The Isle of Man posted above average growth in 2012 with iGaming held up as one of the main contributors to the island’s increased economic strength. Minister for the department for economic development John Shimmin stated the island had seen growth 3 percent over the year – higher than the average of 1.4 percent amongst other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Shimmin added he is “confident” they can exceed these numbers in 2013 and his department had “played a key role” in facilitating this growth. The key export generating sector, which includes eGaming, is among those that not just helped the economy to grow but also 130 jobs that went to IoM residents. In the coming year the figure is expected to increase to more than 200 and it goes to show just how important a contributor the iGaming industry is to the island.
One of the companies to benefit from the iGaming market is Manx Telecom, who praised the recent ICE Totally Gaming expo that they attended. The island’s telecommunications provider met with a large number of the 400 other exhibitors attending the conference and saw interest from a wide range of different firms.
Fergal McKenna, sales director at Manx Telecom, attended the conference and told isleofman.com: “ICE 2013 was a resounding success for Manx Telecom and there was also a great deal of interest in the Isle of Man eGaming proposition in general. The people we talked to are interested in solutions that can allow them to start quickly and can cater for growth – allowing them to ramp up quickly. Our technical expertise and capabilities in cloud and hosted hybrid solutions deliver the mix of cost effectiveness and flexibility they need.”
SMP Partners, a corporate services provider on the IoM, also had a very successful ICE 2013 with a number of deals signed with operators and software companies. David Hudson, group director at SMP Partners, told isleofman.com: “At the exhibition we not only met a significant number of new potential entrants to the Island’s licensing regime, but with a large number of pre-arranged meetings held over the three day event, we also secured a significant amount of new business that will be establishing operations on the Island over the coming months.”
The group now claims to represent “almost 50 percent of the Island’s licensed e-gaming community” and 2013 will see them trying to build on a packed stable of partners.
