Phil Nunn is the Club Director of The Palm Beach Casino and he shares his views and knowledge in an interview by Peter White. The Palm Beach Casino is a stunning place with a distinctive style that creates a sophisticated atmosphere. After undergoing some renovations, The Palm Beach Casino from London lives up to its name, by offering the entertainment of the famous Palm Beach in Florida.
The Career So Far
Phil Nunn has been at The Palm Beach Casino for two and a half years, starting from 2016. Before that he worked for 22 years as a Casino Director/General Manager in London. Before he started his career in casinos, Phil Nunn worked as a training manager for Ladbrokes in UK.
One of his more unusual roles were once he joined the sector that included working for a Management Training and Security consultancy for Mike Wallace International Casino Monitoring. This role led Phil Nunn to develop his global knowledge of many operators and owners.
The Management Training Consultancy is based in Belgium. The experience assisted Phil Nunn during his career in the casino industry. It changed his perspective on the gaming floor from overseas to UK operations.
About The Palm Beach Casino
The Palm Beach was founded 53 years ago and it is named after the famous Palm Beach from Florida. Before the casino, there was Mayfair Hotel. The Palm Beach Casino is attached to the Mayfair Hotel.
In 28th March 1927, The May Fair Hotel was opened and it had numerous owners. In 1964 Grand Metropolitan became the third owner of Mayfair hotels. On 29th September 1965, Maxwell Joseph, the chairman of Grand Metropolitan opened a new and exciting French themed Palm Beach Club, together with the Barnet brothers, Roberts and Alfred.
Palm Beach Club has opened in what was once the Hotel’s famous Ballroom and Boulevard de Paris Restaurant. Claude Legendre, General Manager and Pierre Hirigoyen, Gaming Manager who originally came from The Palm Beach Casino from Cannes, France, hence the name, had a small part of the management.
In 1967, Grand Metropolitan and the Barnett brothers introduced their own Management team. They also acquired Crockfords and The Colony Club, which was called International Sporting Club at that time.
The Palm Beach Club along with the remaining clubs were brought by Joseph Coral in 1971. A decade later these clubs were sold to Bass Charrington. In turn, the Grand Metropolitan Ltd brought back The Palm Beach Club. Before the club returned to its original owner, Grand Metropolitan Ltd became the parent company of Mecca Sportsman Ltd. which were bingo halls. The Palm Beach Club was their fifth casino.
In 1989, the Management purchased the casino group from Grand Metropolitan, becoming London Clubs Ltd. In 1994, London Clubs Management Ltd, with seven casinos in London, changed its name to London Clubs International Plc.
23th May 2003, Stanley Leisure PLC purchased The Palm Beach Club, reuniting The Colony Club and Crockfords, alongside The Cromwell Mint and over 40 casinos in Britain. In 2007 Stanley Casinos Ltd was brought by Malaysian resort company Genting, becoming Genting Casinos UK.
The Palm Beach in the Present
In order to face the challenges of staying current with the new social media trends the Palm Beach Casino has to retain the elements that makes the casino special. In this new world, Phil Nunn believes that in order to survive this new world, you have to find your style and stick with it. He wants to tell to other operators that, it is necessary to create your own identity.
On social media channels The Palm Beach highlights their Food & Beverage offer. Everyone knows the casino, what they don’t know is the casino have two restaurants and three bars. Once, they highlighted their offer on Instagram alongside the gaming part as well, all of the sudden it became something special. One of the restaurants is a grand room with high ceilings and it is overseen by award-winning chef Mahmud Zaman.
The ruby leather booths and magnolia velvet chairs are surrounded by backlit mirrored arches and the artwork is inspired from Chinese symbolism. All of this is added to the colour of the brand that is portrayed through photos on social media.
The most popular table games played in the American Roulette together with Baccarat and Blackjack. Palm Beach features one of London’s largest gaming rooms with dedicated tables of Poker, Baccarat, as well as American and electronic roulette.
Players can also join Roulette Live which is Mayfair’s first and only live-action casino game. This means that players can play in-venue at the Dual Play Roulette table with people from all around the world. Players that can’t make it to the casino during the event, they can log-in and join the game remotely. Like this they can still get a taste of Palm Beach experience.
The view on gaming and industry & innovation for Phil Nunn is very simple. Everybody sees that the gaming world is evolving. Phil gives an example in their case, it is enough to look at The Palm Beach new dual play wheel. The casino is forever changing and improving on their social responsibility ensuring a safe, enjoyable and responsible gaming experience. This will continue to change and they will continue to be innovative for a new player experience.
The Impressive Facilities of the Casino
The restaurants offer amazing cuisines from around the world, cooked by the famous Chef Zaman. Zama’s Aloo Tikka Chaat with tamarind sauce is a great option of choosing. The favourite meal of the staff is Tandoori Lamb Chops which is topped by a delicious coconut creme brulee and lemon sorbet, described as culinary perfection.
The new Bar & Grill is for the guests who want to relax, with all-day dining experience which overlooks the casino floor. The bar is equipped with large screens so everyone can see the world’s major sporting events. The bar offers great food and drinks.
The second bar, The Lounge Bar has been recently renovated. The theme is travel-inspired with aged mural maps on the ceiling, and comfortable deep red velvet stools, which are also complemented by brown leather Chesterfield sofas. The bar is tended by a talented mixology team that features signature and classic drinks, like spirits and wines, alongside a range of bar food from across the globe. Every night between 10 pm until 4 am a DJ can be found. Not to forget the bespoke slots area and a very spacious gaming floor.
Last Words
Phil Nunn’s mission is to make The Palm Beach be the casino of choice in Mayfair and The Lounge Bar to become the destination bar for guests. The venue will continue to create awareness for all of their Food & Beverage areas within the casino. Now, because they enhance their guest offer, they need to continue working on enhancing the experience. They will also work and continue to grow the appeal that the club always had and will bring that into 2019 as well.
The venue’s main social platform of choice is Instagram. They also use Facebook and Twitter. For the venue, it is important that the social media represents the same look and feel as their website and inside and outside of the casino walls. They aim to create an appealing towards guests in the exact same way that they see it on social media.
From social media, they will naturally find the website, they will see the same vibe, colour tones and tone of voice. Then they walk in the doors of The Palm Beach and the image which was portrayed from the social media, will come to life.
On the social media, it can be seen that the focus of The Palm Beach is on its Food & Beverage offer. The content is very current and engaging. The Facebook page events are posted and throughout the year the venue hosts calendar events such as Chinese New Year, Valentine’s, Diwali, Christmas and New Year’s Eve as well as hosting weekly Arabian nights with regular shisha, Dj’s and learn to play sessions.
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