Sceptre Leisure chief executive Ken Turner said the gaming group was on target to meet its financial targets after completing a reverse takeover of Gamingking, which provides money-spinning games for charities.

Shareholders voted "almost unanimously" in favour of the takeover by Orb Holdings, the parent company of Sceptre which employs 350 people at its head office on Walton Summit, near Bamber Bridge, at Gamingking's annual meeting on Monday.

It floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for the first time on Tuesday amid turmoil in the financial markets.

Mr Turner said: "It was quite a strange day to pick to start our flotation, but we and our investors are in this for the long haul so we will not let that put us off.

"We are moving forward nicely and are in line to meet all our financial forecasts at the moment. I think it is great news that we have another company listed on the stock exchange here in Lancashire.

"The vote was in favour of the takeover by a massive majority and I think people are just excited to see what happens now."

He confirmed that Tony Yates would take over the running of the Kelly's Eye bingo game, Brian Nichols would take over the Lottery King, both games it inherited from Gamingking, while Kath Gilmore would operate Orb's best-known brand, Sceptre.

Mr Turner, who will oversee the entire operation, said it would now be able to operate "bespoke charity draws and other games" for pubs and working men's clubs across Britain.

The group opened with a share price of 77p per share giving it a market value of £2.253m.

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