Challenging Times Ahead For Bingo Industry
At present, the UK finds itself gripped by a cost of living scandal as energy prices soar and not enough money to cover them. Many households up and down the country will struggle this winter, so too will be firms. In my corner of Wales at least 15 businesses have closed in the last month due to unbelievable energy costs. One restaurant’s electricity bill jumped from £500 a month to £5K!
No-one is safe from the cost of energy, not even big bingo firms like Rank who own scores of Mecca Bingo clubs around the UK. In a recent statement the bingo and casino hall firm admitted that it is facing a surge in energy costs and weaker customer spending. Bosses went on to say that they expect “challenging” conditions to continue “in the months ahead”.
John O’Reilly, chief executive of Rank, said: “Whilst it is a challenging trading environment and we expect this to continue in the months ahead, we remain committed to delivering Rank’s market leading, exciting and entertaining proposition to our customers. The group has a number of key initiatives under way to improve long-term revenues.”
No Money for Bills or Bingo!
Rank’s Mecca Bingo reported a 2% increase in like-for-like revenues to £165.7m over the three months to September, but its casino offering, Grosvenor Casinos, saw a drop of 5%. This is due to lower spending on casino games per customer visiting.
Land-based venues in London saw a jump of 21% in revenues however, this was more than offset by the weaker spending in other parts of the country. Rank and its shareholders are bracing for “discretionary spending” by customers due to the cost of living crisis. It’s estimated the online bingo and land-based bingo operator will have to pay £34million for the current year’s energy costs, spiralling from £11million this time last year. That’s an increase of £23million just for energy!
O’Reilly continued: “These include some key refurbishment projects and new electronic roulette and jackpot games in Grosvenor; improving the gaming machine offering in Mecca; increased personalisation and a stronger live casino offering in the UK digital business and the recent launch of Yo Sports in Spain. The group has the benefit of a strong balance sheet, enabling us to continue investing in the business through this period.”
A flurry of land-based promotions hope to bring in the players with money off vouchers on Tuesdays, free bingo tickets when you win on Thursdays and every Monday customers can get all their bingo games and a burger for just a tenner! Christmas bingo parties also offer bingo, drinks and games for a great price per head.
Source: “Mecca Bingo Firm Rank Faces £34m Energy Bill Hit Amid ‘Challenging’ Backdrop”. Independent.ie. October 13, 2022.
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Comments (1)
lollipops321 10/17/22, 06:10:39 AM
Last time I went the massive hall was almost empty. It’s because there’s hardly any money about and Christmas is on its way. It wasn’t particularly warm in there either. Old people are turning up for one strip of bingo and a cheap plate of chips to save heating costs at home. It’s so sad.
