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Archive for March, 2005

Mar

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Bingo Hall Closures

The news is full of stories these days of bingo halls closing every week. The the closures have been put down to three main factors. The most important is the smoking ban, along with increased taxation and new gambling laws banning big jackpot machines within the clubs.

The bingo industry generates billions of pounds in stake money, and employs 20,000 people throughout the UK. However, since the smoking ban has been introduced, we have already seen a number of closures with experts predicting even more disaster, with up to one in three clubs facing possible closure.

It is estimated that half of bingo players are smokers, and many are in the habit of puffing and playing bingo at the same time, something that is longer possible. Neil Goulden, chief executive of Gala Bingo has stated “The effect of the smoking ban in Scotland has been a lot worse than we thought it was going to be,” adding “We’ve actually lost 8% of our customer base who have stopped coming altogether.”

Although many clubs have experienced a drop in admissions, the problems begin at the interval. Traditionally this is the time where clubs can generate up to 45% of all money taken by the club by playing table top or cash bingo during breaks from the main game. Gambling rules dictate that this faster and potentially more expensive version of the game can only be played during the interval, right about the time smokers are heading outside for a cigarette.

The UK bingo halls industry is dominated by two corporate giants, Mecca and Gala, however even though they have the financial resources to adapt to the changing bingo world, they still have to battle hard to make their non-smoking halls attractive to their smoking customers.

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