Smoking Ban Hits Bingo: Unlucky For Some
AHEAD of next month’s introduction of the smoking ban, pubs and clubs are steeling themselves for what could be difficult times ahead.
The bingo industry in particular is expecting the ban to have a huge impact, with gambling group Gala Coral admitting that it expects to close around 12 of its bingo clubs if the impact of the ban in England is as severe as it has been in Scotland.
Since the no-smoking law came into effect north of the border, it has been the bingo industry that has suffered the most, with admissions declining sharply and prize money dropping. Additionally, players who would have previously frittered away their cash on the fruit machines during the interval are instead popping outside for a fag.
Gala’s rivals, the Rank Group, has already closed 15 of its 118 clubs since the smoking ban came into effect in Scotland but Gala’s chief executive Neil Goulden is playing a waiting game. Says he: “We will wait for six months and see where we are. We are going to get a drop in spend-per-head. But it is only temporary… Spend-per-head will recover within 12 months.”
However, Goulden, who is also chairman of the Bingo Association, admits that things will get hard for the industry. “We could have 200 clubs closing,” he says, “This could mean an enormous number of job losses and loss of amenity to local communities.”
Unlucky for some…
Posted: 11th, June 2007 | In: Money Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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June 12th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Just a note for you - the picture features someone playing the American version of Bingo which is quite different to the UK version. What with being called the Anorak - thought you might like to be on top of it.
Seriously though - don’t believe all the hype being spun by the Bingo industry. A lot of it’s problems stem from inactivity in the face of the inevitable. It’s starting to get it now and do things like explore new markets and demographics, but it’s done little up to now to grow it’s business and expand it’s potential. It’s focused on keeping it’s existing user base happy rather than finding a new one. As sad as it is to see clubs close, the members would have been happier seeing some drastic initiatives than seeing their clubs close - IMO.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Do the French still have those dreadful Gaulois?
Seriously though the ban will affect a lot of the leisure industry the most, and be the hardest to enforce, industry etc can sack a smoking employee, trying ’sacking’ or stopping a paying customer.
Also the loss of revenue to the Govt, so fuel will be the obvious choice for an increase, and it will be many decades before the NHS actually sees a cut in smoking related diseases.
I’m an ex smoker, I do know how hard it is to stop, I smoked for 23 years, and actually just got so pee’d off with the dependency and the cost financially - 40+ per day was expensive. I haven’t smoked now since 1993, and yes I do feel better for it, and less poverty stricken, but it was me who made me give up, no one else.