Your DiddiDabbers family are here waiting to add to the fun!
Harlow Printing’s fantastic range of fun-sized DiddiDabbers are popular for holiday parks and party nights alike, having arrived just in time for the holiday season.
Customers can experience the fun in collecting their very own family of 8 different DiddiDabbers, sold as a pack or, alternatively, they can be purchased individually.
Harlow Printing’s range of Bingo Pens now have 5 exciting new colours: Orange, Yellow, Lime, Pink, and Bright Blue.
These complement our existing colours of Red, Blue, Green, Purple and Black, offering a range of 10 attractive colours.
Customers now have an amazing choice of pens and dabbers to choose from, adding to the enjoyment of their games and hopefully bringing them good luck!
To place your orders: please call us on: 0191 4969737, or email us at: Bingo@harlowprinting.co.uk
www.edwardthompson.com
Dear Bingo Connect readers, it is a relief to finally get the White Paper. It will close down endless speculation about timing and content. I will discuss the contents of the White Paper later on in this edition, but needless to say it is the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end.
From a volume and spend point of view business is encouraging. If it wasn’t for costs ( energy and food ) we could be cautiously optimistic. But energy prices have probably knocked 26 Bingo Clubs into loss and sadly forced their closure. That’s on the back of COVID closing 42. So it’s hard to adopt a celebratory stance in this context.
Life does go on however. We appear to be seeing a more conciliatory and collaborative approach from the Gambling Commission which is to be welcomed. Inspections appear to have been conducted in a more constructive manner, and a number of industry workshops have been held. We look forward to a return to an account based relationship with the regulator.
We are fast approaching National Bingo Day on June 27th when land based and digital bingo come together to create awareness around the game of Bingo. We ask all operators and suppliers to support the events in and around the day,
Published in hard copy and digital format (available on our website at www.bingoconnect.co.uk), Bingo Connect covers all things bingo, from news of regulatory development and new products, to industry profiles and charity support. Bingo is at the heart of the community and Bingo Connect is at the heart of the bingo industry.
Publisher
The Bingo Association™ www.bingo-association.co.uk
Editorial Editor Miles Baron miles@bingo-association.co.uk
Managing Editor Steve Baldwin steven@bingo-association.co.uk
Steve Pearce
Tel: +44 (0) 117 957 5400 advertising@bingoconnect.co.uk
The views and opinions expressed in Bingo Connect remain principally the views of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or publishers. The publishers wish to avoid inaccuracies and whilst every precaution has been taken to ensure that information contained in this publication is accurate, no liability is accepted by the editor or publishers for errors or omissions however caused. Unless otherwise stated, articles appearing in this publication remain the copyright of the publishers and may not be reproduced in any form without the publisher’s written consent.
ISSN 2752-6372
Leading creative and production agency, Shipley Creative, was recently approached by long-standing client BJ’s Bingo to create a multi-channel marketing campaign. Big Jim’s (BJ’s), which operates traditional bingo venues in Reading, Birmingham, and Greater Manchester, wanted to promote their unique bingo proposition in order to attract new players and members to their clubs.
The team at Shipley Creative listened carefully to their client’s requirements, devising ‘People Can’t Stop Talking’. The campaign focuses on real customer reviews and comments, highlights the positive experiences that customers have had at BJ’s Bingo, emphasising the food offer, drinks, table service, friendly staff, and bingo.
To bring the campaign to life, the team at Shipley Creative created striking designs in various formats for the Out of Home (OOH) elements, including 48-sheet and 6-sheet billboards and animated digital screens. They also created backs and street liners to fulfil placements booked on various media, including public transport (buses and trams). This was supported by the use of Sky AdSmart, the latest media innovation from Sky, that allows advertisers to access millions of Sky and Virgin homes, ensuring that only the right households see an advertisement. Shipley Creative worked closely with their media booking partners, Edison Media, on selection and booking.
In addition to OOH elements, a full suite of social media assets were created to reinforce the campaign across BJ’s social media channels. This included full management of a paid social campaign across Facebook and Instagram, in addition to Google Ads (Pay Per Click - PPC) activity.
The highlight of the campaign was the commissioning of TV assets. Shipley Creative’s in-house team managed the full process, from storyboard and script, Clear Cast approval, to ensure the advertisement was compliant with advertising standards, through to talent/artist selection and booking. Working with Manchester-based Vaudio, voice-over artists were booked, to bring the campaign to life. The team worked with artists Simon Vause, Rebekah McGlouhlin, Nicholas Wood, and Stewart Crowcombe, with Shipley Creative’s Marketing Manager, William DarbyshireClarke, voicing the first line of the commercial. Finally, lead animator, Leia Arnold, stitched together the audio elements and created an animation to complement the soundtrack.
The campaign for BJ’s Bingo went live across the North West, West Midlands, and Berkshire in April. The team at Shipley Creative is proud to have been able to create such an innovative and effective campaign for their long-standing
client. By focusing on real-life customer experiences and utilising various channels, they are confident that they will help BJ’s Bingo attract new members and continue to grow their business.
Bingo operators should not be daunted by accessing ‘Out Of House’ media, such as AdSmart or regional transport routes, either by cost or process. Through careful media selection, buying, and audience targeting, such campaigns can offer an effective route to reaching new players. The Shipley Creative team and their trusted partners have the expertise and ability to be a one-stop-shop: from creative concept and media selection and buying, through to asset creation and final execution. They can also add direct mail at the flick of a switch, to make sure that existing members are in on the campaign.
Send him victorious, dabby and glorious...
Coronation fever has swept the nation in the weeks building up to the big day, with commemorative memorabilia, parties and of course, cake! The tributes have been diverse and unique.
To mark the occasion of the Coronation of King Charles III, Mecca Bingo commissioned a truly ‘oneof-a-kind’ golden dabber, that could, should the need arise, be an ideal alternative Sceptre.
The bespoke dabber has been handcrafted using 280 grams of silver and gold, and then decorated with crystals on its flank and crown-like cap, reflecting the colours of the Mecca Bingo logo.
The unique piece, has been hallmarked and certified by the London Assay Office, one of a number of UK Assay Offices that are responsible for testing the quality of gold, silver, platinum and palladium articles. Designed and handcrafted by artisan East Sussex Goldsmith,
Sarah Weatherall, the one-off dabber features the special commemorative hallmark of the King’s head against an oval background, which has been created especially for the coronation.
The dabber will be going on display at Mecca Bingo clubs over the summer, so bingo fans can come and see it for themselves.
Mecca’s head of PR and content, Mark Cheevers, said: “We’ve had the honour of a visit from King Charles in the past, and we saw William and Kate take up bingo calling during lockdown – so why wouldn’t we create the perfect dabber for royalty? His
majesty is welcome to drop in for a game or two whenever he likes… we might even crown him a winner.”
The new website offers casino game lovers a dedicated place to safely play and enjoy their favourite slot, live casino and table games.
Designed in-house and built in collaboration with long-term partner Playtech, Buzz Casino is the first new sister brand to launch since Buzz Bingo launched in 2018, following a rebranding from Gala Bingo Clubs.
Buzz Casino follows the successful launch of Buzz Bingo’s live bingo streaming service, as the operator sustains its commitment to improving product offerings, providing both slots and casino players with a dedicated environment to play the games they enjoy.
Dave Evans, Digital Operations Director at Buzz Group, said: “We’re really proud to announce the launch of our newest Buzz Brand that strengthens our position as the UK’s best omnichannel venue for playing slots, games, casino and bingo.
“Casino is an important part of our product mix, and whilst bingo is still at the heart of our business, our players love to experience new content and spend their leisure time playing in different ways. Buzz Casino is the latest part of
our journey and we continue to use our brand spirit and over 50 years of hosting players in our clubs to build our product with community at the heart.”
Club 3000 Bingo has confirmed that it has bought the bingo club in Laith Gate Doncaster, formerly owned by Mecca.
An agreement was reached in February this year and staff notified of the change of ownership, with the deal formally completing in early April. The transition was handled smoothly, with the club only closed on the 3rd and 4th April, for removal of branded equipment and installation of Club 3000 materials. All staff previously employed at the club were retained, including manager Samantha Cliffe.
The club re-opened on Thursday 5th April, ready to welcome players. Brian Fraser, founder of Club 3000, said: “We are delighted to bring the Club 3000 brand to Doncaster. We know how much bingo means to the community so can’t wait to welcome customers into our club to experience our first-class service and big prize money.”
Club 3000 now operate 23 bingo clubs, including Doncaster.
Club 3000 Bingo are delighted to announce that building works are nearly complete at their brand new club, at Festival Leisure Park in Blackpool, with the official opening scheduled for Saturday 1st July.
Club 3000 has spent over £5 million on the interior of the club, equipping it with the most modern fixtures and fittings to create a luxurious environment.
As well as providing a significant boost to the local community the new club will help raise the profile of this iconic
and unique leisure destination, with Club 3000 Bingo also promoting Blackpool as a tourist destination to its existing and new customers across its 23 club estate.
Brian Fraser, founder of Club 3000 said: “We are thrilled that we are looking towards an opening date of late June 2023 and are excited about all the plans we have to open a state-ofthe-art bingo club in Blackpool, with the biggest prize money in the North West”
The manager of the club is Sean Connoly, a familiar face in the bingo sector, who has a huge amount of experience, having worked in the industry since 1988. Sean grew up in Fleetwood, just north of Blackpool, and returned to his home town with his family in 2019.
Sean said: “I’m incredibly excited and proud to be General Manager of Club 3000’s brand new club in Blackpool! Bingo is still incredibly popular and a big town like Blackpool will love the great value, fabulous prize money and first-class customer service that Club 3000 Bingo always offers. I cannot wait to open the doors this summer, the club is looking fantastic already!”
Club 3000 Bingo operate nine existing clubs in the North-West, with the opening of Blackpool taking the number to 10 in the region and 24 nationally.
Boomerang Digital has added to its portfolio of gaming brands following the purchase of ISD. The businesses are seen as being a perfect strategic and cultural fit with a shared passion for gaming and an unswerving commitment to innovation.
Boomerang Digital, the holding company which comprises leading gaming brands including NRM, Big Deal Games and Probability Jones has underlined its commitment to UK gaming with the purchase of membership, marketing services and selfexclusion specialists ISD.
ISD was founded by Nick Winslade, who with his team worked closely with the gaming sector to develop software products and particularly with bingo venue operators, in the development of sector leading membership management and marketing system, Maxim. Following Nick’s death in 2017 the company’s future was secured by The Bingo Association, under whose stewardship Chris Wrigley was appointed as Managing Director.
solutions to the UK gaming sector and has a clear focus on commercial bingo. Our products and services delivered through NRM and Big Deal Games also has commercial bingo as a cornerstone of the business and the addition of ISD to the group further re-enforces that position.
“Strategically the aim is to leverage the incredible knowledge and synergies which are in place, adopt best practice and further develop a range of market leading platforms and software solutions for what is a growing customer base active across all sectors.”
Andrew added, “I am also delighted to add Miles Baron to the ISD team. His role will be to work alongside the ISD board in developing strategy and ensuring the interests of the Bingo sector are well represented.”
Looking ahead to the next chapter of ISD’s story Chris Wrigley said, “The team is delighted to be part of the Group and is looking forward to working alongside the talented and respected teams that are in place across the Boomerang companies.
Five years on, with ISD firmly established as a software developer, specialising in CRM, the company was ready to find a new home to further drive its growth: the fit with Boomerang could not be better.
The acquisition, which was completed back in February, sees Chris Wrigley remain as ISD Managing Director and become a shareholder, with The Bingo Association, CEO Miles Baron, appointed as non-executive director to the company.
Andrew Ludlow, who established Boomerang Digital in 2021 said, “As we look to build on our UK gaming activities the opportunity to add ISD to the Group represented a logical and strategic ‘fit’. ISD has created a very successful position in the supply of membership, marketing services and self-exclusion
“With support from the industry and the NBGA, ISD has found the perfect home where our specialist skills can be harnessed and supercharged to deliver what our customers need both now and in the future. The new management team is immersed in gaming, it understands the needs of operators and is determined to deliver against those needs.”
Commenting on his role as non-executive director, Miles Baron said: “ISD is a successful company which through its’ Maxim Membership Platform has a 70 percent share in the UK commercial bingo sector. I am delighted to see it brought under the ownership of a progressive enterprise which has the skills and resources to develop it further and look forward to working closely with the board on this next chapter in the ISD story”
“The team is delighted to be part of the Group and is looking forward to working alongside the talented and respected teams that are in place across the Boomerang companies.”
Alan Morrison, a wellknown figure in the Bingo and Gaming Industry is saying farewell, after years of service to operators around the country. With a commendable level of commitment to the industry and a wealth of knowledge gathered over the years, he will be hugely missed by customers and colleagues alike.
Alan told Bingo Connect: “It’s time to retire! 20 years ago, this month, I joined Edward Thompson and entered the colourful and exciting world of Bingo, Promotional Games, Charity Raffle, Direct Mail and Mail Order. I intended it to be a couple of years; who would have believed I would do it for this long….I must have enjoyed it!
“People in this business know only too well how it gets in your blood and takes over your life, and after the successful
transfer of the business to Harlow Printing a year ago I now know the time is right.
“It’s time to take my life back, chill and relax. So, back in March I handed my work over to colleagues, Caroline Porterfield and Jackie Maggiore. They will ensure that they give the same high level of service I have always tried to achieve, with the knowledge that Harlow Printing will continue to provide the same quality products to the Bingo, Gaming and Leisure market.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues past and present, all of my suppliers and of course all of my customers over the years who have kept me in a job. Many of you have stuck with me through the trials and tribulations of this mad world, some of you for the whole 20 years and for that I am extremely grateful. I wish everyone the best of luck and a successful future.
Thank you all once again.”
Harlow Printing wish Alan a long and happy retirement and thank him for all his help this past year. Bingo Connect would like to add their best wishes for long and happy retirement.
sites link their EVENT Entertainment platforms to play linked bingo every day, giving away thousands of pounds in prizes and jackpots.
With all the holiday parks having opened their doors for Easter, one of their most popular entertainment games, bingo, is back and it’s bigger than ever. Alice Keech from Willow Communications tells us why.
“Across some of the largest holiday park operators, over one hundred
“With Event’s unique features, including EPOS integration and our Cloud based game management and reporting, holiday park operators can easily create new and exciting themed bingo games.
“The 2023 season is Parkdean Resort’s third year using Event and they have taken full advantage of the customisable bingo game and theme feature, with perhaps none more exciting than their latest linked bingo game, The Holiday Happy Giveaway. This game was played over the Easter Holidays with players winning holidays from a free to play
game. The Holiday Happy Giveaway is a great example of how popular bingo can be in holiday parks, with almost 100,000 tickets being played on just this game over Easter weekend.
“Parkdean Resorts were not the only one of our holiday park clients to make big bingo prizes a feature of the entertainment on offer. Park Holidays had a £10,000 jackpot on offer on their Super 7’s bingo game every day of the Easter weekend.
“Event uses Willow’s BiGD bingo engine and game manager which has powered retail Bingo clubs since 2009 and continues to attract new clients with BJs and Crown Bingo both recently upgrading their estate. Summer 2023 is looking bright for holiday park bingo!”
Forget going to the chapel to go and get married, Mecca Bingo are offering loved-up bingo fans the opportunity to do it at the bingo. As part of a unique trial Mecca Luton has decided to take on the famous ‘chapels of love’ in Vegas, by giving bingo lovers the opportunity to get married in-club.
Mecca Luton is now offering a unique wedding experience, where lucky in love couples will have the chance to celebrate not only their love for each other but also their passion for bingo. The experience, to be trialled exclusively at Mecca Luton following the approval of the licence application, provides an outlandish and fun backdrop for couples who have hit the love jackpot!
Entitled ‘Mecca’s Little Pink Chapel’ the package will give couples looking for something different, the chance to say ‘I do’ in the UK’s hottest new wedding venue. For better or for worse, couples will be able to tie the knot in style with a bespoke experience – think full on Vegas style, complete with neons and optional extras including drag queen celebrants, Mecca’s own Mecca Men ring bearers and even bingo ball bouquets!
Mecca are claiming that the phrase ‘getting lucky’ will take on a whole new meaning after the ceremony, as everyone’s hearts will be beating at the wedding breakfast as guests settle in for a bingo win.
Sarah O’Neill, Mecca Bingo’s head of innovation, said: “Our customers love bingo, and couples regularly get engaged in our venues, so we thought why not offer them the opportunity to say ‘I do’ in-club as well! With the wedding breakfast followed by a game, there could even be the chance for the lucky couple to win their honeymoon money too!”
“Our customers love bingo, and couples regularly get engaged in our venues, so we thought why not offer them the opportunity to say ‘I do’ in-club as well!”
meccabingo.com
The Covid-19 pandemic shaped the new way businesses operate. And the bingo industry has been no exception.
Bingo clubs across the UK were forced to shut down, leaving many high-street operators struggling to stay afloat. In response, BingoPlus, the fastest-growing bingo network in the UK, invested significantly in live-streaming to enhance its High Street offer, and leverage its online capabilities.
The company has expanded from its initial one studio and one host, to three studios and eight hosts. Based in purpose-built studios at its HQ in Hull, a hugely talented team of presenters now stream continuous bingo every day, from 10am to 10pm into nearly 200 venues.
This significant investment has resulted in a high-quality streaming experience, which has been so successful that it attracted the interest of one of the largest online bingo operators in the world, who are now using BingoPlus’s hosts and studios for their nightly streams.
The team were also able to reassess and think about how they could make BingoPlus more engaging for their existing High Street customers, and how they could leverage their £1m+ bingo network online to support customers in case of another lockdown.
To that end, BingoPlus has now created its own proprietary platform, PlayBingoPlus, allowing players to have a unique and differentiated BingoPlus experience, available 24/7, on their own devices, rather than solely in venues.
The soft launch of PlayBingoPlus.com last month has been met with early success, and the company is thrilled with the results.
Yet while the recent focus of BingoPlus has been on building its online capability, the company does recognise that most of its brand exposure comes from the UK High Street.
Therefore, BingoPlus anticipates that its first wave of white label deals will come from High Street operators seeking to establish an online presence but lacking the scale
to generate their own online deals, or operators looking for an omni-channel and differentiated online proposition.
BingoPlus’s current customers have already expressed interest in the company’s recent communications regarding the online launch and its white label options. The move to an online platform not only enhances the BingoPlus experience, but also allows customers to play at their convenience.
The future of bingo is across multiple channels, and BingoPlus has positioned itself to be a leader in the industry. The pandemic has accelerated the shift to online gaming, and BingoPlus has adapted accordingly. By investing in live streaming, creating its proprietary platform, and offering white label options, BingoPlus is well-positioned to capitalise on the shift. It has adapted to the changing business environment and positioned itself for success in the future.
The future of bingo is offering customers the choice to play when and where they want, and BingoPlus is leading the way.
➜ Call 01482 620919 or visit aboutbingoplus.com
Serve Legal are proud to be the market leading provider of age-verification and compliance testing services in the UK and Ireland. Along with our youth-focused community of 6,000 nationwide auditors, we provide extensive, independent audit services to retailers, leisure operators and sports broadcasters. It is our mission to support both national and local businesses to encourage high levels of age-verification compliance in their stores and venues. We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the Bingo Association to support their members with this important area of compliance.
Our independent site audits allow our clients to gain an insight into individual customer experiences at their venues as well as robustly testing if staff correctly challenge young customers for ID. Our auditors visit high street and service station gaming centres, betting shops, racecourses and holiday park resorts to test age-verification compliance and the overall customer experience. As well as providing reports for each site we audit, our bespoke data dashboard provides powerful analysis of cumulative data, enabling us to provide live compliance ‘pass rates’ to our clients. The analysis we provide supports our clients in monitoring and improving age-verification compliance and reassures customers of their commitment to broader responsible gambling frameworks.
In 2022, Serve Legal conducted over 16,500 audits for the gambling sector, assessing both age verification and customer experience in hundreds of postcodes across the UK. Since we first started working with the gambling sector in 2009, our audit programmes have facilitated vast improvements in age-verification compliance, with pass rates steadily increasing from 67% to
92% compliance during that time.
We are encouraged by the proactive approach
The Bingo Association has taken in supporting their members with ID compliance. By building a Serve Legal audit programme which supports bingo clubs, high street gaming centres and holiday park resorts, The Bingo Association are providing their members with nationwide audit coverage to ensure that age-verification compliance is a top priority in each corner of the UK.
Initial results for 2023 (YTD) show a promising start to the year and demonstrate the clear focus members are putting on ensuring staff safeguard young customers.
The below data shows the ‘pass rate’ performance over time for The Bingo Association’s members. We have identified a small drop in the ID compliance rates at bingo halls and holiday parks which is closely linked to post-pandemic staff turnover challenges. However, compliance at adult gaming centres (AGCs) is now at an all-time-high which is very encouraging given the Gambling Commission’s focus
on this sector in recent years.
We are delighted that rates of ID compliance are continually increasing across the gambling sectors, and we are committed to strengthening our partnerships with business across the UK to share our data-driven best practice guidance and ensure the safety of young customers is always a priority.
For further information on how Serve Legal supports gambling businesses, please visit our website at www.servelegal.co.uk
Mecca Bingo has announced a new contract with ITV to become the official bingo partner of the hugely popular, award-winning panel show, Loose Women.
The agreement sees the launch of an exclusive Loose Women themed bingo game room, available only at www.meccabingo.com.
The online 50 ball bingo room will see players match Loose Women topics to win cash prizes. It also offers a range of features including ‘Bingo Bestie’ which will pair players up to double their chances of winning and ‘Everyone Wins’, where the jackpot will be split between all the players.
Players will also be able to take a spin on the ‘Loose Women free Winner Spinner’ for the chance to win free bingo or a cash prize.
The sponsorship coincides with a recent refresh of Mecca’s TV advertising campaign. Building on previous campaigns, the ads shows bingo fans enjoying playing online at meccabingo.com in a variety of locations, reinforcing the message that bingo can be enjoyed anywhere – even in front of the TV, while watching Loose Women!
Karina Adrian, head of strategic marketing, Mecca Bingo, commented on the partnership: “We all love to keep up with the latest trends and topics, and just like Loose Women, our customers are authentic, open and love having fun, so a partnership with ITV’s longest running panel TV show feels like a natural fit.
“As part of the partnership we’re delighted to introduce a host of new and exclusive features and with the ‘Loose Women free Winner Spinner’ everyone’s a guaranteed winner.”
Steve Watling, Head of Games and Gaming, ITV Studios, commented “We are excited to be working with Rank on bringing the iconic Loose Women brand to Mecca Bingo players. The synergy, relevant lifestyle topics and chat come alive in the new games. We look forward to developing the partnership further with fun new initiatives for Mecca.”
The agreement does not include sponsorship of program idents, nor any engagement from the presenters of the show. ➜
In reviewing 2022 activity, media and social listening data, and encouraged by support for National Bingo Day from both operators and players, the National Bingo Game and The Bingo Association will be undertaking radio engagement, focusing on National Bingo Day, highlighting fun and community facts about bingo. Miles Baron, CEO of The Bingo Association and Benj Maycock, reigning Bingo Caller of the Year will be talking up a storm in advance of the day and looking to beat last year’s record audience reach of over 6.2m people!
Miles said: “We are delighted once again to be celebrating National Bingo Day with both online and retail operators. It is positive to see the whole industry coming together again for the love of bingo. National Bingo Day gives us a unique opportunity to celebrate whilst also giving our customers a chance to win special prizes.”
As part of The Bingo Association’s ongoing campaign to promote the game of bingo and bingo clubs, MPs have been invited to attend their local bingo club on the evening of Friday 23rd June, to call a charity bingo game held in support of The Bingo Association’s charity, Variety - The Children’s Charity, with the game, expected to raise over £20,000 for the charity. The sum will add to the £1.7 million already raised by bingo clubs for Variety as they move towards their target of £2 million.
The National Bingo Game will be supporting the day the campaign in the following two ways, in addition to running promotion on social media:
Sunday 25th June
• Double Jackpot Day
• Jackpots of £100,000. £2,000 and £200 on afternoon and evening games
Tuesday 27th June National Bingo Day
• Half Price National Bingo Game
• 50p for 2 or £1 for 5
For further details about National Bingo Day visit www.nationalbingoday.co.uk
Drag artists, cabaret artists, burlesque performers, comics, magicians, and more have applied for a chance to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner and current champion, Crudi Dench.
The Champion will walk away with £1,000 in prize money, thanks to sponsor Malibu, a 12-month contract with Dabbers Social Bingo and a luxury hotel stay.
Crudi Dench said, “Winning Dabbers Next Top Bingo Caller has allowed me to explore a whole new passion of bingo calling, put my hosting skills to the ultimate test, interact with brilliant audiences, connect with other fabulous performers and £1,000 towards my wig budget.”
Dabbers is truly the brand that reinvented bingo, with regular nights hosted by top comics including Tony Law, Marcel Lucont, Olaf Falafel, Eleanor Conway, Thanyia Mooore, Aurie Styla and Javier Jarquin. The company has comedy and performance at the heart of everything it does, with the team visiting The Edinburgh Festival every year to scout for new talent, to keep events as raucous and fun as they can possibly be.
The competition is a way to search for new callers and presenters who the team might not otherwise come across, and sometimes Dabbers catches them just as they make a bid for stardom.
2022’s finalists were character comedians Kitty Cassis
(Aimee Cooper), Edgar and Jaynine (Lorna Rose Treen –double award winner, Funny Women Awards 2022 – and Jonathan Oldfield), Ferrari Roché (Stephanie Ware) and of course, the winner, Crudi Dench (Matt Stallworthy, comedian and drag performer).
This year’s competition is being held at Dabber’s HQ in Houndsditch London EC3 (4 minute walk from Aldgate Tube), with semi-finals in May and grand final in July. Each heat is hosted by BBC New Comedy Award finalist and Edinburgh Festival favourite Sikisa Bostwick, with a judging panel made up of agents, festival bookers and journalists, with special guest judge for the Final, Miles Baron, CEO of The Bingo Association.
SEMI FINALS - 14th and 28th May
8 Contestants, 4 perform each weekend, 2 from each show go through to the Final
THE FINAL - July 2nd
4 Contestants compete to win the title of Dabbers Next Top Bingo Caller 2023!
Drawing inspiration from Ru Paul’s legendary instruction to Drag Race contestants in the lip sync challenge, Dabber’s Social Bingo is asking all comers to ‘Lingo For Your Life’, as they start the hunt for 2023’s ‘Next Top Bingo Caller’. You
Since 2015 funds raised through The Bingo Association have made a difference to the lives of children and young people living with disabilities, poor health, or poverty. Supporting children with mobility limitations, sight impairments, non-verbal, learning, sensory and behavioural problems to name but a few. Variety’s help can often be the shift towards encouraging disabled children to develop a greater knowledge and appreciation of their abilities and how they can reach their unique potential. The Bingo Association is proud to continue to support Variety, The Children’s Charity. The funds raised have made an
impact on so many lives and The Bingo Association is delighted that funds raised by customers are distributed in the very communities in which they were raised. The Association has to date supplied 35 Sunshine Coaches to schools/colleges throughout the UK.
During 2022 the industry donated £87,791 to Variety, monies raised through activities like the Association Golf Day and linked bingo games, bringing the current total raised by members and their customers to £1,700,000!
The Bingo Association would like
to thank everyone who has made this possible and for their continued support: together with supporters they are aiming to reach their target of £2 million and are very much looking forward to celebrating this incredible achievement when reached.
East Ayrshire
• Willowbank School
Lancashire
• Woodlands School
• Holly Grove School
• Northwood Community Primary School
• Pear Tree Special School
Greater Manchester
• Rowan Tree Primary School
Cheshire
• Lisburne School
West Midlands
• Priestley Smith School
• The Lawnswood Campus
• Beaufort School
• The Albion Foundation
• Newfriars College
Worcestershire
• Carnforth School
• Wyre Forest School
Camarthenshire
• Ysgol Bro Banw - Special Unit
Cardiff
• Llanishen Fach Primary School
• Whitchurch High School
Cumbria
• Sandside Lodge
Moray
• Nairn Academy
Glasgow
• Drummore School
• Buddies Club and Services Ltd
Tyne and Wear
• Gibside School
• St Aloysius Primary Federation
• Columbia Grange School
• Sir Charles Parsons School
Cleveland
• Rosebrook Primary School
• Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice
West Yorkshire
• Broomfield School
Nottinghamshire
• Tuxford Primary Academy
Derbyshire
• Newtons Walk Pupil Referral Unit
Leicestershire
• Children’s Hospital School
Greater London
• Oaklands
• Grangewood School
• Carpenters and Dockland Centre
Kent
• Bradstow School
Sunshine coaches have been funded by The Bingo Association
Kevin Hamilton ➜
Starting out in 1983, ECM celebrated its 40th year supplying the Retail Bingo industry by launching market leading new showpiece products at the EAG and ICE exhibitions. Founded by the late Paul Whitbread, ECM has been part of the Playtech stable since 2016, and saw industry stalwart Kevin Hamilton join as Chief Executive Officer in 2021.
Bingo Connect caught up with Kevin, who reflects on the past eighteen months since joining the business and shares rare insights into the internal workings of ECM and plans for the year ahead.
What aspects of ECM have stood out the most since joining as CEO in 2021?
ECM wasn’t a complete stranger to me as I have worked in the bingo industry since the age of 20. I had used ECM’s products through my career and had contact with the company over the years. Though, never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be leading it one day!
When I joined, I was immediately impressed with the quality, dedication, and diverse skillset of the team. Long, continuous service is a common trait at ECM – between them our 62 staff have chalked up over 1,000 years with the company. This vast accumulation of experience in the bingo industry, transfers into the quality of our products, resulting in their strong pedigree, incredible reliability, and customisable feature rich options. Additionally, having the full backing, support and resource of Playtech, a large and high-profile international group gaming company, is a valuable asset.
What have you already managed to achieve since taking up this role and what are your key moments so far?
Bouncing back into pre-covid profitability was very important for the company as our trading performance was greatly reduced during the Covid period. To support the industry,
ECM remained open and provided payment holidays for customers with contractual obligations, whilst they were closed. This significantly reduced income over a two-year period and being a retail business, ECM experienced the same impact as the rest of the industry. I was pleased to report that in 2022, ECM delivered similar like-for-like income and greater profitability than 2019, our pre-covid comparison year. We continue to be a strong entrepreneurial company but know that we must diversify to maintain our growth.
We completed the purchase of our premises in January 2023. We have been operating from Ellifoot Lane in Burstwick since the 1980s, it’s a beautiful 10 acre landscaped location, in rural East Yorkshire with plenty of room for future expansion.
We also made significant progress with our future roadmap, in the creation of two new and exciting products.
Can you tell us about the new products that were launched at the gaming shows this year?
Sure, the team and I have been talking about these non-stop since their launch. Fusion and Nucleus were unveiled to the industry at the gaming shows this year. They have attracted considerable interest across the industry.
Fusion is a digital signage and audio solution that can power every single display in a bingo hall if required. It picks up all the gaming information in real time and will display any message, on any screen, at any time. It has a very powerful scheduling manager so once the system is set-up, it will dynamically change and automatically respond to events happening during the session. We want to help put the theatre back into Bingo, without the necessity of a large budget.
Nucleus will replace the gaming controllers that have been the beating heart of the clubs’ bingo system for
“The vast accumulation of experience in the bingo industry, transfers into the quality of our products, resulting in their strong pedigree, incredible reliability, and customisable feature rich options.”
over 25 years. Nucleus is PC based, built to make future upgrades easier and will be backward compatible, to connect with Mechanised Cash Bingo rigs for example. One of the key requirements is for our standalone system to be resilient so that we can maintain our signature reliability. It is a complex development project, so we will be working during 2023 to make a robust, more flexible, next generation bingo system to serve the bingo industry of the future.
Since Nucleus is a single gaming engine, it will run many different types of games, Mainstage Bingo, MCB, Fixed odds games and combined retail and online games too. It will also be modular, so a customer can choose to build a system with only the components that are required for their particular operation. This helps keep the cost and complexity down, whilst allowing for flexibility and customisation. Nucleus will be suitable for many different operators in many different markets.
Why do you think they have generated such a huge level of interest within the bingo industry?
I think operators can see the potential of Nucleus and Fusion to revolutionise their proposition. These two systems can operate independently or together for greater impact. They offer flexibility and cost savings,
bringing a personalised presentation to any bingo premises. We have also introduced much more automation. This helps lighten the load (and cost) of operation, especially during quieter periods. You can program the system in advance, and it will run through the games with minimal intervention. If you add this to the flexibility of calling in any area, it provides more variations on how you want to run your session. The Nucleus system is being built in stages, but 23/24 will see the next generation of products from ECM.
We have a long standing and loyal customer base within the UK, these products will replace and enhance the systems they are currently using. It’s important to continue to support our customer operations to give them the products and services they need to be successful. Nucleus and Fusion will also be suitable for a wide variety of operators, such as AGCs, LBOs, Social Clubs and even Cruise ships. Nucleus is ideally suited for any operator whether they are large or small. International markets are also an area of interest too. Playtech already provide gaming products across many jurisdictions in emerging and established markets. These products will open up a wide range of future opportunities for ECM to consider.
Nucleus is modular and it has a low entry cost for the basic system. Operators are free to add in the modules they need to suit their proposition, such as EBTs, Link games, Fusion Displays, more diverse gaming options and cash reconciliation/ auditing modules. Fusion is similar, It can be part of a smaller system, maybe where Bingo is not a core part of the operation, such as in an AGC. Therefore, the system will be priced based on these factors. There will be a range of flexible commercial options which don’t necessarily include a large initial capital outlay.
There are products on the market from other suppliers, so why should an operator choose ECM? Many customers choose ECM because they are confident that the products they invest in will be revenue generating, well developed, and supported for a long duration. The company has a great pedigree with an unrivalled in-house support team who have direct access to the software developers and a team of field support engineers. This allows us to resolve problems very quickly in the event of a breakdown and get the system back up and running extremely quickly. ECM also provide a suite of integrated products which when combined, offer a powerful and complete end to end
gaming system that is customised according to the operators’ requirements. We really do provide a ‘One-Stop Shop’ for operators in the gaming industry.
The ‘one stop shop’ philosophy sounds interesting, can you expand on this for us?
Sure, we understand that operators don’t always have the time to work with many different suppliers, so we can, if required, provide a complete service. This starts with specifying and procurement of any necessary hardware, through to the installation of a fully integrated gaming system. Since you have one company owning the responsibility for the whole gaming system, the support model is very efficient and simple. In the event of a problem, it’s just one phone call to our customer support department and the problem is immediately owned,
through to it being swiftly rectified. The operator doesn’t have to work out who to call or have to try and convince a support engineer that the problem is with their part of the system. Through the experience I have gained In my previous roles, I know just how frustrating that can be. Its literally the last thing you need when your system is malfunctioning.
What else is happening at ECM in the coming year?
More options for EBT hardware will be available, despite the challenges the whole IT sector have faced with ongoing chip shortages. We have been working hard with technology suppliers to provide more options for our customers to replace their old units and provide options for new installations too. We are also working on a number of customer specific product developments too. I’m afraid
I can’t reveal the details of these, until they are in the public domain so you will just have to watch this space.
So, the year ahead is busy for ECM; Bingo Bee ‘3.2c’ software deployment with great new features such as a new customer friendly buying journey, flexible prompt to buy extra ticket option, plus MCB and F&B promotions for all independent customers. We continue with our customer training sessions, new installations, and new bespoke developments for our larger customers. We are also trialling ‘POS lite’ to help upsell bingo books and F&B and free trials are available for our customers. Add that to our two new products and we’re guaranteed to be in great shape for 2023 and beyond.
Having celebrated his fifth bingo birthday earlier this year, Mark Fletcher, Buzz Bingo’s Head of Brand Communications, has a natural energy and enthusiasm that he brings everywhere – including work – and
Anative of Yorkshire, born in 1984 in Halifax, he spent his school years down south in Oxfordshire, before heading back up north after university. He has since settled in the south, with his wife and children, aged 6 and 4, and Max the cat. Please bear in mind this is a Yorkshireman, so the ‘South’ means the hinterland between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Perfect for getting to Buzz HQ and around the country to Buzz Clubs.
Mark’s path to bingo was not a direct one, having tried a variety of roles after university. The first of those was stacking cheese and ready meals in Sainsbury’s, followed by a variety of instantly forgettable temping jobs, with just one ‘stand-out’ role. “Of all those temp jobs there was one that is the most memorable and by far the worst: lugging around vats of oil for a chain of well-known chicken shops in a warehouse. Put me off fast food for a while, but an experience nonetheless” Mark commented.
After working in ecommerce, fashion, ad agencies and a university, when the chance came to join the world of bingo and be part of the transition from Gala to Buzz, Mark jumped at it. “To be part of that change and be able to work on a brand new brand, in clubs and then the launch online, revitalising the game, was a great opportunity.
“It has been a rollercoaster ride so far and I love it. From creating Buzz’s first TV ads to navigating the uncertainties of the pandemic, to launching our charity partnership with the Stroke Association. It’s been a real privilege recently to go out across the UK and meet the people who make bingo the game it is.”
Covid brought a seismic change, in literally every sector, and like every sector bingo had to adjust and accept changing consumer behaviour. Mark said, “Following Covid I’ve noticed a shift towards trying to find the bingo fans of the future through product innovation and advertising, rather than leaving word of mouth to deliver this.”
As the White Paper for the new act was looming compliance and regulation were very much on Mark’s radar, “There’s no escaping the need for gambling reform to catch up with technology and changing consumer behaviour.” Mark said, “However, nuance is needed so that well-meaning legislation doesn’t inadvertently harm bingo clubs and their communities. It’s a brilliant and fun social occasion for the vast majority of customers, with the chance to win great prizes a bonus.”
As someone with ecommerce experience who joined bingo at the birth of Buzz, where omni-channel was always an objective, we asked Mark where he felt the future of bingo lies – online or in club?
“It has to be both. With innovations like Live Bingo we can put community into a digital product. But nothing beats playing physically in a club and meeting your pals or family for a drink and a chicken basket. We took our latest team member to Buzz Bingo Leicester recently and had a fab time as a team and showing her the ropes.
“When online was in its infancy there was a clear divide between land and online, with many club operators reluctant to go online too, as they felt it might cannibalise their club business. Today loads of bingo players play in club and online, so the challenges of becoming an omni-channel brand are actually the same challenges that we face in growing the retail business – how do you take players on a journey of product innovation, how do you cater for traditional and modern players in venues designed before the contactless-age?
“At the end of the day people want ‘me’ time, or together time, and they like the anticipation and excitement of bingo. Designing products that do that in retail and online environments is more than possible, the challenges are evolving the game whilst juggling a legacy infrastructure and a broad variety of customer expectations.
“Of course, overlaid on this are compliance requirements,
we’re glad to say it’s catching.
One
In profile: Mark Fletcher
which are there to protect people. If they create a challenge for us achieving our marketing ambitions then we have to be creative and think outside the box to make memorable marketing that’s also responsible. One thing Buzz is remarkable at is problem solving and doing so quickly, and I’m lucky to have a very progressive and supportive compliance team who always put audiences first.”
Obsessed with football and a long suffering Leeds United fan, the challenges and hard work in launching Buzz and keeping the brand front of mind in the leisure space, has certainly not exhausted Mark’s energies.
“I love planning trips abroad to my favourite European stadiums, which also allows me to do other hobbies – reading, maps, running, food and beer! My highlight is Union Berlin who play at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei (which translates as Stadium at the Old Forester’s House – it’s in a forest) and next up is a long awaited trip to the San Siro in Milan.”
While work is both demanding and rewarding, Mark puts equal energy into life away from bingo, not just as a family man, organising his children’s pre-holiday haircuts (which is where we managed to catch him), but also into community and charity work.
“There are two community groups I’m really proud of. I’m a volunteer on the board of Holbeck Viaduct Project, a nonprofit organisation aiming to repurpose an old Victorian rail viaduct as a public park and greenway in the sky. This allows me to combine my interests in architecture, urban planning and gardening with my experience in communications. Also in 2022 I joined about 100 Leeds fans walking from the late Gary Speed’s hometown Aston in Wales, to Elland Road, to raise money for Samaritans and Andy’s Man Club, a suicide prevention charity doing fantastic work to get men talking to each other. This year we’re tackling the 92 miles from Goodison Park, Everton in Liverpool to Leeds, via Bolton, Burnley and Halifax to raise more money for these essential charities. Anyone wanting to support us can find more information at thesquareball.net/garyspeed
We wondered if there was any more time and energy for anything else? “Carpet” came the reply, “Bingo carpets. They are incredible! I wouldn’t say I am obsessed, but it is becoming a ‘thing’. I have built up quite a gallery of amazingly magical carpets from around the country. I know people generally tell you to look up, but in bingo it’s a case of look-in and eyes down – that’s magic, the numbers and the carpets! I am sure there is a good book in there somewhere.”
Time for bingo? “Yes, I love getting to clubs to play. My next bingo date is at an Abba Wonderland event. My Abba experience is limited to a holiday in Skopelos where they filmed Mamma Mia so I’m not sure what to expect!”
Having taken a chance on bingo and jumped in with both feet, five years on was it a good choice? “100%. Getting to work with brilliant, hilarious, amazing people every day, both team members and customers, continues to be very rewarding. I am yet to tire of the moment when new players realise the numbers on their tickets are ordered in columns – when that penny drops it always makes me smile and you know someone’s really getting into their dabbing.”
We thought we would test the market for Mark’s picture book: Bingo Carpets I Have Known And Loved. Can you name each of the clubs whose carpets are featured in this article?
Send in your answers by email, with the subject BINGO CARPETS to info@bingoconnect.co.uk
and one lucky winner, chosen at random from any correct entries, will receive a £50.00 Amazon voucher. The challenge has been set!
Despite the Wirral Peninsula being part of the Liverpool City Region, the River Mersey provides not only a physical divide but a psychological one too between what many Liverpudlians see as the ‘real’ scousers and ‘Woolybacks’, who live across the water.
As a lifelong Woolyback, born, bred, still residing and never left, Cheryl Gifford, Mecca Bingo’s Marketing Director, is possibly the poster child for the ‘only way is Wirral’. An ardent fan of the area, Cheryl also has a great love for the city of Liverpool, as it was there that her family settled three generations ago when they came over from Ireland.
“Liverpool is such a great city and has so much to offer: Eurovision took place there earlier this month and the biggest contemporary arts festival in the UK, the Liverpool Biennial is back this June. I love it.” Cheryl said, “But I am not sure I can ever leave the Wirral.”
Born in Bebington, forty something years ago, where her mum was also born and still lives with her dad (another Bebington native), Cheryl attended Wirral Grammar School. Early work experience included the usual paper round, sweeping up in a hairdressers and a stint at the local shop. When it came time to enter the word of work full-time, bingo was not even on her horizon, let alone radar, as an option. Instead, a life of law enforcement called.
Cheryl knew that she needed a job and waiting on police recruitment might just take longer than she wanted to wait. So, it was back to retail, but this time Tesco and not too long after she moved in with husband to be, John.
After three years with Tesco Cheryl knew she wanted a change and spotted that Mecca were recruiting for their new club in Birkenhead, “I thought it would get me out of Tesco and that it would probably only be for a year, but I got hooked. As all of us in the industry know, once you do bingo, it’s hard to go back. And yes, it was the people: Team Members and customers that made, and make it, the place for me to be.”
Starting as a Customer Service Manager at the age of 20, with no experience of bingo Cheryl got to see exactly what made the club tick. “I started in 1997 at Mecca Birkenhead and became an Operations Manager in 2005, with a stint at Ellesmere Port, before becoming a Trainee General Manger (GM).
“As a trainee GM I worked in Hyde Road (Manchester), Crewe and Stoke, before taking my first GM role in Mecca Sale in around 2008: I still have really fond memories of my time at the Sale club, now sadly no more, and learnt so much, working with a really great team.”
Having moved to Sale as a GM, Cheryl’s next clubs were Oldham and Blackpool.
“I was lucky in respect of the clubs I worked in, both as a trainee and GM,” Cheryl continued, “and always managed to go to clubs that were within commuting distance of home. Fortunately, I like driving, which is no bad thing really!”
The demands of long commutes enabled Cheryl to remain Wirral based, close to friends, family, beautiful countryside and beaches, and the town she loves. Something of a bonus when three years on from marrying John in 2000, son Joe arrived.
“Our wedding was such a special day. I know everyone says that, but we were able to be married at Christ Church in Port Sunlight, which is only ten minutes away from Bebington and has an extremely long aisle, over 150 feet long. Amazing to walk down on your big day.
“I learnt a lot in those GM years, about business, life, and myself! It’s funny how the instincts and characteristics we are born with surface somehow and reveal themselves, whatever you end up doing.
“The real revelation for me was delivering my best friend’s baby, not intentionally but out of pure necessity. I had agreed to be on call when the time came close, as her husband (who is lovely!) is not particularly organised or good under pressure. I got the call and was there within 30 minutes, by which time things had progressed substantially and quite unexpectedly.
“My friend’s mother phoned the hospital while I remained with the mother-to-be, trying to keep her calm. Instructions were relayed and shouted as to how to proceed, as it became very apparent that no ambulance was ever going to make it in time. The instructions were vague, and it was closer to an instructive ‘guide and catch’ situation than instructed delivery. Good training for many a work project!
“As anticipated the husband was useless, and in the middle of all this my friend turns to me and says, ‘I knew it would be alright, I could see you had gone into manager mode’!
A relatively brief stint as an Area Manager for the Midlands, where Cheryl’s love of driving came into its own with a two hour commute each way, was the prelude to taking a Support Office role in 2018 at HQ in Maidenhead.
Spending two or three days each week in Maidenhead, Cheryl has held a number of roles there, including a year on cross-channel and two years in the Transformation Team, before taking up her current role as Head of Marketing. Her career at Mecca has afforded her an enviable and informed view of the business, from customer facing and businesses management, to support and player engagement channels.
“Bingo at its heart hasn’t changed and is still the same brilliant game it’s always been… but everything around it has evolved, including customers’ expectations and the wider leisure offer.
“Quite rightly, there has been an elevated scrutiny on compliance over the years, but as long as that is proportionate, it’s less of a challenge and more an opportunity to showcase what we do really well, whilst operating responsibly. Equally there are more ways to play, the constantly improving technology in our venues has made the experience smoother and more fun. There’s been a real diversification of the offer, greater variety of F&B and a real focus on the overall experience, broadening our target audience and appeal.”
But what of the challenges in a market that is subject to increased regulation and some uncertainty under a looming new act? “We recognise the importance of operating responsibly and strongly believe that the better informed all our stakeholders are, the higher the quality of the engagement. We’re pleased to note that in terms of recent publicly made outputs from the UK Gambling Commission, there does seem to be a clearer desire to work with operators to really understand what we’re doing in bingo and why we’re trying to do it in the interests of our customers.
“Like all leisure businesses relying on discretionary leisure spend, the cost-of-living crisis for our customers and the increase in operating costs as a business, combine to give us a challenging trading environment. However, we’re in it together and our teams are leaning into those challenges. An evening at the bingo represents a fantastic night out in terms of value and we work hard to ensure the pricing of our offering is really competitive.
“The uncertainty of a government review into gambling stalling over the last two years added greater pressure, but now
that the process is moving, greater clarity from government and regulator in regard to where we are heading is welcome, as we plan our roadmap to modernise our customer proposition and allow our post-pandemic recovery to continue. Certainly the latest changes proposed in the White Paper in regard to B3 machines will help, but why not take this opportunity to go further? Club bingo is not just a game, it’s a community that is facing some very real challenges.”
Are those challenges insurmountable? What is the future for bingo? “The future of bingo is bright! There are fantastic new concepts emerging across the industry and at Mecca, we’re constantly investing in our estate and proposition to remain a credible, attractive option for people seeking a fun experience. We must never underestimate just how valued a social amenity so many of our clubs are.
“Whilst there are obvious opportunities in terms of online growth, we also recognise our clubs are cherished community assets. At the same time, we can see how the online proposition can sit hand in hand with a club experience. We have an ever growing number of customers who regularly play with us both in club and online, as it allows them the flexibility to enjoy a game of bingo in a way that fits with their lifestyle and the moment they are in.”
The flexing between point of engagement, in club, online and mobile is a significant step on from the early 00s. Has as becoming an omni-channel brand and operator of scale been a great challenge?
“The benefit of the Mecca brand is the cross-channel opportunity, it’s obvious, and something we are committed to developing. Of course, there are challenges, but these are not unanticipated or insurmountable. We need to give customers a seamless experience online and in-club, that combines great customer service and appealing products. We’re continuing to work hard on making the cross-channel experience as accessible as we can across all our target audiences. We won’t stop trying to refine that.”
And what of challenges away from work?
“Improving my photography skills! Oh, and walking more of the tracks on Snowdon and in Snowdonia in general. I made it to the top for the first time in September 2021 and felt a great sense of achievement. It took three hours! There are many paths to the top and each offers a different view and challenge. Living in the Wirral we are only just over an hour’s drive away.”
And you can’t argue with that!
After a period marked by a succession of Chancellors and no official Budgets, normal service was resumed on 15 March with a ‘full’ Budget from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
That said, it was not quite a return to the old-style tax-raising and tax-cutting Budgets seen during the Gordon Brown or George Osborne eras. This is partly because, as noted in our previous Bingo Connect commentary, Mr Hunt did much of his tax raising in November’s Autumn Statement. But this can also be attributed to Government priorities, as this Budget focused on the spending initiatives required to ultimately deliver on Mr Hunt’s four Es: Enterprise, Employment, Education and Everywhere.
The Chancellor made no move to increase the Bingo taxes (Bingo Duty and Machine Games Duty). This seems to have been a conscious decision, rather than an oversight, as there was an increase in the taxation of casinos. This suggests that the relevant team in HM Treasury made an assessment of the gambling industry, but declined to raise additional revenue from Bingo. In less welcome news for business generally, there were no new measures to help companies with additional fuel costs.
Importantly, though, the Chancellor’s tax raising zeal did not extend to a direct raid on the Bingo industry. The headline rates of Bingo Duty and Machine Games Duty were not increased. While that might be
cold comfort, given the increased taxes that operators and customers will face over the coming years, it is a promising sign that even a cash-strapped Chancellor like Jeremy Hunt did not have Bingo on his hit-list.
This Budget’s headline-grabbing measure was the introduction of a full expensing regime in corporation tax for the next three years. This allows companies to write off the full cost of investments in qualifying new plant and machinery in the year of investment. As the Chancellor stressed in his speech, this places the UK in a unique position among the “major European countries”, with the hope that additional foreign direct investment will be drawn to the UK.
However, it is worth noting that the £1m Annual Investment Allowance will already deliver the same incentive for most companies.
Other measures that attracted attention included the abolition of the lifetime allowance on private pensions and the increase to the annual allowance from £40,000 to £60,000. In theory, this should remove the incentive for senior surgeons, and others, to retire early when faced by the on-set of high tax rates. Incidentally, the removal of the lifetime allowance has also changed the nature of the ‘25% lumpsum’ which is no longer a straight 25% but capped at its current value of £268,275, being 25% of the now-removed lifetime allowance limit.
Several big spending measures
The centre-piece of this Budget was a series of spending measures designed to restore growth to the UK economy. The Chancellor positioned these under his “Four Es” vision for economic growth:
• Employment – the key challenge being to get the economically inactive back into the labour market.
• Education – with a focus on childcare costs as a way of getting women back into paid work.
• Enterprise – which is to be promoted through investment incentives.
• Everywhere – a way of looking at “levelling up”, where the leading measures included the creation of new enterprise and innovation zones across the country, while smaller measures addressed issues such as potholes.
The efficacy or otherwise of these measures and incentives will become clear in the coming months and years. More direct and immediate help, though, came from the Chancellor’s refusal to impose an increase on fuel duty.
What can we expect for the future?
This was very much a transitional Budget. First of all, it marked the completion of the stabilisation exercise which Jeremy Hunt launched in November, looking to settle the market volatility that followed his predecessor’s ‘mini Budget’. Second, it sets the scene for the coming
year, when thoughts will turn to an upcoming General Election which needs to be called by late January 2025.
We might expect a period of relative tax-policy calm between now and the General Election. However, that calm is likely to be disturbed by the arrival of the Gambling White Paper.
Sanger is
Effingham Tax Policy Director at EY. The EY tax policy network has advisers in more than 85 countries and advises clients on how to effect policy change directly and through strategically engaging policy makers. www.ey.com
“In good news, the Chancellor made no move to increase the Bingo taxes (Bingo Duty and Machine Games Duty).”
The much anticipated White Paper on the review of the Gambling Act was released into the world this May, outlining the route map for change and areas to be assessed and explored. The time frame for this process is unlikely to be short, nor the journey direct, with much ground to be covered and detail to explore.
Allowing time for initial contemplation we asked three people, each with quite different perspectives, for their observations to date.
The publication of the White Paper was in the end launched with tacit approval from most stakeholder groups. There was, if you like, something in it for everyone but no one truly had their feathers ruffled either, at least as far as I could see.
That could be because the process was well managed, and the content was considered thoughtful and proportionate, or because many of the policy decisions left too much of the detail still to be confirmed. And the devil, as we know, is always in the detail.
The White Paper will lead to up to 62 work streams, all of which will need consulting on, with each consultation lasting 12 weeks. The priority will be to tackle the online measures in the paper first, where the impact will be the greater.
So what does this mean for Licensed Bingo Clubs? Well potentially there is some good news for Bingo from some of the proposals in the paper. The change of ratio from 80/20 to 50/50 for calculating the number of Category B Gaming machines permitted should allow clubs to remove thousands of old legacy Cat C kit, which is also energy heavy and lacks the more contemporary social responsibility tools.
The ability to play a wider variety of products via ‘Bingo Bets’ where betting style games allow a bet on the outcome of a game of bingo in a bingo club is also to be further worked on. Any ability to flex what
constitutes a game of Bingo is to be welcomed. After all, there is unlikely to be a Gambling Act Review for many years to come!
In addition to the above, the commitment to allow cashless payments directly on to gaming machines, to allow pilots for testing new machine games, and to support trialling the linking of gaming machines are likely to lead to greater machine product flexibility and opportunity.
But then there are some areas to watch within the White Paper. The one that springs to mind is the statutory levy. Any, and I mean any, increase above the current voluntary rate of 0.1% will prove very harmful to the industry. And then there are the introduction of Cumulative Impact Assessments, Increasing Fees from Local Authorities and from the Gambling Commission, Technical standards reviews on gaming machines, and finally the introduction of a Gambling Ombudsman.
All these could increase costs and become a further burden. It is too early to determine for sure until we see more detail so the jury is out and we will be watching closely.
Thrashing out the detail around all these measures will take time and no doubt keep us busy for what is estimated to be the next three years. So, if you see something in the White Paper that you see as an opportunity, don’t hold your breath and be aware it may take many months before it becomes a reality!
We have been waiting patiently for the White Paper for over wo years and now it is upon us, what does it mean for bingo? Overall for bingo I think the White Paper proposals are positive, maybe more positive than we originally expected, with welcome restoration of balance between the higher risk online gambling and our land-based venues.
You’ve seen the big headlines, proposed limits on slot game stakes online, potentially related to a player’s age, introduction of an ombudsman and a levy, changes to gaming machines allocations in casino, AGC and bingo premises, enhanced financial checks online. The proposed change in the allocation of gaming machines in our venues, from a ratio of C/D and B machines of 80/20 to 50/50 is a real opportunity. There are increases in costs, with the levy, Gambling Commission fees, and Licensing Authority fees. The levy particularly, with the level not yet decided, could be expensive. There could also be additional costs for an ombudsman. And there are risks, with greater powers proposed for Licensing Authorities to regulate gambling premises in their area.
In total there are 17 key policy commitments with a potential of 62 work streams. So, although the White Paper is full of good intentions, the detail is yet to be decided, and the devil is, as always, in the detail. Many consultations will follow, with the Government suggesting the majority will be this summer. This will be a hard ask, for all involved, the Government, Gambling Commission and the industry. The majority of the proposals require either secondary legislation, led by Government or changes to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, which will be Commission led. Commission consultations are not subject to further Parliamentary scrutiny, so let’s hope the Commission take a democratic approach and take into account Licensees views.
Arguably the biggest positive to come out of the White Paper is the proposal to adjust the 80/20 ratio which governs the balance of Category B and C/D machines in our bingo venues to 50/50. This was one of the key proposals in the Bingo Association response to the Call for Evidence which has led to this White Paper. More B machines will provide more customer choice and flexibility, it will be an economic benefit to the industry. We can remove the older C machines which are of little appeal to players. In addition to increasing the number of B machines we can have in our venues, the Government also to commits to
the Gambling Commission conducting a review of Gaming Machine Technical Standards, to assess session time limits on both Category B and C machines alongside the role of safer gambling tools. This will look to put onto a more formal footing the work that the industry and Association have already undertaken in relation to time and spend limits. Government also commit to supporting specific proposals for new gaming machines to be tested within planned industry pilots, under certain conditions and with close involvement of the Gambling Commission. This may well require primary legislation so could be a longer way off, but if enacted will make the development process for new machines more streamlined with the potential for better product.
Probably the biggest risk is the proposal that Government will introduce a statutory levy, to be paid by operators and distributed by the Commission under the direction and approval of Treasury and DCMS minsters. This summer the Government will launch a consultation on the details of its design, including proposals on the total amount to be raised by the levy and how it will be proportionately and fairly constructed. The Government states that the consultation will take into account the differing association of different sectors with harm and also for their differing fixed costs. This latter point is crucial. On principle that the polluter pays, our lobbying should concentrate on bingo as community based softer gambling, renewing the approach successfully established by Bingo Association lobbying, as we saw with the reduction in tax back in 2014.
The larger mainstream online operators are already paying effectively a 1% levy in contributions to research, education and treatment of at risk and problem gambling. A figure of this level for bingo could have devastating consequences.
Although the White Paper acknowledges that Local Authorities already have significant powers under the 2005 Act, to refuse applications, add conditions to licences, and review those licences where they had cause for concern, the Government state that they will consider bringing in to the licensing regime a formal system of Cumulative Impact Assessments (CIAs). CIAs are powers which currently exist in relation to alcohol licensing, although they rarely affect bingo premises. They allow authorities to assess the cumulative impact on the licensing objectives of having multiple premises within an area. If evidence suggest that impact is significant then the presumption on granting of an application can be reversed. In these circumstances the ‘aim to permit’ at section 153 of the Act may not apply. Increasing powers to Local Authorities is a risk to the industry. Although it could help retain the status quo for those already operating, it will make new applications, or extensions to existing licences (for instance to add hours), more difficult, stifling development. This change does require primary legislation. Again the primary registration will only be allowed if parliamentary time allows.
The Government propose that the Gambling Commission can increase their fees, and going further, suggest the Gambling Commission should set their own fees, which is more in line with gambling regulators around the world. We have seen some significant previous hikes, in relation particularly to remote licences, and I think we can expect similar increases. Licence fees increased by 55% for online operators back in October 2021 and by 15% for land based operators in April 2022. This new fees review is to consider further resource at the Commission, to provide them with the skills and expertise to prevent black market gambling, and to ensure that the Commission is able to deliver on the many proposals within the White Paper.
The Government will consult on raising the cap for licensing authority fees for new applications, variation applications, and for annual fees. One likely implication of this will be that, to justify those fees, we will see more Local Authority visits and inspections of bingo premises. New application licences fees are currently a maximum of £3,500, annual fees £1,000 and variation applications a maximum of £1,750.
It is welcome that the Government recognises that less and less of us take cash out in our pockets and pay more and more by smart phone apps or using debit cards. In the White Paper the Government commit to working with the Gambling Commission to develop specific consultation options for cash payments for gaming machines, referring to the player protections that will be required before they will remove the prohibition. Cashless payments do provide a platform for player protections, and the industry has already spent time and resource developing a platform. These need to be defined, and appropriate for the circumstances. Expect a consultation in the summer on how cashless payments can move forward.
Finally, we must mention affordability, or enhanced financial checks. The suggestion in the White Paper is that further regulation will relate to online rather than land based gambling, although as always we need to be vigilant for any consequences for bingo.
So, although we finally have the White Paper, it is again a case of watch this space for the details. It will be a busy summer.
There were 871 days between the then Gambling Minister, Nigel Huddleston standing up in the House of Commons to announce a review of the Gambling Act 2005 and the Secretary of State, Lucy Frazer finally giving a statement to publish it.
Since we became aware of the review taking place, we have had six Gambling Ministers, four DCMS Secretaries of State and three Prime Ministers. It has made the engagement process in this period tricky, as just when we thought progress was being made, new personnel, priorities and policies would put a fork in the road.
From the outset our goal has been to ensure that land-based bingo is rightly recognised as a unique part of the gambling landscape, due to the business model and focus on the safety and wellbeing of community. The Bingo Association has used every opportunity to promote this message to political stakeholders across the political landscape and at different levels of governing. Whether it be MP visits to bingo clubs, our charity fundraiser games at Party Conferences or the Parliamentary Reception to showcase the dedication of staff to look out for local people in the Covid-19, this goodwill resonated throughout the White Paper process and on the day of publication.
It was very welcome to hear the Ministerial statement reflect that “the status quo disadvantages… bingo halls and other traditional premises” and that “we plan to rebalance regulation and remove restrictions that disadvantage the land-based sector.” Likewise, from Shadow Minister Alex Davies-Jones, a recognition that bingo clubs are a “traditional British pastime” that “are important in sustaining our local communities, especially in coastal and rural towns.”
With the policy paper now out, attention turns to what comes next. Many of the measures most relevant for Association members will be formally consulted on, a process which can take anywhere from six months to two years. Included here is the proposal to introduce a statutory levy, which DCMS has recognised that different forms of businesses and fixed costs will be considered – a point we will look to clearly make in the consultation and to political targets over the coming year.
We will also seek to ensure reforms set out to gaming machines are progressed as quickly as possible and be alert to the expanding role of local authorities in the regulation and licensing or bingo clubs.
We have plenty of opportunities to ensure the voice of the bingo industry is loudly heard in response to the wide set of proposals. The meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to brief it’s members on what the White Paper will mean for bingo clubs has been an important early step. Next on the horizon is the Culture, Media and Sport Committee who are conducting a separate enquiry into the gambling reforms and will be questioning the Minister and Gambling Commission. We will also be looking to make the most of National Bingo Day, with a special day of visits to bingo clubs taking place on the 23rd June which will be a great opportunity to showcase the work of Association members and their customers first-hand.
The long overdue White Paper was broadly a welcome development for the industry, now is the time for continued engagement to ensure implementation is as smooth for bingo clubs as possible.
Association members should prepare themselves for a steady stream of consultations in the coming months, participation in which will be key to ensure that the industry is fully and accurately represented.
Over the past few years, the Government and the Courts have made a number of changes to the law surrounding the calculation of holiday pay which has left many employers, HR professionals and employment lawyers coming out in a cold sweat causing them to lie down in a darkened room with a wet flannel on their head.
It is an area of the law which is developing particularly in the light of the Supreme Court decision in Harpur Trust v Brazel which dealt with the holiday entitlement for ‘part-year workers’ or term time only workers on permanent contracts and held that the 5.6 weeks holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 cannot be reduced to take into
account of periods when no work was undertaken.
In response to the Harpur Trust case the Government recently published a consultation paper which proposes to make holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 proportionate to hours worked. However, we will have to wait and see whether the proposed changes will be implemented and in the meantime I have set out the current law below.
How much holiday are workers entitled to?
All workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday per holiday year. This includes the usual eight public holidays. The 5.6 weeks amounts to 28 days for a full time employee. Of course employees may receive additional holiday rights under their contract of employment.
A worker who has normal working hours and their pay does not vary from week to week will simply be paid their normal salary that they would have received had they not been on holiday during any period of annual leave.
Workers with normal working hours whose pay varies
For a worker who has normal working hours but whose pay varies, for example by receiving additional remuneration such
as overtime, the Courts have confirmed that a worker should not receive less money in a period of holiday than they would have received had they been working during that time. This is because this could act as a financial disincentive for workers to take holiday. For example, if a worker works and is paid overtime for most weeks they work, but is only paid their basic pay during periods of holiday, they will lose money by taking holiday. Case law has established that workers are entitled to receive ‘normal remuneration’ during periods of holiday.
‘Normal remuneration’ for the purposes of calculating holiday pay include payments over and above basic salary if the payment is made regularly ‘or over a sufficient period’. The following types of payment are likely to be regarded as part of a worker’s normal remuneration where they are paid on a regular basis over a sufficient period:
• Commission payments.
• Overtime pay.
• Productivity/performance bonuses.
• Shift allowances and premiums.
• Travel and other allowances that are treated as taxable remuneration. The following elements of remuneration should not be included in the calculation of holiday pay:
• Benefits in kind.
• Bonus not linked to workers performance.
• Expenses.
• One off bonuses and occasional payments.
Where a worker’s pay varies, employers need to calculate a ‘week’s pay’ by taking an average of the pay received by the worker over the previous 52 weeks for which the worker was paid. If for any reason no remuneration was payable to the worker in a particular week, or where the employee is on maternity leave, paternity, adoption, parental, shared parental or parental bereavement leave, then that week should not be used in the calculation and an earlier week must be used. Employers can go back to a maximum of 104 weeks.
This category of workers, for example zero hours workers or casual workers, have caused the most difficulties for employers in relation to their holiday pay arrangements. For many years, employers often paid “rolled up” holiday pay however, this was found to be unlawful by the European Court of Justice and the latest Government guidance states that “holiday pay should be paid for the time when annual leave is taken. An employer cannot include an amount for holiday pay in the hourly rate (known as rolled up holiday pay).”
Employers are now required to calculate a week’s pay by taking an average of all the worker’s pay over a 52 week reference period as set out above. However, this is difficult to work in practice.
As indicated above, the Government recent proposals include a 52 week holiday entitlement reference for part-year workers and workers with irregular hours based on the proportion of time spent working over the previous 52 weeks, including weeks in which no work was done. Holiday entitlement would be calculated in hours at the start of the year, as 12.07% of the hours worked in the previous 52 weeks. However, this is not currently law and in the meantime employers still have the headache of calculating workers with no normal working hours based on a 52 week reference period ignoring weeks when no remuneration was payable to the worker.
Workers can bring claims in the Employment Tribunal for any shortfall in holiday pay. The value of such claims is the difference between the actual holiday pay paid to the worker and the amount that should have been paid. Since 2015, workers can only usually claim shortfalls in holiday pay relating to the period 2 years immediately prior to the claim. It is therefore important that employers ensure that they are paying the appropriate amount of holiday pay, as a failure to do so could be costly if there are a large number of the employer’s workforce being paid incorrectly.
What to look out for
You should consider taking advice on your holiday pay practices if any of the
following are relevant:
• You pay basic salary only for periods of holiday;
• You do not include commission, bonuses, overtime, shift premiums or other variable payments in your current calculation of holiday pay;
• You pay rolled up holiday pay;
• You engage casual staff who have no normal working hours; or
• You engage self-employed contractors (whether individually or through a personal services company) and have not established whether there is a risk that they could be classified as workers for employment law purposes.
In view of the fact that the calculation of holiday pay has required the Supreme Court to determine how holiday pay should be calculated and that the Government is currently considering making further changes, the need for the cold flannel to the head still remains! In the meantime, employers, particularly those engaging workers with no normal working hours, should check that their holiday pay arrangements meet the current legal requirements.
“The Government proposes to make holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 proportionate to hours worked. However, we will have to wait and see whether the proposed changes will be implemented.”
Bingo has a long history in the UK where it has always been about people, community and fun. Since it became popular here in the 1950s and 60s, operators, the media and private individuals have been there to record events and occasions, capturing unique moments, people and places that have played their part in bingo’s rich history. Since 2015 Sean Connolly - known by many in the bingo sector - began sharing all his old bingo photos on Facebook ‘Bingo Photos Old and New’ and has posted over 7,000 images of people and clubs which has enabled a great many colleagues to reconnect.
A day at the races is not the only excuse to wear a hat, as customers and staff in this issue’s Bingo Pics Past & Present demonstrate.
As this year’s race season has come to a close we raided Sean’s archive to find a range of styles and occasions to amaze and amuse!
If you want to get ahead, get a hat!Granada Tooting 1992 ➜ Gala Newcross 1996 ➜
If you have bingo images that you would like to donate to and/or share with Sean, please contact him via Facebook @old.bingo.photographs or email: seanconnolly431@ hotmail.com
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