 Editor's Page
The first few months of 2015 have proven to be a busy period, with trade shows, new consultations and new publications from The Bingo Association.
With encouragement from the Clarion Events team, the Association made its first formal foray to ICE Totally Gaming, at the London Excel Centre in February, with both a small corporate stand and larger networking area. It was a great opportunity to meet so many Members, long standing and new, and the networking space provided Members with an easy meeting point and space to hold supplier and networking meeting over a coffee. We will be looking repeat and build upon this opportunity in 2016.
The Association was proud to launch its industry Code of Conduct: Getting It Right, in January. The twelve point Code provides a robust and thorough structure, which in all areas meets the requirements of the recently published License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), with some areas surpassing regulators' requirements, expectations and timings. This is particularly so in regard to an industry-wide National Self Exclusion scheme; required to be in place by April 2016 and one which we expect the Association to deliver upon well before the close of the year.
Support of and adherence to the Code of Conduct is a condition of Membership; effective from January 2015. The move does not appear to have affected Membership levels for 2015, but was a risk, however small. Despite losing 52 Riley's clubs last year the Association expects to grow its Membership to over 500 premises during 2015.
The Association continues to work closely on Social Responsibility under the umbrella of IGRG with the Gambling Commission, particularly in the areas of self-exclusion, messaging, and training, where the wider Gambling Industry feels that it can work together for the common good.
A recent 'snapshot' of the retail Bingo Industry performance in 2014 shows that since the duty change came into effect in June 2014, rates of club closures and visit decline have reduced markedly, although there remains much room for improvement. The Industry looks forward to its first large scale retail opening for some years in September, with others to follow.
The message to government and the regulator in 2015 from the Bingo Industry is 'no change please'; a period of stability and consolidation is urgently required in order to allow the Industry to build and grow from the duty change. This request for no change also extends to indirect consequential change, arising from revisions elsewhere in the Gambling Sector which may negatively impact on Licensed Bingo Clubs, such as the Greene King application and ongoing debate about B2 machines. There are also genuine concerns within The Bingo Association about how Local Risk assessments and Annual Assurance Statements will be applied in the future as operators seek to innovate and open new facilities.
To ensure that the Bingo Industry takes its responsibilities seriously and proactively, and to ensure the Industry isn't misrepresented by research and data taken from other sectors and erroneously applied to land-based bingo, the Association is at the formative stage of preparing a brief that will lead to its own research into problem gambling, sources and causes, and actions that might help reduce occurrence and harm.
It is clear that 2015 will continue to be a challenging and interesting year.
Miles Baron
Editor
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