Mecca Bingo - Wikipedia

Mecca Bingo (formerly called Top Rank) is a UK-based company and operator of 76 bingo clubs located in major towns and cities. Mecca Bingo is owned by The ... MeccaBingo FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch MeccaBingoTypeLimitedcompanyIndustryGamblingFounded1961HeadquartersMaidenhead,Berkshire,EnglandAreaservedUnitedKingdomKeypeopleJohnO'ReillyProductsBingoclubsRevenue£221.5m (2015/16)Netincome£32.9m (2015/16)ParentTheRankGroupWebsitewww.meccabingo.com MeccaBingo(formerlycalledTopRank)isaUK-basedcompanyandoperatorof76bingoclubslocatedinmajortownsandcities.MeccaBingoisownedbyTheRankGroup,whichoperatesbingos,casinosandonlinegamblinginBelgium,SpainandtheUK.RankGroupalsoownGrosvenorCasinosandEnracha.MeccaBingowasestablishedin1961,anditsheadquartersisinMaidenhead.[1]AnextensionoftheMeccaBingobrandincludesmeccabingo.comandanumberofmobileapps.MeccaBingoisthelargestNationalBingoGameoperatorintheUK. AsofJune2015,MeccaBingo’srevenuewasrecordedat£224.4million,withanoperatingprofitof£28.9million.[2]TheRankGroupreportsthereareonemillioncustomerswhovisitMeccaeachyear,with£65.2millionrevenuegeneratedfromdigital.TheMeccanetworkcurrentlyemploysmorethan11,000peopleacrosstheUK.[3]Theirhallshosttraditionalandelectronicversionsofbingo,includingslot-stylegames.MeccaarelicensedandregulatedbytheUKGamblingCommissionandtheAlderneyGamblingControlCommission. Contents 1History 2Controversy 3Awards 4References 5Externallinks History[edit] EricMorley,BritishTVhostandfounderoftheMissWorldpageant,isaccreditedwithpopularisingthegameofbingointheUnitedKingdomduringtheearlysixties,asatactictofilltheUK’sdancehalls.In1952,hewasMecca'sgeneralmanagerofdancing,andwasmadeadirectorin1953.WithMecca,MorleyhelpedtopopularisebingowhichwasplayedatMeccavenuesthroughouttheUnitedKingdom.HechangedthecompanyfromasmallcateringanddancingfirmintoaleadingentertainmentandcateringcompanyintheUK.Adirectorofthecompanyfrom1953upuntil1978,Morleyleftthebusinessafteradisagreementwithitsthenparentcompany,GrandMetropolitan.[4] In1990,theRankOrganisationmadeanofferof£512mtoacquireMeccaLeisureGroup.Thiswasinitiallyrejected,thenacceptedtwomonthslater.[5]In2007,MeccaBingoanditsparentcompanysufferedsignificantlosses,attributedtotheimplementationofthesmokingbanintheUK.RankshutnineMeccaBingoclubs,with230peoplelosingtheirjobs.[6]In2015,MeccaBingolaunchedamarketingcampaignfeaturingatwerkingcactus.ThecampaignadvertshelpedtoincreaseMecca’sdigitalsalesby18percent,yearonyear,inthe20weeksto17May.[7] In2022MeccaBingopartneredwithBritain’sGotTalentandbecametheUKTVshow'sofficialbingopartner.[8]ThedealwillallowMeccaBingotoproduceBritain’sGotTalent-themedbingogamesfortheironlineofferingandin-personvenues.[9] Controversy[edit] On25December1997,membersoftheMuslimcommunityinLuton,Bedfordshire,wereoutragedbyalocalbingohallchangingitsnamefrom‘TopRank’to‘Mecca,’whichisalsothenameoftheholiestIslamiccity.Protesters,angeredbythelinkbetweentheholycityandthepracticeofgambling,whichisforbiddeninIslam,threwbricksthroughthebingohall’swindows,causing£3000ofdamage.[10]Subsequentlycompanymanagementsaidthe'Mecca'namewouldbedroppedfromthebingohallasaresultoftheunrestandoffencecaused.[11]Howeverasof2018,some21yearson,thecompany'sownbranchlocatorontheirwebsiteconfirmsthattheMeccabrandisstillbeingusedinLuton. InDecember2015,MeccaBingowasorderedtoforfeitnearly£1millionafterallowingawomantospendupto£50,000amonthonhergamblingaddiction.[12] Awards[edit] MeccaBingowasawarded‘BingoOperatoroftheYear’atthe2016InternationalGamingAwards.[13]Itwonthesameawardin2014and2015,withRankGroupalsowinning‘SociallyResponsibleOperatoroftheYearLandBased’.[14][15] MeccaBingowontwoawardsatthe2016EGRInnovationandMarketingAwards:[16]‘BestNativeApp’and‘InnovationinBingo’fortheirEmojiBingogame–anAppthatswapsbingoballsforemojis. In2017MeccaBingowonWhichBingoawardsforBestCustomerServicesandMostSociallyResponsible,alongwiththeEGRawardforBestMobileBingoProduct. References[edit] ^"OurBusiness-RankGroupPlc".www.rank.com.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"Mecca-RankGroupPlc".www.rank.com.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"Meetthemantryingtobreathenewlifeintobingo".Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"TheLongHistoryOfMeccaBingo".2009-12-10.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"TheRankGroupplc-CompanyProfile,Information,BusinessDescription,History,BackgroundInformationonTheRankGroupplc".www.referenceforbusiness.com.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^Kollewe,Julia(2007-03-03)."MeccaBingohallsstruggleinfaceofall-outsmokingban".TheGuardian.ISSN 0261-3077.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"ThisishowadancingcactushashelpedboostbusinessatMeccabingo".2015-05-21.Archivedfromtheoriginalon2022-05-12.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"Britain'sGotTalentBingo".meccabingo.com.Retrieved1April2022.{{citeweb}}:CS1maint:url-status(link) ^"MeccaBingoEntersPartnershipDealwithBritain'sGotTalent".casinoreviews.net.31March2022.Retrieved1April2022.{{citeweb}}:CS1maint:url-status(link) ^"MeccabingohalloutragesMuslims".1998-01-07.Archivedfromtheoriginalon2022-05-12.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"MeccabingohalldropsnameafterMuslimprotests".BBC.1998-01-14.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"BetspayoffforMeccabingoownerRankGroup".Retrieved2016-09-12.(subscriptionrequired) ^"IGAWinners2016".2015-12-01.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"IGAWinners2014".2014-01-02.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"IGAWinners2015".2015-01-22.Retrieved2016-09-12. ^"Winners".Retrieved2016-09-12. Externallinks[edit] WikimediaCommonshasmediarelatedtoMeccaBingoHalls. OfficialMeccaBingosite MeccaBingoonTwitter Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mecca_Bingo&oldid=1087537696" Categories:BingoGamblingcompaniesoftheUnitedKingdomGamblingcompaniesestablishedin1961Hiddencategories:CS1maint:url-statusPagescontaininglinkstosubscription-onlycontentUseBritishEnglishfromDecember2013CommonscategorylinkisonWikidata Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk English Views ReadEditViewhistory More Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Inotherprojects WikimediaCommons Languages فارسی Editlinks