Chain: Hay Bingo (Lost Halls)

Hay Bingo is a small North East England chain, currently trading from two clubs, though its history includes at least one closure. The chain took shape in 2017, when the Hay family took over a handful of existing clubs and brought them under a single branded name, a common growth pattern among the UK’s smaller regional bingo operators.

One of the chain’s early acquisitions, on Stamfordham Road in Newcastle upon Tyne, has since closed. This reduced the chain’s footprint from three clubs to the two it currently operates, in Ashington and on Heaton Road. As with many independent operators, the loss of a club doesn’t necessarily reflect wider financial trouble for the chain as a whole, since Hay Bingo continues to trade successfully from its remaining sites.

The closure is also a reminder of the risks facing vacant former bingo buildings more generally. Large, older venues like these can be difficult to repurpose once bingo trade ends, sometimes standing empty for extended periods and, in unfortunate cases, becoming targets for illegal activity rather than finding a new legitimate use.