new strategy ahead of the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
Part of that growth strategy was to extend the rollout of digital fruit machines and ensure the firm’s existing stock continued to meet premium standards.
Digital fruit machines cost five times as much as analogue alternatives but Mr Rudd was convinced that committing to significant capital expenditure would kickstart Bob Rudd’s post-lockdown recovery.
The company pressed ahead with plans to invest £2m in digital machines from leading manufacturers including Blueprint, Inspired, Innov8 and Reflex and is now bouncing back.
Folliowing two challenging years of trading, the leading supplier of gaming and amusement equipment to the licensed trade said it has increased turnover by 15% since March 2020.
Mr Rudd said: “The pandemic has had a huge impact on the hospitality sector and although the government provided some support to pubs and bars the supply chain was all but forgotten about.
“The last two years were tough for us and I’m really pleased that 2022 will be a year of growth for the company.
“It took a lot of grit and determination to navigate our way through an extremely challenging period and without such a great team of employees we would have seriously struggled.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on supplying the very latest products but naturally, as digital machines start to improve and develop, the costs escalate. It’s thanks to our great relationships with manufacturers that we are able to maintain strong product distribution within our estate.
“We invested at an uncertain time during lockdown but that gamble ultimately paid off. We are seeing the benefits now.”
The company also established the Bob Rudd Remote Service Centre.
Remote working and social distancing initially limited the post-lockdown reboot of the leisure industry, but additional funds were set aside to improve connectivity across the Bob Rudd network, enabling technicians to identify and correct faults from afar.
Kevin Astley, technical director, added: “As machines change with the times so does the need for our service structure to adapt. Our new Remote Service Centre is an innovative way of running the department and has greatly improved our efficiency.
“The Remote Service Centre is allowing technicians to flex their diagnostic skills and it promotes more of a teamwork-focused approach. The technician working remotely provides a huge amount of resource and back up to the person in the field.”
The firm has a 123-vehicle fleet operating out of six depots nationwide including sites in Leeds, Nottingham and Birmingham.
