WELCOME from Miles Baron, Editor  As 2015 comes to an end it looks like another year of improved performance for the Industry. Before we get carried away this has to be seen as stabilisation rather growth. There are reasons to be optimistic with the Gala sale finally resolved and the new team at Mecca well advanced with their latest Bingo concept.
However, the agenda for 2016 looks very similar to 2015. We await the decision on the appeal regarding Greene King, the next steps in the long running saga over B2 machines in bookmakers and as of writing the Scotland Bill is still to be ratified by Parliament. Whilst the relevance to Licensed Bingo might not be obvious there is no doubt that the 'lack of public confidence' over the proliferation of B2 machines casts a shadow over all gaming machines particularly B3 machines.
Meanwhile the number of consultations to absorb and respond to shows little sign of abating.
Deadlines for Industry self-exclusion approach fast in April 2016, whilst operators anxiously anticipate the cost of the Living Wage and the introduction of the new £1 coin and polymer banknotes.
The Bingo Association finds itself at the heart of Social Responsibility. There is no doubt regulators see the Trade Associations as a simple and effective way to drive self-regulation and co-ordinate best practice.
This in turn encourages all licensed operators to join the Association to assist them to comply with the LCCP. With the Social Responsibility agenda comes increased costs and whether the Industry chooses to pay through their own company initiatives or their Trade Association, this Agenda does not come cheaply.
Then again there are changes of personnel. A new CEO at GC, the departure of an influential senior GC director, a new Secretary of State at DCMS and a new parliamentary under secretary of state with responsibility for gambling, can we be sure what their strategies and priorities are and how, if at all, they might change?
Perhaps the most interesting and informative event of 2016 will be the results of the Ipsos MORI research commissioned by the RGT into possible problem gambling behaviours in Bingo. This work, fully supported by the Association, is expected to be complete in May next year and should give the Industry confirmation of its place on the problem gambling 'league table', information about the source of any problem gambling issues and therefore the ability to deal with them. Licensed Bingo Operators will have direct evidence about the incidence of harm in their premises with no distractions from output and assumptions made from research undertaken elsewhere in the sector.
I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable holiday and look forward to ICE 2016.
Miles Baron
Editor
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