Like you I have been following this story with much interest and the Governments response to the online petition which you quote from seems to have brought this chapter at least to an end. I'm not so sure it is a good thing for the industry. Yes, as you rightly say, there is more to the retail side of the industry's problems than double taxation. This has, after all, been in place for some years now and was begrudgingly accepted for most of this time.

If there is to be any kind of future for the industry it must, as you say, capture new audiences by diversifying and innovating. In reality that takes money, money to invest in premises and technology. If the media is to be believed I think you have to have some doubt as to whether the industry has the money or the borrowing power to make that investment. Even if it did I suspect there will be a degree of conflict between the needs of the traditional player and the new audience making the solution a long drawn out and costly affair.

What relief on double taxation might have done is go some way to ease this transitional process by making more money available to the Bingo operators. There is little doubt in my mind that this decision has ensured the list of "Lost Bingo Halls" will be one of the few growth area associated with the Bingo industry over the coming months.

11:48 PM  

Innovation needn't cost money, it can start with something as simple as talking to the staff and customers about what they think might work. Bingo like many retail activities is run from the top down, at a club level it's the managers who must 'have the ideas' and set down a lot of the club activity.

In reality and my experience, two brains are better than one, and lowly floor staff could have some killer ideas for saving money, bringing in new custom, etcetera, that comes directly from their experience of working in the field. More often than not they have a different perspective that the managers are to a degree aloof from. If staff can get rewarded for innovating in partnership with senior management, that one small innovation for the industry that doesn't require big monetary development.

My old hall closed in 1994 for the same reasons that many are closing now, and it was nothing to do with the taxation and plenty to do with the lack of imagination behind how the business is run. Unfortunately as you've pointed out, I'm expecting the lost halls section to keep me busy for the time being.

8:02 AM