Interview with Tristan Sjöberg

Interview with Tristan Sjöberg – Executive Chairman TCSJOHNHUXLEY

Q: Hi Tristan many thanks for speaking to Infinity Gaming Magazine, let us get straight to it and how are TCSJohnHuxley coping with the current pandemic?

TS: We have been coping well but it has been tough at times with various parts of the business affected by both geographic and job function differences. We have offices in six continents and as some parts of the world were not in total lockdown we were able to maintain a skeleton staff that were still able to produce products, such as items for our new Care & Protect Range.
Very early on we were able to have a lot of our non-manufacturing staff working remotely and we were also able to pivot some of our resources to provide much needed PPE during the height of the pandemic, such as face masks /shields. Our teams were amazing on this front, suggesting how we can produce items to assist the NHS or charities that did not have the resources or access to items that were in very short supply.

Q: Has the company developed new products to help clients during COVID-19 times?

TS: I mentioned earlier our Care & Protect Range which was launched in May to help our customers re-open quickly, safely and securely. We launched with our Chip Sanitiser which utilizes UV-C light technology in a unique patent pending design that ensures every surface of the chip is cleaned in three minutes. We were able to bring this to market from concept to delivery in fourteen weeks, which by any standards is quick, but during a pandemic was pretty amazing. Other products include our Play Safe Screens which are produced in acrylic in most countries, but in glass in South Africa (due to customer preferences).
We are focused on growing this range as the current situation is not going away and we know our customers will need to continually ensure the safety and wellbeing of their staff and players. We have some exciting developments happening in the coming weeks and we look forward to sharing these soon.

Q: The company has offices all over the world including Macau, how soon was the company aware back in early 2020 that this virus was going to be a major pandemic?

TS: Obviously virus outbreaks such as N1H1, Sars, etc. are not new in Asia and the region is used to dealing with this – as we have seen in the low number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities. We were aware back in February at the ICE show that the situation was worsening and our staff were briefed regarding social distancing and hand hygiene, however even at that stage I don’t think any of us felt this was going to be as widespread and as significant as it has turned out to be.

Q: The land based industry has been hugely affected, is there any regions that are doing better than others?

TS: Where casinos have been allowed to open, we have seen an initial rush on demand and then visitation has settled down, mostly due to restrictions on numbers and general demand. Some regions are definitely performing better than others with many casinos noting a change in demographic – younger crowds who are more comfortable being out socialising, and also the types of players. There has been a return of ‘real players’ to casinos who are focused on gambling and not necessarily interested an evening’s entertainment of having a flutter and a meal or drink. Asia, being the first region affected by COVID-19, was also the first region to see a rebound in player volumes.

Q: TCSJohnHuxley are known for their innovation and moving quickly to market, however what are the challenges with this currently?

TS: We have been very quick to bring certain products to market during the pandemic even with a reduced workforce and facilities. The main challenges at the moment centre around the supply chain. Our teams are pulling out the stops to provide our customers with all the tools they need to get their businesses up and running safely but due to prolonged closures and reduced resources, many suppliers are struggling to reach anywhere near their pre-COVIDstock levels.

Q: On this what are the most innovative products the company is proud of at present in helping their clients?

TS: Chip Sanitiser and Play Safe Screens which have made a big impact in helping our customers across the globe. We have also developed a mobile trolley that can take up to six chip sanitiser units providing a total capacity of 600 chips that can be cleaned at a time. The trolley incorporates its own power supply that allows it to be moved around the gaming floor, where and when chip sanitisation is required.

Q: Because the event industry has been closed now almost the entire year, how are TCSJH communicating and reaching out to their clients?

TS: We have missed being able to meet up with our customers at trade shows but have been communicating with them in various other ways. Our management and sales teams have strong relationships with their customers and have been keeping in touch with them and speaking to them throughout this period when it has not been possible to meet face to face. We also continue to use social media, our website and digital communications to share important product and services information.

Q: Has this pandemic made you adapt to new technologies and communications that you will use in the future, or is face to face events always going to be the best for TCSJH?

TS: Video conferencing software such as Zoom and MS Teams has definitely been a significant bonus during this period and without doubt have helped us to keep in touch with our customers and our team. If the pandemic would have happened even ten years ago, none of us would have been able to keep our businesses going, let alone as relatively seamlessly as we have experienced. Saying all that, there has always been a strong focus on face to face events as our products really need to be seen, touched and played in the flesh to appreciate them fully, that and the fact our industry is very socialable and we thrive on getting together!

Q: We remember that you and TCSJH were the first to call for G2E Asia to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in the year, do you think some event companies were slow to realize the dangers of this pandemic?

TS: Businesses were being confronted with unprecedented situations that were heavily impacting their ability to trade, whether it be through lockdowns, travel restrictions or the safety and wellbeing of their staff and we could see this was going to take some time to recover. Some event companies have made decisions quicker than others but overall the right decisions have been made. We all need to support each other for the future benefit of the industry.

Q: It is certainly hard to predict anything at present, but how do you personally see 2021 turning out for the gambling industry?

TS: The gaming industry is resilient and will bounce back, but we will need to adapt to a ‘new normal’. This will involve social distancing and providing clean and hygienic environments for players and staff, but without interfering with the casino experience as social interaction is so important. Clearly live table games face different challenges to gaming machines but casinos will adapt their operating procedures to compensate for this. But, I do not think the European bricks-and-mortar gambling industry will reach pre-COVID levels until 2022 and 2021 will be a challenging year for all regions.
The exciting part is that we are seeing a new innovation phase for suppliers and operators and technology being fast tracked. For example, gaming has been one of the last industries to adopt cashless. This has mainly stalled due to regulation restrictions, but now there is need to get this implemented quickly.

Q: TCSJH has also an online gambling division, has this part of the business grown since the pandemic?

TS: We have been the supplier of choice to the online live gaming industry for some time, working closely with some of the market leaders on developing bespoke products as well as items from our standard portfolio. Clearly during lockdown when almost every casino in the world was closed, many players simply migrated to these operators. As a result, we found demand increased and luckily we were able to continue to supply our customers.

Interview November 2020

 

Read more great interview in the Infinity Gaming Magazine