Trouble in bingo paradise
19th May, 2008
In the past three years, around 100 bingo clubs have closed their doors, and many in the bingo industry are concerned that they may have to close as well. Since the smoking ban passed last July the business has seen profits fall drastically.
What’s more is that new gambling laws have made it even more difficult to turn a profit. Bingo halls have to pay, on top of 17.5 per cent VAT, 15 percent of their profits. Furthermore, increased license fees and administrative costs, because of new gambling laws, only compound the problem.
“The smoking ban crippled us but the new taxes are making life even more difficult,” said Jack Allen, manager of Welbeck Bingo Club. “Unless we receive some kind of help or relief we might not be here in another five years. It’s a community asset as well as a business.”
Denise Story of Walker, Newcastle, is worried about the future of the Welbeck. Denise, a bingo caller, is 48 and has been an employee of Welbeck since she was 19.
“I started at the club after I finished school,” Denise said. “If we closed I don’t think I could go to another bingo hall as it just wouldn’t be the same. I know everyone here and some are my best friends.”
Bingo halls are much more than businesses, according to a study by Henley Centre research group, commissioned by the Bingo Association to chart the effects of the closure of bingo clubs in Scotland and the Midlands. “For regular members, going out to bingo is the primary and sometimes only, leisure activity outside of the house.”
By Michael
