developments along these lines in the future.
Is this the extent of your developments or is there more?
All we can see in this business is opportunity. We have also introduced digital books into our business, which enables us to present new games and personalise the offering. If you think about the main stage bingo products, with the exception of playing via electronics, the most innovative thing that has happened over the last 40 years has been the dabber. We’re beginning to experiment with all kinds of new games and ways of playing on paper, which are just as exciting as our developments in electronic hand-held.
What happens after all of this new kit makes it into your bingo venues? Once we have finished this big investment in products, it becomes just about investing in the overall experience. With this in mind, we are starting again to develop our Project Eden concept, which we initiated in 2007 but soon mothballed due to capital restrictions. You’ll also soon see us begin to invest in broadening the appeal of the bingo club and actually regaining lots of the customers that we lost over the last ten years or so.
Why do you feel that you lost customers over the previous decade? What is unique about bingo is that we provide both a social and a gaming experience. I think that over the past decade, as with an industry, we have leaned too far towards the gaming side and forgot about the social side. As with everything in life, it is all about getting things in the right balance and I believe that we got ourselves out of kilter. We are now in the process of investing in the overall experience to reinstate that balance so that we better cater for our target market.
Have you been affected by the government’s recent decision to move from a value-added tax (VAT) model to an increase in gross profits tax (GPT)? To be honest, I think that this was a mistake
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by the government as I don’t believe that they quite understood the implications of what they were doing when they removed VAT in favour of increased GPT. What they have effectively done, which I don’t think that they could have thought through, is restrict investment because we are no longer able to claim back VAT on a lot of our purchases. This actually means that our costs have gone up, particularly if we invest in something
So, if I want to buy a new bingo club, for example, I cannot now claim a lot of the VAT back as I used to be able to do in the past. I believe that the government were trying to do us a favour when they took out VAT and increased GPT but the net result is that we are worse off. In the short-term we had to adjust to the tax increases. However, in the long-term, the government has actually restricted or put a big premium on our ability to invest going forward, which isn’t good news for anyone. I can’t believe that the government intended to do what they have ended up doing so I think that they were probably poorly advised. Either way, our industry has to pay up to a 20 percent premium on investment compared to other sectors.
Looking ahead, are you optimistic about the future of the bingo industry in the UK?
Simon Wykes: To be honest, I think that bingo is a unique industry as what we offer isn’t replicated anywhere else. We provide a safe and secure environment for a largely female customer base that wants to have a few laughs and a bit of a flutter. No-one else caters for this market.
In addition, we have a product that is timeless and that people want to play. For anyone that suggests that bingo is doomed as a game, just look at the success of online bingo over the past three to four years. I think that we need to makes some tweaks to the environment and our offer because we got ourselves as an industry a little bit out of kilter but, as we redress that balance, I know the good times will roll again.
Bingo Life
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