DUBLIN-LISTED bookmakers, Paddy Power, opened its first shop in Manchester yesterday as part of its continuing expansion into the UK market.

The new premises is in the Levenshulme area of the city, and is the company’s 70th shop in the UK.

Last year the company announced its plans to expand its retail presence in Britain.

It aims to have at least 150 shops in the UK by 2011, at an estimated cost of between €16 - €20 million.

It has 64 shops in London and five in Scotland, in addition to the new shop in Manchester.

Meanwhile, gaming software company Cryptologic announced yesterday that is has signed a three-year agreement with Paddy Power to provide at least nine online slot games to the bookmakers.

Two of the games have been live on the Paddy Power gaming website, Paddy Power Games, since late last week, while the remainder will be available by the end of the year.

Cryptologic is a Dublin-based casino software developer, which employs 18 people at its Dublin headquarters.

Last month it reported losses of €970,000 for the first three months of the year, blaming a decrease in betting activity due to the recession, as well as the weakness of the dollar.

It is currently embarking on a cost-cutting and restructuring programme and expects to return to profit this year.

This is the first collaboration between the two companies.

Paddy Power has been steadily increasing its online and gaming business in recent years.

Over 70 per cent of the company’s operating profits for the second half of last year were derived from online betting and gaming.

Yesterday evening shares in Paddy Power closed up 16 cent at €18.00.