Matthew King is CEO of The Hippodrome Casino in London and is part of the team that built, opened and now operates the UK’s biggest and best casino. Today, The Hippodrome houses three casino floors, poker rooms, two world class restaurants, the international dance show Magic Mike Live, together with nine bars including a rooftop lounge and a secret cocktail bar. It is busy, welcoming 35,000 customers per week and is an integral part of London’s nighttime economy.
Originally a Victorian theatre built in 1900, pre-opening works involved joining together two listed buildings, a basement excavation and full restoration back to original décor based on historic photographs. The works took three years and cost more than £50m, before The Hippodrome Casino opened its doors to the public in July 2012. Matthew has described the task of getting The Hippodrome ready for opening in many ways. The only one we can print is ‘the most impossible challenge. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong.’
Before The Hippodrome, Matthew spent 5 years as COO at Les Ambassadeurs Casino in Mayfair and held a series of senior roles in marketing, construction and hospitality businesses.