UK bingo chief Miles Baron hails two new clubs opening despite closures

Bingo Association CEO Miles Baron has told FIRST that although the industry is growing, a few factors are still holding it back.

Several factors have slowed the growth of bingo in the UK, but regardless the industry is still expanding. 

Baron says that there are a couple of new bingo clubs opening in Leeds and Edinburgh, heading into 2025. Additionally, bingo clubs in Manchester (Old Trafford), Wakefield and Leicester have gone under refurbishments this year.

However, even though new places are opening up, there are still closures occurring.

Baron said: “We still continue to see closures, but they tend to be smaller businesses and perhaps businesses that, you know, might have come to the end of their natural life cycle anyway. But it's great that we're seeing investment. We're also seeing capital projects in bingo clubs in Wakefield, for example and another one that's recently had a nice upgrade is Leicester.”

When discussing the growth of this sector he said: “The checkbook's coming out and the capital and investment are beginning to flow, so it’s all really positive.”

The new clubs opening are part of the Club 3000 Group. In Edinburgh there has been a £5.5m investment into a brand-new bingo club, held in Ocean Terminal, which will be opening on 25 January, 2025. The Group will also be celebrating their 25th club opening with their £3m venue in Leeds, set to open in Hunslet in late 2024.

Going into 2025, we asked the Bingo Association CEO what his predictions would be. He clarified: “So I think next year we will see those clubs open, but we perhaps won't see as many new ones or as much investment as we were hoping to see. 

“I think you'll see people generally move into smaller footprints because it's easier to stack it up in the numbers. And I think you'll see that technology enables that as well. But I think we have definitely gone from thinking 2025 was going to be a stellar year for growth and new premises to sort of hang on a little bit to the handrails and hold on to hopefully get through it.”

To read more from our exclusive chat with Miles Baron, check out our story on the Government’s impact on the bingo industry going into 2025.