Surprise Move for Gala Bingo

In a surprise move, the Chief Executive of Gala Bingo (Coral Group), Neil Gouden has announced that Gala Bingo will be closing five bingo halls. The reason for the surprise that this has sprung upon us; is the fact that just three short weeks ago the bingo club operator announced that there were no planned closures for any Gala Bingo Clubs in the UK.

The reported bingo halls that are to be closed are Edinburgh, Bedminster, Winton in Bournemouth, lakeside in Essex and Teesside. Not only does this mean that a valuable social outlet for the residents of these areas will be lost, but also that 130 jobs will also be lost. All this after Neil Gouden announced, I quote, “We have no plans to strategically reduce our estate”.

In the announcement a Gala Bingo company spokesperson stated that, that there had been no further deterioration in their trading figures and the closures were being conducted in the normal course of business.

One can’t help but think if this situation is going to worsen in the near future. It really is about time that the Government took a look at the unreasonable taxation of bingo operators and do something positive about it, or they will end up with a further tax burden caused by serious unemployment throughout the bingo industry.