Chain: Apollo Bingo
The Apollo Bingo name has a longer and more layered history than many players realise, spanning several distinct eras and ownership groups.
One of its earliest incarnations operated from the former Palladium Cinema on Gloddaeth Street in Llandudno. The building had opened in 1920 as a striking 1,420-seat Grade II listed cinema, complete with a 32-foot deep stage and eight dressing rooms. Bingo began there part-time in the 1960s, before the building was split by the Hutchinson Leisure Group. Apollo Bingo took over at some point, although the club closed in 1999, with the details surrounding its closure not well documented.
The Apollo name later resurfaced as part of a different operator’s estate: Majestic Bingo started in 2014 with the purchase of seven bingo premises from Seldis Cooper, followed by the purchase of several Top Ten Bingo Apollo clubs. This brought Apollo-branded clubs, including a site in Rhyl, under Majestic’s ownership.
Majestic Bingo entered administration in 2023. Eight venues faced an uncertain future, including sites in Caernarfon, Cornwall, Donnington, Bishop Auckland, Tonypandy, Worcester, Skegness and Rhyl. The eight sites were acquired by Real Fun Group Ltd in December 2023, and several — including the Rhyl and Caernarfon clubs — continue trading under the Apollo Bingo name today, though now as part of a different corporate group rather than a standalone chain.
As a standalone “Apollo Bingo” chain in its own right, the brand no longer exists independently — its clubs are now either closed (like the original Llandudno venue) or absorbed into Real Fun Group’s wider portfolio of individually-branded clubs.
