Member Article

Bootle bingo boss welcomes tax cut

The chief executive of a bingo hall in Bootle has welcomed the bingo tax cut and announced plans to reinvest the savings in jobs and revitalising his business.

The cut in the rate of Bingo Duty announced in last week’s Budget from 20 per cent to 10 per cent is aimed at supporting bingo clubs and operators in the UK.

Castle Leisure runs 11 bingo clubs in England and Wales, including on Stanley Road in Bootle. The company plans to use some of the money it will save in Bingo Duty to bring forward a 3.5% per cent pay rise for staff by six weeks, so that they receive it before Christmas.

Castle will also create 100 new jobs in the next three years by increasing its capital investment substantially. It will now invest £5.5 million in refurbishing its existing clubs and £7.5 million in developing a new bingo club.

Jeff Harris, Chief Executive of Castle Leisure, said:“This tax cut means that we can reinvest money in growing the business and creating jobs. It will make a huge difference to Castle, our staff and the communities we serve.”

The Bingo Association has welcomed the decision to reduce tax on bingo on behalf of all its members including the 51 independent bingo companies and the two larger chains, Mecca and Gala. Its members have committed to reinvesting the tax saved in a number of different ways.

Early indications are that they will create new jobs and safeguard many more existing ones. Bingo club members will see facilities invested in and modernised, they will see new bingo clubs open, and value to customers in some clubs will also increase through reduced prices or improved prizes.

Miles Baron, Chief Executive of the Bingo Association, said: “We are already seeing evidence that the duty reduction on bingo will be transformational for operators and customers.

“The Bingo Association wants to thank bingo fans and players, the MPs who got behind us and the Chancellor, for delivering the stimulus we needed. Communities across the country will now benefit from investment in premises, jobs and better value for customers.”

The Rank Group, which operates 97 Mecca Bingo clubs around the country, announced that it intends to open three new bingo halls as a result of the tax reduction. It will also restart its modernisation programme, which will involve at least £6 million capital investment over the next three years.

As a result, the Rank Group expects to create more than 200 new jobs and safeguard many existing ones. They are also committing to pass on some of the savings to members in the form of lower prices and bigger prizes.

Gala Bingo has announced that it too will pass on some of the benefits of the tax cut to its customers. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said: “Bingo clubs up and down the country support many jobs. By cutting in half the tax that they pay, we are backing an industry that is so much more than the sum of its parts.” In 2012, there were 400 bingo clubs, employing 12,000 people. Six million people are retail members of the Bingo Association, half of them playing regularly.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .