As well as completing important procedural matters for Meeron, the National Bingo Game Association (NBGA), and the BA – it was also an opportunity to do a deep dive into the world of bingo, complete with strategic insights, future forecasts, and a look at emerging technologies. Let’s take a closer look at the key moments from the day.
Looking back, moving forward!
The formal elements of the NBGA AGM was led by Mike Sime from Mecca Bingo in his capacity as Chairman of the NBGA. The BA’s formal business session was then led by Andy Crump (also Mecca Bingo), who is the current Chairman of the BA.
Following both sessions, our CEO Miles Baron looked at the current and strategic challenges facing the industry, and offered his view of the challenges the next 12 months would bring, underscoring the importance of unity and collaboration in navigating the road ahead.
Key developments coming up in 2024/25 include:
Meeron
- Meeron Games server replacement at Corsham
- Electronic Bingo Tablet Software Development re Social Responsibility
- Northern Ireland Clubs Infrastructure Investment
- Completion of remaining Fibre To The Cabinet upgrades (FTTC)
- New Meeron website
National Bingo Game Association
- NBGA Server replacement at Corsham
- Online National Bingo Game development
- New NBGA website
- National Bingo Week June 27th 2024
- National Bingo Game Caller of the Year 2024
Bingo Association
- Further consultation responses to White Paper proposals
- Further consultation responses to amendments to the Licensing Codes and Conditions of Practice (LCCP)
- Gaming Machines Technical Standards Consultation
- New Gambling Survey for Great Britain (July 24)
- Martyn’s Law
- Review of BA operations and structure
Recognising loyalty
Finally, the session gave us the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and support of BA board member, Mike Watret (Carlton Bingo), who has taken the decision to step down from the BA’s board of directors after 12 years loyal service. On behalf of the Association, Miles presented Mike with some lovely gifts in gratitude, which included a bottle of 24-year-old single malt whisky from Mike’s “home” region of Dumfries and Galloway, and two specially engraved whiskey glasses to drink it from.
Following lunch, the afternoon session offered a diverse range of speakers and topics, to help our members and their guests to gain a much broader view of the outlook for businesses in the upcoming year.
With this in mind, The BA looked to provide insight to members across the regulatory, economic, customer, technological, and political landscape.
Regulator and Operator working together
Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the Gambling Commission, set the tone for the afternoon session, emphasising the importance of collaboration between regulators and operators.
He touched on the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain. ‘Better evidence and better outcomes’ are a strong theme emerging from the GC Spring Conference. He also stressed that the GC want to work very closely with operators to make sure everything works. And for this to happen, there is a need for strong data from us.
He closed by thanking the BA and the wider sector for their input so far. It’s invaluable and makes a huge difference to them as a regulator.
Grounds for economic optimism
We were also privileged to have Chris Sanger (Global Government & Risk Tax Leader) and Peter Arnold (UK Chief Economist) at Ernst & Young (EY), talk about all things past and present from an economic perspective. These ‘two big hitters’ from the corporate world always bring forecasts and statistics together in an informative and engaging way that we can all understand and appreciate.
In brief, it is now apparent that the UK dipped briefly into recession last year, but the good news is that it was short-lived, and the economy is in growth. As for the future, EY are pleased to say that there is ground for optimism as inflation is decreasing, and consumers are enjoying slightly more spending power.
They touched briefly on the political outlook. It is widely considered that there will be a change of Government (probably in mid-November). The incoming Government are going to have to raise more money through taxes. And whilst we might see some “collateral damage” from this, the new Government won’t directly target gambling.
Data drives decision-making
Next, we welcomed our industry research partner, Savanta Comres, to summarise our latest Customer Tracker (Spring 24) and the trends
they have seen developing over the last few years.
Since 2001, Savanta have spoken to 6,000 bingo players, so a clear and robust picture is emerging. Notable insights included increased player confidence post-pandemic and the rising popularity of social entertainment bingo among younger demographics.
Savanta therefore believe the key takeaways for “land-based” bingo in 2024 are:
- Players have confidence and trust in bingo clubs, but cost of living is still impacting.
- We should acknowledge the emergence and growth of Social Entertainment Bingo. Younger players are great at spreading the word through social media channels.
- Customers continue to be wary of over-spending with gambling. Yet in-person bingo is seen as a strong way of controlling over-spending, versus online.
Are the machines taking over?
After a short break we were delighted to introduce AGM debutant, Professor Michael Wooldridge, who is Professor of Computer Science at Oxford University. Having seen Michael wow the audience at the GC Spring Conference earlier this year, we wanted him to share his incredible insight with us.
And he did not disappoint! He captivated the room with a fascinating look at Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications for the industry. He underscored the potential of AI as a productivity tool, while debunking myths surrounding its capabilities.
Professor Wooldridge did stress, though, that AI isn’t taking over. Instead, it will become an invaluable productivity tool, and will enable businesses, like ours, to make smart decisions based on historic data and decision making… something he referred to as “smart corporate memory”.
The landscape’s changing
Next, we moved on to the political landscape with a “sideways” look by the well-known political journalist Kevin Maguire from the Daily Mirror. He always brings a light-hearted but fascinating dive into the world of Westminster.
As well as his work with the Daily Mirror, Kevin is a frequent contributor to Sky News, the BBC and ITV’s Breakfast programme.
Kevin reinforced much of the thinking that we had heard from EY earlier on, in that the election is likely to be mid-November. Yet he pulled no punches in highlighting that it will almost certainly be a Labour Government taking up residency in No.10!
He laid out that Labour will want there to be more disposable income, better services, and even gave us a prediction that the general Election would be held on the 14th November 2024!
We always welcome questions from the floor, but the lure of our drinks reception seemed to reduce the motivation for too many, and so we retired to the bar to network and digest the day’s events.
All the detail and key messages behind each presentation can be found in the Member’s Area of the BA website – bingo-association.co.uk
