Pier pressure as £1 coin slots in

A SWANSEA business says it has been forced to spend thousands on converting equipment at its amusement arcade due to this week’s launch of the new 12-sided £1 coin.

Bosses at Ameco Arcade on Mumbles Pier have splashed out around £10,000 to convert the mechanism of their slot machines to make it compatible with the new coin.

“We all have to change, change can be good, but there are issues that have come with the change of the new £1 coin,” said Ameco Arcade director John Bollom.

“But due to the shape of the coin we have had to spend in excess of £10,000 converting all of the machines in this premises to take this new £1 coin.

“Obviously this is being repeated all across the country.”

Many arcades and casinos around the country are also lamenting the timing of the release of the new coins, which has come shortly after the introduction of the new polymer £5 notes.

Mr Bollom added: “The other major problem is the timing of the introduction of this coin. We had hoped that they would wait until September to do all these changes, but it’s come before the end of March, just before our busiest bank holiday weekend.

“Effectively this year we had to run with two different versions of the same £1 coin.

“It is far from ideal because this past year we have had the new £5 notes, so we have had to make changes for those as well.”