To celebrate completing the $4.13 million refurbishment of its Grosvenor Casino Nottingham, United Kingdom casino operator Rank Group has announced that the venue will be hosting a two-week inauguration festival that is to culminate with a grand re-opening weekend from April 1.

The central Nottingham casino is located on the fashionable Maid Marian Way and will kick off its fortnight of celebrations, which are set to include a $12,182 prize pool giveaway, from March 20 while a sports showcase night five days later will see boxing fans able to watch the scheduled re-match between Venezuelan super featherweight champion Jorge Linares and British challenger Anthony Crolla for free.

The renovations to the Grosvenor Casino Nottingham have been envisioned as a way to transform the city-center casino into a wider entertainments facility and it will now offer a contemporary bar, restaurant and live music lounge while the removal of some office space means that the size of its gaming floor is to increase from the previous 13,300 sq ft to 14,800 sq ft.

“This is by far the biggest and best refurbishment I’ve been involved with to date,” Daren Brain, general manager for the Grosvenor Casino Nottingham, told the local Nottingham Post newspaper. “The layout is so much more customer-friendly than any other casino I’ve worked at and there’s a great flow around the building where people can walk easily between the leisure and gaming areas, which is unique. The good thing about this is we’re not just catering for gamblers or gamers but we’re also catering for the leisure side. There’s no pressure to gamble. You can just come in for a drink and something to eat. They are separated quite nicely so whatever happens in the food and drink area doesn’t impact on the gambling area and vice-versa. We will be the top place in Nottingham to excite and entertain people as we’re turning an old-style casino into a modern leisure facility.”

The Grosvenor Casino Nottingham first opened in 1991 and the highlight of its upcoming grand re-opening weekend from April 1 will see it celebrating the best in local talent across the fields of music, performance and creative design with the eventual winner set to bag a cash prize of $3,000.

Rank Group earlier revealed that the refurbishment is set to add at least 20 new jobs to the East Midlands venue’s already 114-strong workforce and will see the casino feature an improved slots area complete with integrated VIP machines while it is to offer 15 gaming tables for fans of poker, roulette and blackjack alongside a new bespoke card room with seven cash game tables.

“We’re thrilled to be unveiling our brand-new facilities to the people of Nottingham with a two-week schedule of events that puts our customers at its heart and celebrates everything this fantastic city has to offer,” said Brain, who has 35 years of industry experience and has now overseen his third casino revamp. “Thanks to the recent refurbishment, the casino now benefits from a huge number of improvements to both our gaming and entertainments offering. We always aim to provide something for everyone and we’re confident that the new-look casino will not disappoint.”