‘I want to build Talarius into a mid-cap business with betting shops and bingo clubs as well as adult gaming centres,’ enthuses the deal-hungry Nick Harding, chief executive of the shell-turned high street gambling counter taking its name from the Latin for ‘having to do with dice or dice-playing’.

Harding, who has held top positions at Coral, Bass Leisure and Rank, ran gaming centre operator RAL, formed from parts of Rank and Ladbrokes, which reversed into Talarius in a £39 million deal this summer. Talarius then bought Leisure Promotions for £11 million, and has the largest slot machine estate on the high street plus a thriving gaming website.

Harding’s acquisitive tail is up, with the ‘ultimate enactment’ of the Gambling Act set to stir consolidation among smaller players. He may have bigger fish to fry, which perhaps explains the appointment of Marwyn Capital’s merger-savvy Mark Watts to the board.

One of several Marwyn-spawned shells, Talarius floated on AIM with a £5.5 million funding in April. Its maiden interims revealed operating profits of £2.3 million on £21.3 million sales.

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